ELVIS COSTELLO, we heart. The bespectacled Brit inspires, tours, and works with some of the hippest cats around. Cats like alt-country songbird JENNY LEWIS, who joined him at New York’s Edison Ballroom last Thursday night for a party celebrating his new TV show, SPECTACLE: ELVIS COSTELLO WITH…
The series promises to be exactly that — a showcase for famous talents and an inside look at how they develop their sounds. Costello will host and interview, and so far, the lineup looks pretty damn good, if a little gray — JAMES TAYLOR, THE POLICE and LOU REED are all scheduled to appear. Guests will perform “new, stripped-down, or solo versions of some of their best and most loved songs,” and as an added incentive to DVR, Costello will open each show with his own interpretation of a featured guest’s song.
“I’m not interested in extracting some dark secret,” Costello has said. “I’d rather hear about a bright secret, a deep love or a curiosity that might be otherwise obscured by fame. This is a wonderful opportunity to talk in complete thoughts about music, movies, art or even vaudeville, then frame it with unique and illustrative performances.”
Spectacle premieres Wednesday, December 3 at 9 p.m. on the Sundance Channel.
Will you be tuning in? And can you remember if Costello was any good when he sat in for DAVID LETTERMAN a few years back?
– Jill Krasny
photos: Sara Jaye Weiss / Sundance Channel