Elvis Costello & the Imposters with Charlie Sexton

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Mark Seliger

A close-up of Elvis Costello.

Elvis Costello

With a deep and diverse songbook to draw from, Elvis Costello concerts tend to be wide-ranging affairs. His current tour with the Imposters, “Radio Soul: The Early Songs of Elvis Costello” focuses on his albums up to Blood and Chocolate…a period before collaborations with classical ensembles or Burt Bacharach, but still stylistically diverse. The Imposters are joined by guitarist Charlie Sexton for some extra rock. And be warned: EC has indicated this may be the last go-round in a live setting for some of this material.

media release: Elvis Costello has extended his “Radio Soul!: The Early Songs of Elvis Costello” tour with 22 new East Coast and Midwest dates starting September 18th in Bethlehem, PA and running through October 22nd in Omaha, NE.   

As previously announced, the first leg of the “Radio Soul!: The Early Songs of Elvis Costello” tour, performed by Elvis Costello & The Imposters with Charlie Sexton, spans June 12th in Seattle, WA through Miami Beach, FL on July 12th.

As the playful billing suggests, the show will feature numbers drawn from record releases from “My Aim Is True” in 1977 to “Blood & Chocolate” in 1986, along with other surprises.   

Those nine years saw the first appearance of some of Elvis Costello’s most renowned compositions from “Watching The Detectives” to “I Want You”, along with songs that have remained in The Imposters’ live repertoire over the last 20 or more years, including “Alison,” “Man Out Of Time” and “Brilliant Mistake.”   

Asked about the surprising theme of this tour, Costello responded:   

“For any songwriter, it has to be a compliment if people want to hear songs written up to fifty years ago. Among them, “Radio Soul,” the first draft of what eventually became “Radio Radio.”   

Regarding the decision to sharpen the focus on a specific period of time, Costello reminded us:     

“You can expect the unexpected and the faithful in equal measure. Don’t forget this show is “Performed by Elvis Costello & The Imposters”, an ensemble which includes three people who first recorded this music and two more who bring something entirely new. They are nobody’s tribute band.  

The Imposters are a living, breathing, swooning, kicking and screaming rock and roll band who can turn their hands to a pretty ballad when the opportunity arises.” 

The Imposters are Steve Nieve, Pete Thomas and Davey Faragher and they are joined once again by guitarist, Charlie Sexton.   

 Recent performances of Elvis Costello & The Imposters with Charlie Sexton received widespread acclaim:   

“Costello is proving he’s an indefatigable force of nature, and one of the greatest showmen in the history of rock ’n’ roll. We’re lucky to bear witness.” – Nashville Scene, 1/30/24  

“Elvis Costello and the Imposters laid the crowd to waste.” – Riverfront Times, 1/30/24    

Costello concluded:  

"If there is an encore and we play, “Farewell, OK”, it probably means some of those “Early Songs” will have been performed in your city for the very last time. I don’t want to go back, I want to bring these songs into the present day, once more, in the event they are ever pushed out of the way by the next number that I write.   

You could say time is running out but only time will tell.  

Don’t be late, the band hits at eight.”  

This tour follows the fall 2024 release of “King Of America & Other Realms” - a 6-CD anthology that tells the story of that 1986 album and the music to which it led. The “King Of America” songs are expected to be heard in the mid-show interlude, along with songs written as long ago as 1975 and even some of those “pretty ballads” that Costello has promised.