Elvis/Imposters, Symphony Hall Birmingham, 15 May 2012

[Man out of Time]

This year is the 21st anniversary of the opening of Birmingham's magnificent Symphony Hall.

http://www.brumnotes.com/birmingham-sym ... -festival/

http://www.expressandstar.com/entertain ... hony-hall/

I think this is one of my favourite large halls, for EC shows. The sound quality and sight lines are excellent, and it is easy to get to (unless like Sulky Lad you happen to have moved to Devon). I picked up one of the recently released "restricted view" tickets, but knowing Symphony Hall, I cannot quite envisage what might be in my way, unless they stick me right behind the wheel.

I look forward to seeing others at the event.

MOOT

[Man out of Time]

So who else will be there tomorrow night?

Surely not just Verbal, Sulky Lad and myself?

Let us know if you'll be there, and we can meet up beforehand in the bar (ground floor, to the left of the main Broad Street entrance by the Alexandra Theatre (not the Canal end)) or grab something to eat.

MOOT

[sulky lad]

MOOT Verbal has left me your tickets so I'll be along with him to hand them over along with assorted items to be signed in the dry unlike last night when my paper articles became sodden outside of the Empire !

[And No Coffee Table]

The show is still three hours away, but the venue has posted a picture of the wheel. "Cilla" and "Tiny Steps" are still there.
http://twitpic.com/9le4rs/full

[docinwestchester]

The show is still three hours away, but the venue has posted a picture of the wheel. "Cilla" and "Tiny Steps" are still there.
http://twitpic.com/9le4rs/full

Has the meaning of "Cilla" been explained yet?

[And No Coffee Table]

Has the meaning of "Cilla" been explained yet?

It hasn't been spun yet, so we don't know for sure. It's in the spot which used to be home to "I've Been Wrong Before," which Cilla Black recorded, so my guess is it's not really anything new.

[Science Fiction Twin]

Has the meaning of "Cilla" been explained yet?

It hasn't been spun yet, so we don't know for sure. It's in the spot which used to be home to "I've Been Wrong Before," which Cilla Black recorded, so my guess is it's not really anything new.

Elvis mentioned Cilla Black in Manchester even though "Cilla" didn't feature on the Wheel. "I've Been Wrong Before " was spun though, and EC acknowledged Randy Newman, no mention of Cilla.

[Man out of Time]

Sulky Lad, verbal and myself all seated and ready for the off. Updates will follow.

MOOT

[Man out of Time]

Joanna jackpot
Numbers jackpot

[And No Coffee Table]

It's hard to be sure based on a blurry photo, but I think some changes were made to the wheel since that last photo was taken. "I've Been Wrong Before" has returned, and "Cilla" and "Tiny Steps" appear to be gone.

Twitter:

#Costello does I Hope You're Happy Now, Heart Of The City, Mystery Dance and Radio Radio without pausing for breath! Awesome!

[Man out of Time]

So like Candy;
Girl jackpot
Kings Ransom jackpot

MOOT

[Man out of Time]

Rocking Horse Road,
Bedlam,
Motel Matches.
All these strangers.
All this useless beauty,
I've been wrong before,
Two little Hitlers
King horse
Suit of Lights
Poisoned Rose,
Tramp The Dirt Down

Still on stage.

MOOT

[verbal gymnastics]

I have just got home. Only one word can describe tonight's show - Incredible!

I think there were something like 20 different songs played from the Liverpool show.

They were on fire tonight. They played 2hrs 50 mins and would have carried on playing had they not reached 11pm.

I've seen them a few times ( ) and this could be the best show I've ever seen. It was THAT good.

[Man out of Time]

Setlist:

01. I Hope You're Happy Now
02. Heart Of The City
03. Mystery Dance
04. Radio, Radio
Joanna - Jackpot Spin 1
05. Talking In The Dark - EC and SN
06. She - EC and SN
Numbers - Jackpot Spin 2
07. Less Than Zero
08. Two Little Hitlers
09. My Three Sons
10. So Like Candy Spin 3 - with a snippet of Tart
11. Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood
Girl - Jackpot and King's Ransom -Jackpot Spins 4 and 5
12. This Year's Girl
13. Party Girl
14. Girls Talk
15. Poisoned Rose
16. Suit Of Lights
17. All These Strangers
The Hammer of Songs
18. Motel Matches - Hammer wielders' request
19. Bedlam
20. No Particular Place To Go
21. I've Been Wrong Before - sung from a seat in row E
Beauty and Beast - Jackpot Spin 6
22. All This Useless Beauty
23. Rocking Horse Road
24. Wild Thing
25. King Horse
26. I Want You - spinner's request
Encore 1
27. A Slow Drag With Josephine EC Solo
28. Who's The Meanest Gal In Town Josephine EC Solo
29. Jimmie Standing In The Rain EC solo - including Brother, Can You Spare A Dime?
30. Tramp The Dirt Down
31. Oliver's Army
32. Shipbuilding
33. Watching The Detectives
34. (I Don't Want To Go To) Chelsea
35. (What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love And Understanding?

For the Joanna jackpot, EC remarked that he had wanted to change the banner to read "Lumley" but feared the reference would be lost on our North American cousins. In between songs, numerous references to the Leveson Enquiry, Rebekah Brookes and The Sun.

Like Verbal, I thought this was a great show. The double spins and the fact that so many of them revealed jackpot banners rather than single songs meant that the momentum was maintained and EC could choose what to play (fast or slow) and in what order. The move from Talking In The Dark to She was neat. The spinner on So Like Candy revealed that her favourite song was Tart, but it was not on the wheel. EC sang a verse of Tart to the tune of So Like Candy.
At the end of the show, the band could have kept going, but their time on stage (as agreed with the venue) was up.

After the show, we saw Michael Weston King and chatted about "My Darling Clementine" his duet album with wife Lou Dalgleish, which is due for release in the US shortly. They will be touring it with dates in Nashville and New York confirmed so far. Watch this forum for more detail.

Finally, thanks to Verbal for driving.

MOOT

[migdd]

Wonderful setlist! Thanks to all who attended for sharing.

[Pigalle]

Has the meaning of "Cilla" been explained yet?

It hasn't been spun yet, so we don't know for sure. It's in the spot which used to be home to "I've Been Wrong Before," which Cilla Black recorded, so my guess is it's not really anything new.

Elvis mentioned Cilla Black in Manchester even though "Cilla" didn't feature on the Wheel. "I've Been Wrong Before " was spun though, and EC acknowledged Randy Newman, no mention of Cilla.

If I remember correctly he did mention Cilla in Manchester before playing "I've Been Wrong Before". He said it was written by Randy Newman and to paraphrase Elvis he then went on to say something like "as well as being sung by Cilla Black but we won't hold that against her".

[Pigalle]

It's hard to be sure based on a blurry photo, but I think some changes were made to the wheel since that last photo was taken. "I've Been Wrong Before" has returned, and "Cilla" and "Tiny Steps" appear to be gone.

Please Please Me also had disappeared. Was Country Darkness along with Motel Matches new?

[verbal gymnastics]

The show is still three hours away, but the venue has posted a picture of the wheel. "Cilla" and "Tiny Steps" are still there.
http://twitpic.com/9le4rs/full

This picture was the wheel from the Liverpool Empire show.

I think there were only 4 replacements from Sunday's wheel. These were Motel Matches, Country Darkness, I've Been Wrong Before (which was the Cilla song that would have been played at Liverpool had it been picked) and one other which no doubt somebody will be able to tell me. Please Please Me was certainly replaced as was Tiny Steps.

[verbal gymnastics]

This was a magnificent show, just short of 3 hours. The band would have played on but they were told they had to go.

Nick's review is pretty good - but then it should be as he's stolen some of my comments. Credit where it's due mate

The venue is purpose built and has great sound and views all around. It's probably my favourite venue in the country. I've never seen a bad Elvis show there.

The format worked well, the audience was appreciative (clapping the spinners onto the stage) and Elvis was clearly having fun.
My other observations from this show...

1. when the Joanna section came up, Elvis mouthed "Talking in the dark" to Steve. I was under the impression that it was Steve's choice. Not that I'm complaining. The seam into She was effortless. Elvis then sang She whilst walking amonst the audience.

2. there was a young lady who said her favourite song was Tart. Elvis said it was typical she picked a song they didn't know. They played So like Candy and he slipped in a verse of Tart before singing Don't let me be misunderstood. The young lady didn't seem to recognise the verse of Tart (or if she did, then she was very cool about it!). But then again, nor did Sulky or MOOT!

3. Elvis' klaxon had a police siren on it when he played Detectives. Is this new? Also this did not segue into Help me.

4. Rockinghorse Road included a verse of Wild Thing.

5. there was a father/daughter double spin. Bedlam was chosen by the father. It was a great choice. Elvis joined them and played in the cage which looked very cosy!

6. there was also an aunt/nephew combination. The young lad was very game when he was asked to dance in the cage. He danced with Dixie which was no mean feat.

7. the only duplicated song in the Spinning Songbook set from Liverpool was Poisoned Rose.

8. At the end, Elvis spun the wheel and rigged it to Chelsea.

How they are going to top that show is beyond me. But I'll find out tonight!

[Azmuda]

Video:

I Hope You're Happy Now:

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=89LPD2FlvIg

No Particular Place To Go:

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ixSpDuQ-rVs

[Pigalle]

Don't think its been mentioned but the show was filmed from in front of the rear stalls on the right hand side.

[FAVEHOUR]

Filmed by whom? People working for EC? Or industrious audience members?

[verbal gymnastics]

We discussed this. We only saw one camera which filmed at the front to Elvis' left (so it wouldn't have seen the Hammer) and where pigalle mentioned.

Perhaps it was a private recording for Elvis. I hope it was an industrious fan member who will release it. This show deserves a wider audience!

[Azmuda]

Nice and somewhat rare pic of the entire band:

• 

[TOBYROME]

5. there was a father/daughter double spin. Bedlam was chosen by the father. It was a great choice. Elvis joined them and played in the cage which looked very cosy!

What a great night, I'm the Hammer Guy, my eldestest daughters first Elvis gig and she gets to join him on stage with her dad, it's surreal.

My youngest daughter was actually picked but nerves got the better of her, she's seen EC before at Warwick Arts Centre 2005. She said her heart would explode if she went on stage!

We'd love some pics of us swinging the hammer, unfortunately we are hidden from shot on the Youtube of No Particular Way To Go. Homefully more posts will come through.

Motel Matches has always been a favourite and I would of chosen Country Darkness if i'd spotted it. Pete and Dave gave an appreciative nod to my Bedlam choice, but I should of guessed this rythmic number would result in a trip to the cage, with Elvis, truely amazing.