Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		3.0
Overall		4.0

Elvis Costello: Spectacle Season 2 Blu-ray Movie Review

Thankfully, Elvis is back to make a spectacle of himself again.

One of the seemingly weirder showbiz marriages is the one between Elvis Costello and Diana Krall. The two would seem to be like oil and water. Costello came up during the punk era but went against the grain and made being a geek seem kind of hip. Krall, on the other hand, is hip to her very core (though some accuse her of being pseudo-hip, rightly or wrongly). Like Donnie and Marie used to sing, “I’m a little bit country, and I’m a little bit rock ‘n’ roll,” the perhaps odd joining of a rock-pop sensibility with a jazz one might not seem on its surface to have staying power. But Spectacle, Elvis Costello’s surprisingly ingratiating music-interview hybrid, perhaps shows why Krall is so smitten with her husband. Costello is able to easily articulate all sorts of interesting ideas about a wide variety of music genres, and he is unfailingly self-deprecating and kind of buffoonishly humorous a lot of the time. Spectacle allows Costello to be both musician and host, and he performs both duties well, if at times a bit haltingly. This second season of Spectacle sees the multi-hyphenate undertaking interviewing and jamming with a wide variety of subjects, and even those who couldn’t care less about Costello individually may well find a lot to interest them in this series.

• Bono and the Edge. The U2 boys come onstage after Costello and his band move through a reggae inspired take on U2’s “Mysterious Ways.” Costello jokes that he had told someone he was interviewing an Irishman and a Welshman and that some might be expecting Van Morrison and Tom Jones. Bono and Edge are immediately put at ease and share a lot of information on the bands that inspired them growing up, bands which include perhaps unexpected influences like Kraftwerk (which Edge compliments for its “nihilistic approach to the back beat”), the Banshees and Echo and the Bunnymen. They get into their long relationship with Brian Eno, and also bring up their perhaps unexpected friendship with none other than Frank Sinatra. I personally would have loved to have heard more about their long delayed and infamously troubled Spiderman: Turn Up the Dark, but you can’t have everything.
  
• Sheryl Crow, Ron Sexsmith, Neko Case and Jesse Winchester. This kind of quasi-guitar summit and jam session is an almost all music episode with a few brief bridging interview-commentary segments as the various artists introduce and talk about the songs they’re going to perform. While Crow is arguably the best known of the quintet (including Costello), all of the performers acquit themselves quite admirably. Neko is especially good as she talks about her long love of Harry Nilsson, before launching into Nilsson’s “Don’t Forget Me.” As a keyboard player myself, I must take issue with the fact that they stuck their pianist-accompanist so far upstage you can barely see him. To paraphrase Rodney Dangerfield, keys guys don’t get no respect.


• Richard Thompson, Allen Toussaint, Nick Lowe and Levon Helm. This is an interesting episode which has the primary conceit of Costello putting together a “dream band” consisting of the four guests. He brings them all on individually and spends some time interviewing them before the episode wraps up with a group jam. This is a wonderfully wide ranging episode which covers everything from Celtic and British folk music (courtesy of Thompson) to New Orleans blues and jazz (courtesy of Toussaint). The Toussaint segment is quite touching as the legendary pianist is on his first-ever tour necessitated by the devastation of his home city at the windy hands of Hurricane Katrina. Costello also elicits a hearty laugh from the audience when he talks about how amazed he was the first time he saw Nick Lowe perform, not believing that Lowe could play bass and sing simultaneously.


• Mary Louise Parker. The tables are rather invitingly turned in this episode, which features the actress and music lover interviewing Elvis. Costello has some fantastic anecdotes about growing up in suburbia both before and during the punk years. His father was a professional trumpet player who performed onstage with The Beatles and Burt Bacharach in a 1963 Royal Command Performance (Costello still has the autographs of the Fab Four his Dad brought home to him that night). Interestingly, Costello would famously go on to collaborate with Bacharach and Paul McCartney. But Parker is able to get Costello to grudgingly admit that he was able to make being a nerd kind of cool. The episode features Costello in performance as well, including doing one of the songs he co-wrote with Paul.


• Lyle Lovett, Ray LaMontagne and John Prine. This is another fascinating exploration of songwriting craft, as Elvis brings each of these gentlemen out separately and interviews them about their writing style after they’ve each performed a solo song. Prine talks about how unexpected “Lake Marie” was, while Lovett somewhat humorously describes gaining inspiration from the juxtaposition of the wildly cheering crowds at a football game he was watching on television with the sober news promo shown as a commercial. Ray performs “Jolene,” not the Dolly Parton song, and goes on to express his astonishment that he’s able to make a living with music. All three of the guys express a fondness for Townes Van Zandt, and they close the episode along with Elvis doing a nice version of Townes’ “Loretta.”
• Bruce Springsteen Parts One and Two. Elvis might give away who the guest is with his opening rendition of “She’s the One,” so that by the time he launches into his typically humorous rap to introduce his guest, the audience is already quivering with excitement. And then suddenly, there’s Bruce, just sitting there, joking with Elvis about all manner of things and once again proving that he is without a doubt about the most natural, down to earth rock icon imaginable. The kind of funny thing in this opening gambit is how Boss-like Elvis himself sounds on the opening tune, as if he’s actually channeling his longtime friend. Springsteen offers a really interesting assortment of opinions on all sorts of things, including the kind of shocking admission that back in the 1960’s guys from New Jersey had more often than not even been to New York, despite its proximity. That very fact, however, led to the development of a regional sound for all sorts of Jersey communities, Asbury Park included. There are some very funny moments in this two part episode, including Elvis’ confession that at a 1978 Nashville Springsteen concert he (Elvis) showed up wearing a 10 gallon hat and a cowboy outfit that Bruce has evidently never forgotten. Elvis leads Bruce through a chronology of his albums, dealing with various aspects of many of the major ones. Bruce in turn confesses that the thing he’s most asked questions about is not one of his albums or songs but his appearance at a Roy Orbison benefit. The two then launch into an appealing “Pretty Woman” in honor of Roy. Elvis spends a few minutes complimenting Patti Scialfa and Bruce and Elvis then sing her touching “Black Ladder.” The second episode closes with a rousing rendition of “The Rising.”

Elvis Costello: Spectacle Season 2 Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Spectacle's second season looks nicely crisp courtesy of an AVC encoded 1080i transfer in 1.78:1. While the series is not mindblowing by any standard, it certainly looks sharp and very well detailed for what amounts to a concert-interview hybrid. Colors are especially robust throughout the series, with some great purples, blues and reds augmenting the more natural stage lighting. Fine detail is well above average in the close-up and medium range shots, though a certain degree of softness creeps into the image in far range shots and those of the audience due to the lighting schemes. There is some minor crushing at times especially in the upstage areas where some of the backdrops tend to fade into nothingness, but otherwise this is a clear and precise looking offering that should please fans very much.

Elvis Costello: Spectacle Season 2 Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Spectacle is presented with two very fine lossless tracks, a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and an LPCM 2.0 stereo fold down. Both of these options are very appealing, with the surround track not offering really overly aggressive immersion but a "kinder, gentler" sonic experience that does involve the rears mostly for hall ambience. That said, this is Costello and guests more or less "unplugged," despite the appearance of electric instruments from time to time, and as such, the DTS track offers really incredibly lucid fidelity that brings out every jangle of the guitar, thump of the drums and thwack of the bass quite clearly. The interview segments are equally easy to hear, though they are once again anchored in the front channels.

Elvis Costello: Spectacle Season 2 Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Behind the Scenes Documentary: Spectacle: Elvis Costello With. . . Inside Notes (1080i; 42:11). This is a great little featurette, hosted by David Furnish, the show's producer and creator. The featurette ping pongs back and forth between New York's legendary Apollo Theater and Toronto Masonic Temple, where various episodes were filmed. None other than Sir Elton John, the show's Executive Producer, shows up in an interview segment. hosted by david Furnish one of the producers and creators of the show.
• Bonus Songs
  
  Elvis Costello and The Impostors "Dirty Day" (1080i; 4:31)
  Bono, Edge and Elvis Costello "Alison" (1080i; 4:14)
  Elvis Costello and The Impostors "I Want You" (1080i; 9:09)

Elvis Costello: Spectacle Season 2 Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Spectacle proves Elvis Costello isn't just another pretty face. Or something like that. This completely interestihg and compelling series manages to offer both great music as well as great insight into the creative process. Costello makes for a very affable host and his line up of guest stars is first rate. If you haven't experienced this show yet, this Blu-ray should be on your wish list pronto. If you're a fan already, you don't need me to tell you this release is Highly recommended.