A Late Night Spectacle with Elvis and Friends (Spectacle: Elvis Costelllo with ...)

Member Name: Zmugzy

Product:	Spectacle: Elvis Costelllo with ...
Date:	03/04/09 (226 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Quality guests, quality chat and quality music.

Disadvantages: Too much Elton John. Too late in the evening.

Spectacle is a late night Channel 4 music and chat show presented by novice chat show host Elvis Costello. It's been tucked away in the late night schedules on a Thursday night so you might not have noticed it. The programmes are made by the US arts cable channel Sundance.

The show consists of Elvis sitting uncomfortably holding a large clip board stuffed with notes whilst interviewing not only musicians and songwriters, but also personalities from the world of politics and film. The conversations with guests are very informal and the studio audience are invited to participate by asking questions of the guests. There are musical interludes from both guests and Elvis himself. So far the show has hosted some quality personalities including The Police, Bill Clinton, James Taylor, Smokey Robinson, Lou Reed, Diana Krall, Elton John and Tony Bennett.

The show has had some criticism, in particular from music critic Neil McCormick of the Telegraph who questions Costello's capability to "cut it as a chat show host". It's true Elvis has been a little awkward at times when interviewing the likes of Lou Reed and Bill Clinton. However, although it's clear that Elvis is not the new Michael Parkinson, I found the show to be somewhat reminiscent of the original 'Parky' shows and the chat show style of the 70s period when guests were interviewed to gain insight into their achievements and motivations and not in order to allow them air time to promote their latest book or CD as is so often the sole purpose of the modern chat show. On Spectacle it was a refreshing change to hear chat show guests merely talking freely about their experiences, interests and influences. Elvis's slightly awkward manner and nervousness at asking questions merely adds to the atmosphere and intimacy of the interviews, giving the whole process a refreshing edginess so lacking in so many over-contrived chat shows nowadays.

I haven't seen every show but I really enjoyed the interviews with Lou Reed and Bill Clinton. Just getting them two onto a show in the first place is an achievement in itself. Reed talks openly in a relaxed manner with Costello and the audience about his love of art, literature and music - in particular R&B, and his home town New York. He also gives considerable insight into the processes of his own creative ability as a singer songwriter and Lou has his guitar handy to demonstrate the construction of one of his classic compositions. He is joined half way through the interview by Julian Schnabel, his close friend and collaborator on the film "Berlin", who seems to spontaneously step out from the audience. Schnabel at one point unexpectedly begins to narrate the complete lyrics of 'Rock Minuet' a song from the Live Berlin album. The programme ends as Lou accompanies Elvis for two song performances.

Costello's cosy chat with the 42nd President of the United States was also a highly enjoyably episode that gave an intimate and revealing insight into the part music played in President Bill Clinton's life. He talks of his early aspirations to be a jazz saxophonist and explains the moment when he had to choose between politics and music. Clinton's breadth of musical knowledge also comes to the fore as he makes informed comments about Elvis Presley, John Coltrane and John Lennon. Special guest musicians on this show are Charlie Haden and Pat Metheny who perform a moving rendition of "Is This America?"

My one criticism is that the show at times has come across as an 'Elvis and friends get together'. The one episode I found slightly self indulgent and a little bit of a bore was the one where Elvis takes a back seat whilst his wife Diana Krall chats at the piano with Elton John. (Elton had already previously been interviewed by Elvis in episode 2). After doing some research online I then discovered that Elton is the executive producer of the show. Nevertheless. I still rate the show overall very highly and clearly a lot of thought has gone into the format and production process of the show. If you have missed any of the episodes you can catch up with some of them on the Channel 4 website.

Summary: A quality musical chat show