ELVIS COSTELLO’S “15 SONGS FROM 50 YEARS” COMES TO LEEDS
Walking in the footsteps of Harry Houdini and beyond the long shadow of Charlie Chaplin, Frank Carson and the great Leonard Sachs, Elvis Costello brings his new presentation “15 SONGS FROM 50 YEARS” to the City Varieties Music Hall in Leeds on Monday, 2nd September and Tuesday, 3rd September, staging four unique performances over two days, each of approximately a 75-minute duration.
The 7.00PM soiree will feature an entirely different repertoire to that of the 9.30PM performance, with songs selected from each of the five decades of Costello’s astonishing songwriting endeavors.
Tickets go on-sale Friday 22nd March at 10am from ElvisCostello.com.
City Varieties Music Hall
Monday, 2nd September – 2 SHOWS | 7.00PM and 9.30PM
Tuesday, 3rd September – 2 SHOWS | 7.00PM and 9.30PM
A fifteen-song programme will be printed in advance with few, if any repeats anticipated (but with the possibility of impromptu choices along the way). Costello and Nieve very occasionally take requests but should never be mistaken for a jukebox.
The third and fourth performances on the following day will propose a deuce of delights; two entirely different 15-song set-lists selected from half a century of popular songwriting craft.
The four shows are guaranteed to feature 60 different songs but we suspect this is just the start.
Asked about the involvement of his cohort, Steve Nieve, Costello said, “Well, to paraphrase John Lennon, Steve Nieve will “leap over horses, through hoops, up garters and lastly, through a hogshead of real fire” to bring his particular brand of musical magnificence to these performances.”
Costello added, “The City Varieties Music Hall has always been known for magic, melody, mirth and mayhem. These are all well within our grasp. By the way, had my father not taken a trumpet-playing engagement in London, just before my arrival into this world, I would have been a Chapeltown boy and this would be my hometown gig.”
The scale of the venue will allow Costello and Nieve to stage something akin to the widely acclaimed “100 Songs In 10 Nights (& More)” stand at the intimate Gramercy Theatre, New York City, in February 2023, for which 100 titles were advertised but well over 230 different songs were finally performed.
Unsurpassed in variety and voluminosity, Costello’s renowned refrains, romances, broadsides, bulletins and ballads are perfectly matched by Steve Nieve’s pulchritudinous and pulsating piano playing. The paragon of the profound and the peculiar, these premier performers present a penetrating pageant for perceptive and perspicacious patrons.
Those who want to attend all four contrasting shows in this exclusive engagement can obtain a special season ticket to include premium seats for each show in the front rows or boxes with exclusive use of the bar in between shows.
Do not dilly-dally or delay to avoid disappointment.
