There is a moment in the Season 2 premiere of "Spectacle: Elvis Costello With..." where the camera catches a look on the faces of a few people in the audience who are beginning to put together what Costello, in an improvised musical introduction, is getting at when he talks about rock gods of the past and the rare few in the last 20 or so years who have climbed the mountain. He's going on about four lads from Dublin, Ireland. Their smiles widen. One person mouths "wow" as Costello turns and introduces Bono and the Edge from U2 - his first guests on television's best music show.Filmed at both the Apollo Theater in New York and the Masonic Temple in Toronto, "Spectacle" is the result of unique thinking and smart decision-making at Sundance - branching out to make a show that takes the time to take music and artists seriously. But mostly the show works because Costello is the ideal host.
Part interview, part jam session and periodically a ridiculously fun and rare romp through forgotten chestnuts, "Spectacle" is the kind of series that gives singers, songwriters and musicians their due - instead of adding them on at the end of a late-night talk show to sell an album or to make the show look hip.
The first two episodes of Season 2 prove immediately the diverse appeal of the show and Costello's sense of the moment. The jaded among you might think that another 12 seconds of Bono might, in fact, be 11 more than you can tolerate, but the U2 front man either gives up the posturing and cumbersome earnestness to tell old school tales about the band or Costello niftily guides him away from the soapbox. Either way we get a bit of musical history (U2 was once fourth on a bill headlined by Costello), some wonderful tales (especially one involving Frank Sinatra) and myriad songs. The audience, who didn't know Bono and the Edge were the guests, is clearly appreciative.
source:www.sfgate.com
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