ICE CUBES: Elvis Costello returns to Tower Theater 5/19

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ICE CUBES: Elvis Costello returns to Tower Theater 5/19

POSTED: Wednesday, February 9, 2011, 9:00 PM

Filed Under: Ice Cubes

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Other than his Burt Bacharach period, it's been a minute since Elvis Costello mattered. I'll tell you when it was â 1986/87. That's when he first brought the Spectacular Spinning Songbook to the fore like he's doing AGAIN this May 19 at the Tower (tix goes on sale Sat. Feb. 12). The Tower was where he made his last great stand as well, three nights of it, too. It was like October of 1986 and Costello had two bands going, one the rootsy sort of ensemble that he clammed together for his King of AmericaBlood & Chocolate album, the other, the Attractions with (unless I'm nuts, his then wife who used to play bass with the Pogues) that focused on their songs. Those nights were great, stark, dark and strange. You had already heard EC pull off country, with 1981's Almost Blue, so that was no big shake. It was elegant, though. The night with Blood & Chocolate seemed like a finale to his punk rock days, as if these shows would be the end of the hard stuff so he could gateway into what would be his (then) Tom Waits period. But the Spinning Songbook shows with the Attractions were amazing fun. A man in a tux went through the audience, nabbed a contestant and they'd spin the wheel hoping to hit one of Costello's favorite covers or one of the witty cuts from his already voluminous catalog. Tom Petty's "American Girl," Grandmaster Flash's "The Message," Prince's "Pop Life," and Gerry & the Pacemakers' "Ferry Cross the Mersey" were amongst the thrilling possibilities. After picking the song, the "contestant" could hop in a cage with a go-go dancer, watch a portable television or read a book near Costello on stage while the song played. Costello and Nick Lowe brought the same carnival schtick and wheel to U of P's Class of 1923 Skating Rink a year later. It didn't have the immediate thrill of newness but it was still brilliant — certainly better than Momofuku or Kojak Variety. At the Tower May 19, 8pm: WXPN Welcomes Elvis Costello and The Imposters. $65, 49.50, 39.50, livenation.com.

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Featuring everything from event roundups to concert reviews and sex talk, City Paper's Critical Mass is a space for off-the-wall coverage of Philly's A&E scene.

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