Elvis Costello and the Imposters, who had to interrupt a spring 2020 U.K. tour when the pandemic kicked in, will be picking up where they didn’t leave off — as kings of America, hitting the U.S. for a month-long theater tour in October and November.
It may be no accident that the tour kickoff gig Oct. 13 is at Graceland, home of a well-regarded namesake.
Costello’s tour is routed first through the South, including a previously announced stop at New Orleans’ Jazz & Heritage Festival, then up through the Northeast for gigs that include one night at Philadelphia’s Met and two at Port Chester, NY’s Capitol Theatre. After moving through the Midwest, the trek ends in the southwest, with a penultimate night at the Los Angeles-area YouTube Theater. (If you live in L.A. and haven’t heard of the YouTube, don’t worry — the new venue, adjacent to SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, still hasn’t opened for business yet.) The tour wraps up at Oakland’s venerable Fox Theatre Nov. 14… with a “for now” asterisk on that finale, lending some hope to fans in the Northwest and elsewhere for a possible additional leg.
Tickets go on sale Friday at 10 a.m. local time at elviscostello.
Dubbed “Hello Again,” the tour promises the expected look back through the 44-year Costello catalog (presumably with at least some representation from a 2020 album he hasn’t yet had a chance to tour behind, “Hey Clockface”), and also even newer songs, or, as a press release put it, “the first stage performances of songs from the future, as the band time-travel in all directions.”
Since the tour is not called “Hola! Again,” chances are that this year’s set lists will not include any selections from what will be Costello’s newest release come fall: “Spanish Model,” a just-announced project in which Latin stars like Juanes and Luis Fonsi provide new lead vocals en espanol to the original backing tracks from 1978’s “This Year’s Model.” That album arrives Sept. 10.
Costello’s fall 2021 tour dates:
10/13 – Memphis, TN @ The Soundstage at Graceland
10/16 – New Orleans, LA @ New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival
10/19 – Atlanta, GA @ Coca-Cola Roxy
10/20 – Charlotte, NC @ Belk Theater
10/22 – Red Bank, NJ @ Count Basie Center for the Arts
10/24 – Philadelphia, PA @ The Met
10/25 – Port Chester, NY @ The Capitol Theatre
10/26 – Port Chester, NY @ The Capitol Theatre
10/28 – Providence, RI @ Providence Performing Arts Center
10/29 – Portsmouth, NH @ The Music Hall
10/30 – Brookville, NY @ Tilles Center
11/2 – Ann Arbor, MI @ Michigan Theater
11/3 – Chicago, IL @ Chicago Theatre
11/4 – Prior Lake, MN @ Mystic Lake Casino
11/6 – Madison, WI @ The Sylvee
11/7 – Indianapolis, IN @ Murat Theatre at Old National Centre
11/10 – Phoenix, AZ @ Arizona Federal Theatre
11/11 – San Diego, CA @ The Magnolia
11/13 – Los Angeles, CA @ YouTube Theater
11/14 – Oakland, CA @ Fox Theater
