The Television Critics Association press tour is cuurently underway and today brought us some more news (including a premiere date) about Elvis Costello’s new TV variety show, “Spectacle: Elvis Costello with…”.

Sundance will be debuting Elvis Costello’s new show Spectacle: Elvis Costello with… on December 3rd at 9:00 p.m. ET / PT. Spectacle, a talk show that features artists talking about music and their influences, is produced by Elton John’s company Rocket Pictures. John is also one of Costello’s guests.

Costello attended TCA yesterday and explained the premise of the show. He wants the artists to talk about things they normally wouldn’t discuss in the classic five minute late night network interview.

From the video package, we saw that Bill Clinton is also one of Costello’s guests. On why the former president would be included on a talk show about music (other than his awesome sax playing), Costello said that he felt politicians need the same qualtiies musicians do for success: the ability to command an audience and a grasp of proper cadence. He added that Clinton was probably happy to be on a show just talking about music.

Costello explained that each show will open with a musical number either by the artist or in reference to the artist. “If they’ve just written a song and they want to sing it that’s fine,” he says of the artists promoting their work. But the host points out that the show gives artists an opportunity to showcase themselves in a different light. [TVSquad.com]

Elvis Costello recently received an honorary doctorate in music from the University of Liverpool.

ONE of Merseyside’s adopted sons, who earned his spurs on the city’s folk club circuit, has been honoured by the University of Liverpool. Elvis Costello was made a doctor of music at the Philharmonic Hall yesterday in recognition of a varied career which has encompassed post punk and high opera. “I’m slightly humbled to receive it in the company of those who have actually been working hard for their degrees,” he joked yesterday, before a packed theatre of graduates. [Liverpool Daily Post] - via The Costello-A List

The (RED) organization, a nonprofit that raises money to fight the AIDS epidemic in Africa, has just announced the creation of a music service that will feature new songs by U2, Bob Dylan, Elvis Costello, Elton John, Emmylou Harris and Death Cab for Cutie. In addition to that exclusive content, subscribers to the (RED) music service will have access to almost all of the content from the forthcoming Sundance Channel series, “Spectacle: Elvis Costello With …“.

The still-unnamed service, which is scheduled to start in September, will deliver customers three new pieces of exclusive content a week for a monthly fee of $5. Half of that money will go through (RED) to the Global Fund, and the other half will go to the artists who contribute songs and to their record companies. As with (RED)’s branded products, like a special iPod and Motorola phone, companies will sacrifice part but not all of their profits, and consumers will know that some of the money they spend goes to the AIDS-in-Africa cause.

Each week (RED)’s service will deliver two songs in MP3 format, one from a superstar act like U2, whose frontman, Bono, was a co-founder of (RED), and one from a less established artist. The third piece of content will be a “crackerjack surprise,” a song, video or short story.
…
(RED) will get some of its songs from “Spectacle: Elvis Costello With …,” a music-theme talk show that will make its debut on the Sundance Channel this fall. The organization will be able to use almost all the music performed by Mr. Costello and his guests, although it will not necessarily take all of it. “If you’re going to create something,” Mr. Costello said, “it’s good to know that there’s more to it than profit.” [NYTimes.com]

If I wasn’t sick as a dog yesterday, I probably would have read my email sooner and posted about this show last night. Apparently Elvis and The Imposters went on around midnight and were joined by Jonathan Rice, Jonathan Wilson, and Pete Thomas’ daughter Tennessee. Perhaps some pics of this show will turn up on Flickr soon.

Elvis Costello

Restaurant critic Frank Bruni gave David Chang’s Momofuku Ko a rating of 3 stars (excellent) in today’s New York Times. While pop critic Ben Ratliff called Elvis Costello’s latest record, Momofuku, “effortlessly tossed off,” in yesterday’s paper.

You can stream a good portion of the new Elvis record on the Lost Highway site and judge for yourself.

Momofuku Tracklisting & Audio
1. No Hiding Place: Stream
2. American Gangster Time: Stream
3. Turpentine: Stream
4. Harry Worth
5. Drum and Bone
6. Flutter and Wow: Stream
7. Stella Hurt
8. Mr. Feathers
9. My Three Sons
10. Song With Rose
11. Pardon Me Madam, My Name Is Eve
12. Go Away: Stream

PS You see what I did there?

Contrary to popular rumor, Elvis Costello’s new record, Momofuku will be released on CD, vinyl, and as a digital download. The 2 LP vinyl record is available today (April 22) and the CD is being released May 6. As previously mentioned, Elvis and The Imposters are going on tour with The Police this summer and they are playing three NYC area shows in August. All Elvis Costello and The Imposters tour dates after the jump.

“Momofuku Out On Vinyl Today (CD Coming May 6)” continued after the jump

HI!
Just wanted to say thanks for attending.
If you did miss the shows they were amazing!!
Very intimate & great performances.
One of a kind setting & of course, Elvis!!

IF you did make it,
OUR producers LOVED the crowd.
GREAT ENERGY, very diverse & a good vibe.
It helped make the shoot look amazing & Elvis loved the audience as
well.

FOR THOSE THAT HAVE NOT RESERVED TICKETS ALREADY,
They wanted to extend the opportunity for tickets to
The LAST 2 SHOWS till SEPTEMBER.
LET US KNOW ASAP if you want seats.
You can pass on to friend family BUT we will be out of tickets by
this weekend so pass along or respond ASAP!!

You are invited to receive
4 COMPLIMENTARY TV TICKETS AT NBC STUDIO!!
TO Both or either of the following shows…
THESE ARE OUR FINAL SHOWS UNTIL SEPTEMBER
Feel free to forward!

Date: TUESDAY April 15th, 2008
ELVIS COSTELLO with TONY BENNETT

Date: WEDNESDAY April 16th, 2008
ELVIS COSTELLO with LOU REED

Audience Arrival: 5:45pm
Taping Time: 7:00-9:00pm
Location: Studio 8-H
49 West 49th Street, NYC, NY 10020

EMAIL MIKE@GOTHAMCASTING.COM
Include name, age, phone #, how many tickets you need & guest names

More “Spectacle” taping information after the jump.

“More “Spectacle” Tapings | Tony Bennett & Lou Reed” continued after the jump

Elvis Costello, Nick Lowe and Robyn Hitchcock @ The Grand Ballroom (04/09/08)

Photo: Sketchguy

Sketchguy reports from last night’s Robyn Hitchcock/Nick Lowe show the Grand Ballroom at the Manhattan Center:

Last night, I got to see my top two, all-time favorite singer/songwriters on stage together for the first time. And, Nick Lowe too. ;)

During the encore, Nick introduced a very special guest, Mr. Elvis Costello. The crowd, and myself, went wild. They sang a duet of “Indoor Fireworks”, the song Elvis wrote for Nick. I so called this surprise visit earlier during the show when I leaned over to Jonlyn and posited how cool would it be if Elvis came on stage to sing “Peace, Love & Understanding” with Nick?! Little did I know what was in store for the encore.

Robyn then re-joined both Nick and Elvis and sang a beautiful rendition of The Beatles’ “If I Fell”, and the night ended with a raucous interpretation of Elvis Presley’s “Mystery Train” with all three rocking the house. [Sketchbot]

More of Steve’s pictures from last night’s show over here.

The “spectacle” has begun (I kind of doubt there are any tickets left now though):

Hoboken411 and Gotham Casting have teamed up to provide free tickets to local events.

Here some great showings for tomorrow (Tuesday) and Wednesday. RSVP quick! 50 tickets available.

Email mike@gothamcasting.com and include what show you’d like tickets to, how many (up to 4), guest names and ages, and contact phone number. [Hoboken411.com]

Elton John and Elvis Costello

Photo: PR Newswire

I wonder if this means Sir Elton forgives Elvis for the Vanity Fair article.

Two of the most respected musicians in the world will collaborate on an extraordinary new television series.

“Spectacle: Elvis Costello with…” will be hosted by its namesake and produced in conjunction with Sir Elton John’s Rocket Pictures. Elton John will be one of the program’s Executive Producers.

The series will air beginning later this year, on CTV in Canada, Channel 4 in the UK and Sundance Channel in the US. FremantleMedia Enterprises, will handle sales of the show to the rest of the world.

Conceived to provide a forum for in-depth discussion and performance with the most interesting and influential artists and personalities of our time, the show fuses the best of talk and music television.

“Spectacle: Elvis Costello with…” promises to be an unpredictable and unprecedented television experience. The series of 13 one-hour programs will feature everything from intimate one-on-ones with legendary performers and notable newcomers to thematic panel discussions, with a variety of performance elements including unique collaborations, acoustic and impromptu “illustrative” demonstrations of the creative process, and some original interpretations of others’ songs by Costello.

[Press Release Continued After The Jump]

“Elvis Costello and Elton John Make A Spectacle” continued after the jump

Elvis Costello’s “Momofuku” contains 12 new songs pressed on two LPs and includes codes for digital download of the album.

Momfuku Tracklist:
1. No Hiding Place
2. American Gangster Time
3. Turpentine
4. Harry Worth
5. Drum and Bone
6. Flutter and Wow
7. Stella Hurt
8. Mr. Feathers
9. My Three Sons
10. Song With Rose
11. Pardon Me Madam, My Name Is Eve
12. Go Away

Elvis Costello at The Nokia Theatre (05/16/07)

This one has taken the EC community a little by surprise.

Elvis Costello’s next solo studio album, curiously dubbed “Momofuku,” will arrive April 22 via Lost Highway. For the time being, the set will be released only on vinyl, with a digital download code included in the package.

No other details have been released about the follow-up to 2004’s “The Delivery Man,” Costello’s Lost Highway debut with his band the Imposters. [Billboard]

All Elvis Costello and The Imposters tour dates after the jump.

“New Elvis Costello Vinyl/Digital Album In April” continued after the jump

Announced today, The Police will return to North America this summer to play their final area appearances in a number of arenas and amphitheaters, predominantly in markets where they did not perform in 2007. An additional 30 dates have been confirmed beginning May 1st in Ottawa and culminating August 4th at Wantagh, NY’s Jones Beach. Along the way, the tour will also visit The Gorge in Seattle, Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Denver and the Los Angeles Hollywood Bowl.

Elvis Costello and The Imposters will join The Police for the North American portion of this year’s tour.

Exclusive presale for Citi cardmembers only begins Monday, February 18th 10am and ends on February 22nd at 3pm local time. For more information about the presale for Citi cardmembers only, please go to: www.privatepass.citi.com.

The Police fan club presales begin at 10am LOCAL TIME on Wednesday, February 20 for Legacy Members and at noon LOCAL TIME for New Members. The fan club presales will run through 12pm LOCAL TIME on Friday, 22 February.

The Police with Elvis Costello and The Imposters Tour Dates
01-May-2008 Ottawa, ON Scotiabank Place
03-May-2008 Buffalo, NY HSBC Arena
04-May-2008 Columbus, OHNationwide Arena
10-May-2008 Chicago, IL Allstate Arena
13-May-2008 Kansas City, MO Sprint Center
14-May-2008 Omaha, NE Qwest Center
16-May-2008 Orlando, FL Amway Center
17-May-2008 W. Palm Beach, FL Cruzan Amphitheatre
20-May-2008 Houston, TX Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
21-May-2008 Dallas, TX Superpages.com Center
23-May-2008 Las Vegas, NV MGM Grand Hotel & Arena
24-May-2008 Phoenix, AZ Cricket Wireless Pavilion
26-May-2008 San Diego, CA Coors Amphitheatre
27-May-2008 Los Angeles, CA The Hollywood Bowl
11-Jul-2008 Portland, OR Clark County Amphitheatre
12-Jul-2008 Seattle, WA The Gorge
14-Jul-2008 San Francisco, CA Shoreline Amphitheatre
16-Jul-2008 Concord, CA Sleep Train Pavilion
17-Jul-2008 Sacramento, CA Sleep Train Amphitheatre
19-Jul-2008 Salt Lake City, UT USANA Amphitheatre
21-Jul-2008 Denver, CO Red Rocks Amphitheatre
25-Jul-2008 Milwaukee, WI Marcus Amphitheater
26-Jul-2008 Detroit, MI DTE Energy Music Theater
28-Jul-2008 Pittsburgh, PA Post Gazette Pavilion
31-Jul-2008 Boston, MA Tweeter Center
01-Aug-2008 Saratoga, NY Saratoga Performing Arts Center
03-Aug-2008 Holmdel, NJ PNC Bank Arts Center
04-Aug-2008 Wantagh, NY Nikon Jones Beach