Last year when I first heard about Elvis Costello hosting a show on the Sundance Channel I laughed out loud. Surely this surly rocker was the last person anyone would choose to host a party, much less a television show. Yet Elvis Costello's "Spectacle" -which just completed its second season- is not only a musical treat but a sincere surprise from the chameleon crooner. On a foggy Saturday afternoon I watched 5 different hour-long episodes which left me wanting more. For that I'll have to wait until Wednesday Feb. 3rd when Sundance will televise the December episode featuring Bono and The Edge. I didn't see it when it originally aired because of a dispute with my cable company, Time Warner. I bet nearly everyone reading this has had a dispute with Time Warner, starting with their refusal to carry the NFL channel. Once I smoothed things over I began to catch up on some lost programs.
"Spectacle" is remarkable not only for the wide swath of guests who've appeared and often perform together (Norah Jones with John Mellencamp, Diana Krall (Elvis's wife) with Elton John (one of the show's producers), but also the enthusiasm which radiates from Costello as he interviews his guests. You could hear the reverence in Bruce Springsteen's voice as he discussed his Inauguration Day performance with folk legend Pete Seeger. The Boss also related his love for early punk music and the British band The Buzzcocks. Then the two of them blasted through a duet of Sam and Dave's "I Can't Stand Up For Falling Down." When Bruce took center stage he settled down with a touching version of "Galveston Bay" (a request by Elvis) before ripping through "The Rising," strumming his guitar with a ferocity I haven't seen from him in years.
I have been going to Springsteen concerts since 1975 and I've read about five books on the guy but I learned more about The Boss in the "Spectacle" two-part episode than anywhere else. Prodded by Elvis, he kept referring to his songwriting as "just trying to figure things out. As a writer I'm trying to make sense of my own life and then what's going on around me." Then he shared one of his favorite quotes about rock and roll: "It creates an energy that pushes you into the future. It's about what's coming next, trying to pull tomorrow into the present."
On another episode Elvis sat in the guest chair and was interviewed by Mary Louise Parker who was thrilled to hear a solo acoustic take of "Brilliant Mistake." He talked about song writing with Paul McCartney before delving into a full band version of their unreleased song "So Like Candy." His band consists of long time sidemen Steve Nieve (keyboards) and Pete Thomas (drums) who play like its 1979 while backing up the musical guests. One performance included a line-up of Richard Thompson (guitar), Nick Lowe (bass), Allan Toussaint (piano) and Levon Helm (drums). The music was great but the stories they told were even better.
My thanks to Elvis Costello for allowing their stories to be told and their songs to be sung. Though I'm hoping for more, it looks like this will be the final season of "Spectacle." Repeats are shown Wednesday evenings on The Sundance Channel. (Season One is now available on DVD and Blue Ray).
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