The Spinning Songbook

Has anyone seen Elvis on his current tour? I have a chance to see him this week.

I saw him last year with the spinning wheel. It was a good time though the wheel only had a minimal effect on the song selection. Go and enjoy!

If the live CD/DVD that came out last week (culled down from the $300 box set) is any indication, you're in for quite a show.

Thanks for the input. Got a ticket! The show is this Thursday. Full TP report forthcoming.

On a slightly related note, I just picked up a pair of tickets for Van Halen/Kool and the Gang @ Philips Arena on Thursday, April 19th. Face value: $100. My cost: $19.

It appears David Lee & the Van Halens may have overestimated their draw if tickets are going for 80% off in Atlanta, the hair metal capital of the East.

Just checked on the Denver show. I'm not seeing any $19 tickets, but there are still some premium seats available for the taking at that one. Oh well ... enjoy the show, Jermoe!

It might have to do with VH's tour with Roth in 2009. That tour was a big success, sure, but maybe, after seeing what Dave and the Van Halen brothers are like today (and seeing Wolfgang try gamely to fill Michael Anthony's shoes), the ticket-buying fans have decided to skip this go-'round. I mean, a new album is one thing, but from the videos I've seen, Roth's current stage presence is pretty weak.

I've mulled this one over a bit. My tickets came from a "broker" that specializes in this type of underperforming show. The tickets they sent me indicated they were originally part of a block designated for an American Express Blue cardholder pre-sale. So I'm wondering if the promoters still get their full cut while American Express takes the hit.

My expectations for this show: low.

Okay, steering this thread back to its original topic ...

The show last night was terrific! It was at the Paramount Theater in Seattle, a beautiful old venue that reminds me a lot of the theater of the same name in Denver (including the big vertical PARAMOUNT sign out front). The big spinning wheel was stage left, along with the "dancing cage" at stage right. A bar counter and a couple of barstools were set up in front of the keyboards — "the society lounge," Elvis called it.

They didn't utilize the wheel until the sixth tune in the set, but that opening five-song salvo was almost worth the price of the ticket. The Imposters were tight, and EC was in excellent voice. Davey Farragher has learned to add some fine backing vocals ... or maybe he always had that talent, and EC has just recently started implementing it. Steve Nieve is as gifted and as florid on the keys as he ever was. Pete Thomas remains a force to be reckoned with — the British Clem Burke. (I didn't know his daughter is the drummer for The Like!)

A pretty blond woman in a purple show-girl leotard and black lace stockings would bring people up from the audience to spin the wheel. EC went down and picked out a couple of folks himself. After spinning it, the folks would take a seat in the society lounge, or dance in the cage while the band played. (The girl who spun "Waiting for the End of the World" could've danced up there all night; I don't think anyone in the band or any male in the audience would've complained.)

Elvis was much more talkative than during any of his other shows I'd seen; I guess the Spinning Songbook brings out the entertainer in him. He was very much the game-show host, which really kept the whole show's mood upbeat. (I didn't know he had it in him.) Before playing "No Particular Place to Go," Elvis told the crowd that he'd recently played it at an award ceremony honoring the man who wrote it. He said it was the scariest moment of his career, playing a Chuck Berry song in front of Chuck: "This is a man who once punched Keith Richards!"

Nose was right that the wheel had minimal influence on the song selection — especially since EC would occasionally "cheat" by nudging the wheel to end up on a title he apparently preferred to play. The "audience vote" came when the lucky participant spun it to "The Joker"; EC asked her to name three of his songs, and then put it to the audience to select which one the band would play.

Definitely money well spent! (Although concert parking in Seattle is even more expensive than in Denver.) I drove back to my hotel with a huge grin on my face.

As you can see, last night's setlist covered a lot of ground, from My Aim Is True all the way up through National Ransom. (Apology in advance, if noting the covers offends your intelligence.)

I Hope You're Happy Now
Heart of the City (Nick Lowe cover)
Mystery Dance
Uncomplicated
Radio, Radio
She (Charles Aznavour cover) (spin)
Rocking Horse Road/Wild Thing (Troggs cover)
Man Called Uncle
All This Useless Beauty/Do You Know What I'm Saying?
Turpentine (spin)
Accidents Will Happen (spin)
I Don't Want to Go to Chelsea
Waiting for the End of the World (spin)
Hurry Down Doomsday (The Bugs Are Taking Over)
No Particular Place to Go (Chuck Berry cover)
Peace Love and Understanding (spin)
Girls Talk (spin)
This Year's Girl
Party Girl
Shipbuilding (spin)
Talking in the Dark
Deep Dark Truthful Mirror (spin)
Please Please Me (Beatles cover)

ENCORE:
A Slow Drag with Josephine
Jimmie Standing in the Rain/Brother, Can You Spare a Dime? (Rudy Vallee cover)
Veronica
Watching the Detectives (audience vote)
This Wheel's on Fire (Dylan cover) (spin)
The River in Reverse
I'll Take Care of You
Every Day I Write the Book (spin)

Sounds pretty great, Delvin. I'm sorry I'll be missing him tonight in Portland....

It was a splendid show. I truly wish my wife could've seen it with me. Between the music, the overall sense of fun and the gorgeous old venue, she would've been in fan-girl heaven.