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Elvis Costello embraces roots in Derry
Thursday, 27 June 2013
Rock and roll legend Elvis Costello is in the City of Culture for the first time to play a special concert.
He has reunited with most of his 1970s bands the Attractions under the new name The Imposters.
The singer/songwriter, born Declan MacManus from London, has penned classic tracks like 'Alison' and 'Oliver's Army', and won numerous awards over his 40 plus years in music.
As well as being inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, Costello was also named in Rolling Stone's Top 100 Greatest Artists of All Time in 2004 and is regarded as one of the most influential and popular singer/songwriters in modern music.
And despite his prolific music career, Thursday's concert at Ebrington Square marks his first performance in Derry-Londonderry.
"I don't know how that could have possibly happened that I haven't been here before," he told UTV.
"Paul Cassidy from The Brodsky Quartet is from here, has always given me a hard time about how we've never managed to play here."
His father Ross MacManus's family was from Dungannon and he admitted there was no denying his Irish heritage, and it had been on his mind visiting the region.
"If you take a look at any of us you can see it in our faces. My brothers, my sons," he said.
"When I see a road sign, I think 'my aunty Sarah lived down there'.
"It comes into my mind, one or two songs come into my mind, I think of all of the history because it feeds into the songs."
The band will be choosing songs from a huge back catalogue, but Costello says the set list will be a little different especially for the band's debut.
"Up until a couple of days ago we'd been using a big game show wheel to select the songs but we figured that we don't like to take that where we go for the first time," he said.
"It's taught us how to have at our disposal, something like 150 songs, that's about five times more than most bands."