Elvis Costello Announces The Return Of The Spectacular Spinn

[docinwestchester]

Heard a radio ad today on 101.9 WRXP (Matt Pinfield's station) for the Beacon shows, specifically promoting the American Express sponsored presale. It's not too often you hear commercials for Elvis Costello shows on mainstream FM radio.

Cool!

[sulky lad]

Now uploading a Spectacular Spinning Songbook show from my master recording at The Royalty Theatre, london 25 November 1986 on dime
http://www.dimeadozen.org/torrents-deta ... ?id=346344

[bronxapostle]

thanks sulky...more the merrier. damn doc...i got to go to school for torrents too!

[docinwestchester]

thanks sulky...more the merrier. damn doc...i got to go to school for torrents too!

Anyday, ba, I'll give you the tutorial. It may take a while, but after 1-2 pizzas, we should be good to go.

[johnfoyle]

Just re-read this from Q, Nov. '10 -

Spectacular Spinning Songbook? A good idea that got the audience going, or a disaster?

Trisha MacNair, via email

Elvis (answering in Sept. '10)-

It was a good idea, because by 1986, less than 10 years into my career, I already feIt like we had a lot of songs. So, on the tour, we came up with a game-show wheel from which members of the audience could choose songs at random. Being the singer and the MC was too hard, so I asked friends to help me out. Our first guest MC was Tom Waits. It couldn't get any better, but it was downhill after Tom [laughs] It was fun, but there were some wonderful road crashes. One night, a girl walked onto the stage and as soon as I saw her, I was like, "Oh my God, you're tripping." Next minute, she was taking her clothes off. It wouldn't work now, because people would think we were just doing American Idol or TheX-Factor. But, back then, we were playing three-to-five-night stands in every town and it was about trying to make the presentation different every night.

Four months later and it now 'works' - emphasising , perhaps, more 'n more the fundraising aspects of this whole exercise.

[cwr]

"No amount of throwing money out would make us do a nostalgia tour." - Elvis Costello, Rolling Stone 1989

I don't fault him for it, because I don't have a problem with nostalgia, and I was a kid when the first Spinning Songbook tour happened. But there's no denying that the return of the Big Wheel is a chance to make some money by tapping into the nostalgia for that tour. It's a concept that gets people excited in a way that another solo acoustic tour (which would be less costly) probably wouldn't. And he has stripped away some of the elements that made the original tour a money-loser (going on tour with TWO bands that he wouldn't use for every show being probably the biggest extravagance) in order to give people what they want.

And lest anyone thing I'm accusing EC of "selling out", I think nothing of the sort. I actually think the Elvis of 1989 was the one I'd fault, striking a pose as somehow "above it all." He's in a place now where he has 500+ songs in his back catalog, and he's reprising a beloved old tour gimmick in the aftermath of releasing an amazing double LP that the public roundly ignored. It makes perfect sense to me. If it's about money, it's also about grabbing people's attention with something big and fun. He deserves the spotlight after putting out such a great record to such little fanfare from the beyond the most devoted sectors of the fanbase...

[jardine]

there was a lot of talk in the national ransom interviews about e.c. viewing his whole back catalog differently, so i find the spinning possibility actually rather exciting. someone used the term in another thread about each song being part of a living body of work. For example, if he performs, say, motel matches, it won't be the same now that n.r. exists. it will have become legible in a different way. this is the wonderful thing about loving the work of a living artist, because things "in the past" turn out to be something different than they "were" every time something new arises. what i'm most hoping for is that he allows himself and the imposters to recast and rethink the older songs, like he did w. everydayiwrite the book, for example, so that it becomes not just replicated but taken up anew...

[krm]

"No amount of throwing money out would make us do a nostalgia tour." - Elvis Costello, Rolling Stone 1989

I don't fault him for it, because I don't have a problem with nostalgia, and I was a kid when the first Spinning Songbook tour happened. But there's no denying that the return of the Big Wheel is a chance to make some money by tapping into the nostalgia for that tour. It's a concept that gets people excited in a way that another solo acoustic tour (which would be less costly) probably wouldn't. And he has stripped away some of the elements that made the original tour a money-loser (going on tour with TWO bands that he wouldn't use for every show being probably the biggest extravagance) in order to give people what they want.
.

The return of the big wheel??? Bruce???

[sulky lad]

At one time there were rumours that Davey was suffering from "ill-health" but the appearance of Bruce playing bass is about as likely as me appearing -(though I promise not to strop or throw wobblers, but there again I'm not in the same universe let alone the same league as Bruce)

[sweetest punch]

More concerts on the official website: http://www.elviscostello.com/#/dance-card

Jun 15, 2011
Vienna, Virginia, USA Wolf Trap
Elvis Costello & The Imposters
Tickets on sale 04/09/2011

Jun 17,2011
Rochester, New York, USA Rochester Jazz Festival
Elvis Costello & The Imposters Buy Tickets

Jun 19, 2011
Columbus, Ohio, USA LC Pavilion
Elvis Costello & The Imposters
Tickets on sale 03/18/2011

Jun 20, 2011
Detroit, Michigan, USA Royal Oak Music Theater
Elvis Costello & The Imposters
Tickets on sale 03/18/2011

Jun 23, 2011
Toronto, Ontario, Canada Sony Center For Performing Arts
Elvis Costello & The Imposters
Tickets on sale 03/18/2011

Jul 20,2011
Richmond, Virginia, USA Innsbrook Pavilion
Elvis Costello & The Imposters
Tickets on sale 03/18/2011

Jul 23,2011
Bridgeport, Connecticut, USA Gathering Of The Vibes
Elvis Costello & The Imposters

[johnfoyle]

The latest head wrecking stuff from Elvis -

http://www.elviscostello.com/news/HAVE+ ... L+OUT./115

May 2 2011

HAVE BAG. WILL SHAKE. HAVE WIG. WILL OUT.

The Revolver Tour rolls out of Reno in less than a week and our mailbag has been full of enquiries as to how this show is going to work.

The simple answer is that members of the audience will be invited onto the stage to spin the newly constructed, “Spectacular Spinning Songbook” – an almost immense wheel of songs.

Elvis Costello and the Imposters will then play whatever comes up.

This is an entirely different way to shake the bag.

You will hear many of the songs on offer, whether they are hits, rarities or songs by other artistes.

While the curious among you will see a number of famous tunes spinning by, rehearsals have also yielded a number of songs that have rarely, if ever, been heard in concert. As the old song says, a splendid time is guaranteed for all.

We are not in a position to reveal the entire repertoire but can tell you that 34 songs will be named nightly among the forty banners that make up the Spectacular Spinning Songbook. Many of these will change from show to show.

Six additional purple “Jackpot” banners will also be in place.

These may include one that reads: “Happy”.

Should this selection come up, the number of songs performed from the album “Get Happy” will be found in a sealed envelope.

On other nights, these banners may read “Aim”, “Imperial Chocolate”, “Model” or even “King’s Ransom”. We will leave it to your imagination as to what will occur, if these should be selected.

Other Jackpot banners that may be featured include, “I Can Sing A Rainbow”, “Joanna”, allowing for song with accompaniment by Steve Nieve to be chosen spontaneously from a large pile of sheet music and one that simply reads, “Girl”.

Elvis Costello will once again take the role of the M.C. “Napoleon Dynamite” – a showbusiness alias later abducted by aliens. Consequently, it should be easy to guess the significance of the Jackpot banner reading, “Napoleon Solo”.

Contestants will be offered light refreshments in the Society Lounge during the performance of the song that their spin has selected but those of a less nervous disposition may care to shake a tailfeather in Hostage To Fortune Go-Go Cage.

A “Request” light will also be in operation from time to time to further change the scene.

The Spectacular Spinning Songbook was first seen in 1986, when Elvis Costello and the Attractions had only eleven albums in the racks plus a handful of songs by pop giants from Prince to ABBA.

Elvis Costello and the Imposters will be performing songs from more than thirty record albums, including several made by other people, having rehearsed approximately, 157 and a half separate titles prior to this engagement, not including the songs they intend to learn on the night.

Many of you present at those earlier shows will fondly remember the part played by Xavier Valentine - “Your guide from your place in the stalls to your place in the stars”. We are delighted to announce that Xavier’s niece, Katya Valentina Valentine, will be joining the company.

The first rule of this show seems to be that there are no actual rules just some made up stuff.

Elvis Costello and the Imposters reserve the right to play whatever the hell they feel like and will on occasion, cheat, quite shamelessly.


Moon Conway. May Day. By telegraphic wire from the parking lot of the Cal-Neva Lodge

[Jeremy Dylan]

I write press releases for a living and have never come up with anything as fun as EC's.

[FAVEHOUR]

Well, this press release has me very excited. A few weeks back, I was going to post my suggestions/wishes for how the Songbook would work this time, but I never got around to it. But this is kind of what I was hoping for, more room for variation, and more selections on the wheel that might leave things open for tangents. I was hoping for "wild card" slots that would really be wild; the "wild" on the 1986 Wheel meant Elvis would play "Wild Thing". I was hoping the spinner might get to say what song he/she wanted to hear. Or that a slot might have the name of an LP, and the spinner might get to pick their favorite song from that record (not that the band would necessarily be ready or willing to play it). This envelope gimmick gets us in that direction, though one has to wonder how many of an album's songs will actually be in the envelope, if it will just be the ones from that record that have been in the repertoire already. Still, this sounds like each show could be thoroughly different from the others.

Let's hope for as little time wasted talking to the spinners as possible, as it wastes time and more importantly, will fray EC's voice.


Dave

[jardine]

Frankly, I find that this is sounding stupider all the time. Perhaps the spinner could tweet their friends and put suggestions on their wall and take a poll to see who wants to decide what others don't want to hear!! THEN they could open an envelope and if it is the same song that they chose, they could win the removal of a song they don't like from the wheel!!!!

[FAVEHOUR]

Well, to each his own. But I prefer the prospect of hearing some songs that I haven't heard live for a long time or some rarities/covers, to hearing the same old setlist or greatest hits.

Dave

[Jackson Monk]

England tour please!

Indeed. I am getting bored receiving 'advanced' email warnings of gigs in Tucson or bloody Tallahassee. Let's have some Cambridge, Northampton or Leamington Spa!

[bronxapostle]

NORTHAMPTON, MASSACHUSETTS at the CALVIN THEATRE would be AWESOME!!!!!!

[MOJO]

This should be a fun tour. The May 2nd Moon Conway posting is intense... I look forward to seeing how it will be played out. I like the Cal-Neva Lodge reference. Funny. I drove by that lodge last weekend - at the edge of the N. Calif and the Nevada state line resides a few casinos/lodges that are trapped in a time warp (Sinatra style)... It's sort of cool. I've done the $5 casino breakfast and dropped a nickel in a slot machine over the years. Actually, they book decent shows at Crystal Bay Casino/Club. Anyhow, this tour is going to be fun.. to bad they are not playing at Crystal Bay... That would be a wild one-off/random show.

[EarlManchester]

From FantasyDesign on Twitter:

The elvis costello 'revolver tour' project is done and on its way to the US of A today!! Woohoo!!

[deerfried]

Damn the jaded skeptics. I don't care if he's doing this for the cash. I'm just REALLY looking forward to seeing this show in Chicago next week.

[docinwestchester]

Damn the jaded skeptics. I don't care if he's doing this for the cash. I'm just REALLY looking forward to seeing this show in Chicago next week.

The April 1 Gramercy show was a sign of good things to come...

[verbal gymnastics]

It's interesting that this time round there has not been a guest compere.

I wonder if there will be for the New York shows. You need someone of showbiz razzamatazz.

Who would fit such a bill?