Elvis & The Imposters play Liverpool, 10 June '13

Pretty self-explanatory
johnfoyle
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Elvis & The Imposters play Liverpool, 10 June '13

Post by johnfoyle »

Who's going?
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John
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Re: Elvis & The Imposters play Liverpool, 10 June '13

Post by John »

Me & Mrs John for starters.
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Top balcony
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Re: Elvis & The Imposters play Liverpool, 10 June '13

Post by Top balcony »

Me and Mrs Top Balcony too.

Can't wait
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Re: Elvis & The Imposters play Liverpool, 10 June '13

Post by Top balcony »

From today's Liverpool Post this article which we've seen pretty much before (apart from the mention of Birkenhead?):-

http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/liv ... z2VRBzuEUt

MUSIC INTERVIEW: Elvis Costello on bringing his spectacular spinning songbook to the Philharmonic Hall

Liverpool Daily Post
Jun 6 2013

Elvis Costello is bringing his Spectacular Spinning Songbook to the Philharmonic Hall on Monday. Andy Welch reports

ELVIS COSTELLO is doing one of his favourite things – relaxing in New York. “The vibe is very mellow,” explains the 58-year-old rocker.

The city has been a sort of home to British-born Costello for the past nine years. He stays there when he’s working, while the rest of his time is spent at home in Vancouver with his Canadian singer wife Diana Krall and their twin sons Henry and Frank.

Now the boys, born at the end of 2006, are of primary school age, Costello and Krall have had to become a little more settled.

“They start first grade in September, so we can’t be pulling them out of school to go wherever,” explains the musician, who grew up in Birkenhead.

“Having both your parents as working musicians will mean a lot of travelling, but we have to be considerate. They’ll still get to come on the tour bus with me when I’m out and about. That’s got to be better than taking geography, right?”

It’s a busy time for Costello, who’s currently writing and recording songs for a new album that will be released before the end of the year, while once again working with master songwriter Burt Bacharach on a stage adaptation of Painted From Memory, their 1998 album. He hopes it will develop over the 12 months and end up on stage in “the next few years”.

“We’re writing new songs, so it would nice to write songs for that. I’m also working long-term on a book of my own,” says Costello.

“It’s not fiction, but it’s not non-fiction either. I’m not writing an autobiography. Everyone knows that story, everyone’s an expert, so I can only tell people what they don’t know.”

Much more imminently, he and his band The Imposters – essentially the backing band of his 1980s heyday, The Attractions, with one or two different members – are about to bring the Spectacular Spinning Songbook tour to the UK once again, visiting the Philharmonic Hall on Monday.

They did the same last year, including a gig at the Liverpool Empire, and the reception the shows received surprised everyone – most of all Costello himself – so they’re back for a bigger trip lasting all of June and into July.

“We thought we’d just be able to go to the places we missed last spring,” says Costello. “We’re doing that, but the cities we played want to see us again too.

“The shows were brilliant last time around, the atmosphere at each really special, so we can’t wait to do it again.”

There is a special feature to the Spinning Songbook gigs – a giant wheel loaded with the names of 50 of Costello’s songs.

A member of the audience is invited up to spin the wheel, and the band have to play whichever song it lands on.

There are showgirls on stage, and the lucky audience member can either stay up there in a cage to dance alongside the band – many do – or sit in a more relaxed area at the back and drink cocktails.

It has more in common with old-fashioned vaudeville than a standard rock ‘n’ roll concert, while the wheel serves up interesting combinations of songs, eschewing the normal pacing of a planned set list.

“We have to be well-rehearsed, we have to have 50 songs in the pocket to even play the game,” says Costello. “We’ve delved into the back catalogue a bit so I think we have about 150 we can choose from.

“The wheel’s fair, too, until we lean on it a bit when someone tells us it’s their wedding anniversary or something. Mostly we let it be true and the wheel decides. Some songs have come up twice or even three times in a night.”

Naturally, there are gasps when the wheel approaches any of Costello’s biggest hits – Oliver’s Army, Alison, Watching The Detectives, Everyday I Write The Book or Pump It Up. Often what would normally be a “finale” song or form part of an encore will be chosen right at the top of a show.

“The wheel has made us play the older songs better, and we never know what to expect,” says Costello.

“You have to drop into the darkest, most emotional songs without any preparation, and one of your favourites might not get chosen for five shows.”

He does, however, insist on playing Shipbuilding and Tramp The Dirt Down. The latter featured on 1989’s album Spike, and finds Costello hoping he lives long enough to see the death of Margaret Thatcher so he can find her grave and stamp on it.

Now that’s actually happened, he feels slightly differently. “I have difficulty with this one,” he says.

“Two of my family had dementia-related demises, so I would never wish that on my worst enemies. I have difficulty wishing ill on people, despite having written that song. I can’t celebrate.

“I could if it meant the death of her ideas, but they’re alive and well. That’s the difference here. There are few people in history you would wish death on, but there would be something pathetic, and beneath us, in celebrating the death of anyone.”

He adds that it’s easy for songwriters to get very self-important about their work but, with time, he’s come to accept that whatever he writes will only affect certain people – normally the people who are listening anyway.

“Tramp The Dirt Down was never going to affect Norman Tebbit,” he says of the former employment secretary who told the unemployed to get on their bikes, as his father had done, and look for work. “It was never going to affect him because he was never going to listen to it. It wasn’t going to sway him and make him change his mind, and he’s still out there today, pontificating.

“There’s always this argument that these rich musicians don’t have the right to express what they feel. But yes, yes we do, we’re allowed to express ourselves.

“We’re not asking anything of anybody, and there are contradictions in songs that are about complicated issues. I wanted them to be there, because it wasn’t black and white. Nothing ever is.”

Elvis Costello & The Imposters! are at the Philharmonic Hall on Monday.
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Re: Elvis & The Imposters play Liverpool, 10 June '13

Post by oliversa1 »

I'll be there
Don't Start Me Talking, I Could Talk All Night.
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Re: Elvis & The Imposters play Liverpool, 10 June '13

Post by Bradwellboy »

I will be there.
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Re: Elvis & The Imposters play Liverpool, 10 June '13

Post by Top balcony »

If anyone wants to join me before curtain up I'll be in the Fly in the Loaf from 6.15-6.30. The horribly named Fly is a great bar approx 200 yards away from the Phil (http://www.flyintheloaf.co.uk/) I'll be wearing my Brutal Youth t-shirt and a look of barely-able-to-contain-my-excitement.

Anyone coming into the city with time on their hands is recommended to the new Chagall at Tate Liverpool http://www.tate.org.uk/visit/tate-liverpool You may rub shoulders with EC as he has been named as one of 25 famous* visitors.

In case you're wondering here's the whole list :Kirsty Allsop (presenter) Noddy Holder (musician) Pamela Anderson (actor) Dennis Hopper (actor) Boy George (musician) Johnny Marr (musician) Rory Bremner (comedian) Paul McCartney (musician) Jimmy Carr (comedian) Alfred Molina (actor) Jarvis Cocker (musician) Cillian Murphy (actor) Jennifer Connolly (actor) Yoko Ono (artist) Elvis Costello (musician) Jeremy Paxman (broadcaster) Dawn French (comedian) Diana Picasso (granddaughter of Pablo Picasso) Germaine Greer (journalist) Vic Reeves (comedian) Debbie Harry (musician) Griff Rhys Jones (comedian) John Henry (owner, Liverpool FC) Julie Walters (actor) Harry Hill (comedian)

*appreciate this is a rather loose definition of "famous"

Colin Top Balcony
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Re: Elvis & The Imposters play Liverpool, 10 June '13

Post by sulky lad »

John Henry (owner, Liverpool FC)
Don't you mean Comedian ??
I'll be there + lapels !! :lol:
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Re: Elvis & The Imposters play Liverpool, 10 June '13

Post by The imposter »

Top balcony wrote:If anyone wants to join me before curtain up I'll be in the Fly in the Loaf from 6.15-6.30. The horribly named Fly is a great bar approx 200 yards away from the Phil (http://www.flyintheloaf.co.uk/) I'll be wearing my Brutal Youth t-shirt and a look of barely-able-to-contain-my-excitement.

Anyone coming into the city with time on their hands is recommended to the new Chagall at Tate Liverpool http://www.tate.org.uk/visit/tate-liverpool You may rub shoulders with EC as he has been named as one of 25 famous* visitors.

In case you're wondering here's the whole list :Kirsty Allsop (presenter) Noddy Holder (musician) Pamela Anderson (actor) Dennis Hopper (actor) Boy George (musician) Johnny Marr (musician) Rory Bremner (comedian) Paul McCartney (musician) Jimmy Carr (comedian) Alfred Molina (actor) Jarvis Cocker (musician) Cillian Murphy (actor) Jennifer Connolly (actor) Yoko Ono (artist) Elvis Costello (musician) Jeremy Paxman (broadcaster) Dawn French (comedian) Diana Picasso (granddaughter of Pablo Picasso) Germaine Greer (journalist) Vic Reeves (comedian) Debbie Harry (musician) Griff Rhys Jones (comedian) John Henry (owner, Liverpool FC) Julie Walters (actor) Harry Hill (comedian)

*appreciate this is a rather loose definition of "famous"

Colin Top Balcony
"Fly in The Loaf" it is then. I'll be there with Lindsay ! looking forward to meeting you again Colin, Dave, and other members too. Around 7pm ok ????
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John
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Re: Elvis & The Imposters play Liverpool, 10 June '13

Post by John »

Me and Mrs John will be there. Any suggestions for somewhere for food and parking?
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Re: Elvis & The Imposters play Liverpool, 10 June '13

Post by Top balcony »

Hi John

The Phil website has some parking ideas - but they preface with "Parking around Liverpool can sometimes be challenging" - this is an understatement - map here : http://www.liverpoolphil.com/256/how-to ... -park.html

Few eating ideas, sadly the Everyman Bistro is being re-built

I'd go to The Quarter - 3 mins walk from the Phil : busy but great pizzas - http://www.thequarteruk.com/menu

or nearby Host : http://www.ho-st.co.uk/

Ego is a chain and actually next door to the Phil : http://www.egorestaurants.co.uk/index.p ... urant&id=7

Bistro Jacques is very near to the Fly in the Loaf : http://www.bistrojacques.com/

if you want to sample another continent there's a Chilean Restaurant too Valpaiso -this is also v.near the Fly_ http://www.bistrojacques.com/

If money's no object you could go fine dining in the Carriage Works, which is literally over the road from the Phil : http://www.thelondoncarriageworks.co.uk/

see you tommorow -assuming you find somewhere to park :D


Colin Top Balcony
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Re: Elvis & The Imposters play Liverpool, 10 June '13

Post by Mikeh »

I realised yesterday that I have bought a "premium package" which, according to the ticketmaster website, entitles me to so EC related goodies when I collect my ticket. Anyone got theirs yet?
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Re: Elvis & The Imposters play Liverpool, 10 June '13

Post by sulky lad »

Think it includes a drink with a man with 3 willies !!! :lol:
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And No Coffee Table
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Re: Elvis & The Imposters play Liverpool, 10 June '13

Post by And No Coffee Table »

http://twitter.com/GR_Morgan/status/344092903062249477
Gah! Elvis Costello just came into our shop and bought some books and I missed him! Dammit!
http://twitter.com/Lunya/status/3440983 ... 96/photo/1
Mo with the legend that is Elvis Costello enjoying a coffee on the terrace before tonight's gig http://pic.twitter.com/amB3zocMQT

Image
bronxapostle
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Re: Elvis & The Imposters play Liverpool, 10 June '13

Post by bronxapostle »

i smell a "BEATLES" slot added to the wheel for tonight....enjoy 'Pudlians!!!! :lol: :lol:
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Re: Elvis & The Imposters play Liverpool, 10 June '13

Post by sulky lad »

Just about Glad, Poor Napoleon, Country Darkness, In Another Room, Mouth Almighty, Alibi and VG's own DDTM on the wheel tonight!!
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John
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Re: Elvis & The Imposters play Liverpool, 10 June '13

Post by John »

Ready to go. Right at the back. Can't read the wheel!

Great to meet everyone. Be prepared - there are photos to follow!
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Re: Elvis & The Imposters play Liverpool, 10 June '13

Post by Azmuda »

bronxapostle
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Re: Elvis & The Imposters play Liverpool, 10 June '13

Post by bronxapostle »

sulky lad wrote:Just about Glad, Poor Napoleon, Country Darkness, In Another Room, Mouth Almighty, Alibi and VG's own DDTM on the wheel tonight!!

WOW!!! six stellar additions there! DEEP DARK is always a treat, but have seen that fairly regularly throughout the years, though it feels awhile now
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Re: Elvis & The Imposters play Liverpool, 10 June '13

Post by nicola76 »

I hope Just About Glad stays there for Gateshead, Blackpool and Edinburgh :wink:
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Re: Elvis & The Imposters play Liverpool, 10 June '13

Post by verbal gymnastics »

Are Just about glad and Poor Napoleon making their debuts on the wheel? I was really hoping In Another Room would be spun on 6th June. It landed on the song next to it and I was gutted!
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Re: Elvis & The Imposters play Liverpool, 10 June '13

Post by FAVEHOUR »

verbal gymnastics wrote:Are Just about glad and Poor Napoleon making their debuts on the wheel? I was really hoping In Another Room would be spun on 6th June. It landed on the song next to it and I was gutted!

Poor Napoleon was on the Wheel for some of the dates in the US. But it never came up when I was there!

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Re: Elvis & The Imposters play Liverpool, 10 June '13

Post by And No Coffee Table »

Twitter:
Great show as always by Elvis Costello at ‪@liverpoolphil‬ this evening, though 'She' (albeit a request) is still bloody awful.
‪@ElvisCostello‬ brought the house down in his spiritual home tonight....Tramp the Dirt Down in particular ‪@liverpoolphil‬ ‪@itsliverpool


http://twitter.com/Beefynets/status/344 ... 84/photo/1

Image

And Dixie posted a six-second video on Vine:
http://vine.co/v/blzT7gMwKwE
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Re: Elvis & The Imposters play Liverpool, 10 June '13

Post by Otis Westinghouse »

The variety on the UK tour is massively impressive. I reckon I could just about fashion my dream setlist from it, though Sleep of the Just has yet to appear.

Chagall at the Tate should be great. Was annoyed that I couldn't find a few spare minutes to visit it when I was in Liverpool in April for a conference. they had the glam show in then. I stayed in the Mercure, or was it the Radisson, and trekked across each day to the ACC to a conference. Loved the whole Merseyside development, walked right past Tate, just didn't have time to visit. I did, on the other hand, make it to the remarkable Bierkeller in Liverpool One. this was just after a guy I'd never met before that night cited 'Was it a millionaire who said imagine no possessions...' during a discussion of Imagine.

Looking forward to seeing the full list.

We used to moan a lot how he stopped touring in the UK after 2005 and just wanted to go round the USA endlessly, but now two proper tours two years running. Brilliant.
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Re: Elvis & The Imposters play Liverpool, 10 June '13

Post by bronxapostle »

verbal gymnastics wrote:Are Just about glad and Poor Napoleon making their debuts on the wheel? I was really hoping In Another Room would be spun on 6th June. It landed on the song next to it and I was gutted!
as i too would be gutted. IN ANOTHER ROOM is just about my single favorite song the last ten years!
Otis Westinghouse wrote:

We used to moan a lot how he stopped touring in the UK after 2005 and just wanted to go round the USA endlessly, but now two proper tours two years running. Brilliant.
YEAH, i'm moaning now...come back HOME to the USA and tour proper!!! :lol: :lol: :lol:
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