Sir Elton John and David Furnish may know diddly about animation but they put together an amazing show about music with Spectacle: Elvis Costello With . . . Featuring the bespectacled rocker talking music with everyone from Bruce Springsteen to Neko Case, its Inside the Actor's Studio by and for musicians.
The Season 2 DVD continues that show's winning ways, whether it's a session with members of U2, song writing throw-downs with names like Sheryl Crow and Lyle Lovett, or Costello assembling a band of under-appreciated music legends.
Spectacle: Elvis Costello With . . . Season Two DVD Features Bono and The Edge, Bruce Springsteen, Sheryl Crow
For those who haven't seen it before, Spectacle features Elvis jamming with his band The Imposters before bringing out his guest, whether it's bona fide rock stars (Bruce Springsteen), young turks (Neko Case) or someone who's been more influential than successful (John Prine or Nick Lowe). Elvis then chats with that guest, asking them about their song writing process and love of music before having them join him and The Imposters for a jam. Quite often that jam will feature a mash-up of a Costello tune with one of theirs, like 'Pump It Up' morphing into U2's 'Get on Your Boots.'
Costello is not only a formidable musician who has dabbled in everything from punk to classical, but a highly literate music fan who knows great music is only stronger when it's ripped from its mythology. Therefore he encourages his guests to just be themselves, whether it's Smokey Robinson admitting that several of his hits were actually recorded in England, or the Boss and Elvis train-wrecking a cover of Roy Orbison's 'Pretty Woman.' Ironically, the roughness of these musical collaborations demonstrate what great musicians they are, able to weave magic at a moment's notice.
It helps that Elvis is incredibly self-effacing in letting his guest have the floor, no matter what their commercial stature. He's also smart enough to avoid the smugness that's infected recent seasons of James Lipton's Inside the Actor's Studio.
Not surprisingly, Elvis' guests tend to be from either his generation or beforehand, but his star power is enough to allow him to book figures like New Orleans pianist/producer Allen Toussaint or British folkie Richard Thompson who wouldn't even register with people his own age, let alone the Lady Gaga generation. It's great that Spectacle makes time to these under-appreciated legends but a few more young turks - or artists outside of his genre - wouldn't go amiss. How about getting Robert Randolph in a future episode? Béla Fleck and the Flecktones? Rush?
Spectacle: Elvis Costello With . . . Season Two DVD Extras
Producer David Furnish takes the viewer behind the scenes at both The Apollo Theatre in New York City and The Masonic Temple in Toronto to witness how the show comes together. In the process, he chats with Elvis and several of his guests including Ron Sexsmith (who admits that Elvis literally saved his career when he held a copy of Sexsmith's first CD on the cover of a magazine), Sheryl Crow plus Bono and The Edge.
There are also three bonus tunes: Elvis covering U2's 'Dirty Day' and Elvis' own 'I Want You' and The Edge sitting in on a cover of 'Alison.'
Spectacle: Elvis Costello With . . . Season Two a Must-Have
In a time when music has become wallpaper, a show like Spectacle: Elvis Costello With . . . takes greater importance. It's not only the best show about music currently on the air, the best talk show on the air and one of the best TV shows in production.
A powerful love letter to the power of music, Spectacle: Elvis Costello With . . . Season Two DVD earns a well-deserved 5/5.
Dominic von Riedemann - Dominic is the Animated Film Feature Writer, and winner of 11 Suite 101 Editors' Choice Awards.
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