Elvis Costello has been here, there and everywhere during the past several years. The question, posed by Rolling Stone, is whether Elvis Costello needs to respond to game show antics in order to keep his show on the road? It’s a fair question considering that this year Costello is again touring with the “Spinning Songbook” theme that he first introduced in the mid 1980s. Basically, guests are invited on stage to spin a giant “Wheel of Fortune” type prop. Costello and the Imposters then play the song and the guest is invited to enter a go-go cage to dance or have a drink at a makeshift bar or, presumably, sit down in the audience.
“I work in lots of different ways myself, you know, I can only go on my own example,” Costello told the U.K. publication “The Word” in a past interview. “Sometimes you go out there and there’s a very, very definite plan of how to get through a number of dates, other times the shows are kind of one-offs.”
| ONSTAGE |
| Elvis Costello |
| » When: 8 p.m. Thursday |
| » Where: Warner Theatre, 1299 Pennsylvania Ave. NW |
| » Info: $69.50 to $125; 202-397-SEAT; ticketmaster.com |
Whatever Costello offers and however the critics respond, the fans seem to love it.
A critic for the New York Times, noted that Costello would sometimes move the wheel to the song he wanted to play when he gave a concert at New York’s famed Beacon Theatre in May. “If I can’t cheat, who can?” Costello told the audience.
Although some of the Spinning Songbook theme veered toward corny, the critic noted that “in the end, [there is] no way to keep Mr. Costello’s songs in any shallow entertainment mode. His torrents of words hold desire, rage, wounds and revenge, from the scathing personal scale of “Alison” to the historical sweep of “Oliver’s Army.” The music converges from all over — punk, soul, British Invasion, Tex-Mex, tango, country — to carry those words and sort out their emotions.”
Fair enough. Consider that world-class musicians including Steve Earle, Ricky Skaggs, and Bob Dylan, often speak in reverent tones of working with Costello.
“Elvis kind of came to me because wanted to do a set….of bluegrass,” said renowned guitarist Bill Kirchen, formerly of Commander Cody who has played frequently with Costello. “I spend about 90% of my time in front of my band but playing with someone like Elvis is an exception.”
Indeed, Costello is clearly an exception to most rules.
