1986-10-21 Elvis Costello and The Attractions

Broadway Theater

This was my first of many great performances by Elvis.

This was the opening show of Elvis' 1986 run on Broadway. Previous to these shows, I had not heard of any rock bands playing shows in a true Broadway theatre (while the Beacon is on Broadway, it is not in the "theatre district"), and so this was truely a special event.

On the two nights I attended, he played with the original members of the Attractions, including Bruce Thomas on bass. This night was a regular show by the Attractions, while on other nights he did the Spinning Songbook show or played with the Confederates.

I was fortunate to have excellent Orchestra seats for N1.

News coverage of the Broadway run of shows.

1986-10-24 Elvis Costello and The Attractions (Spinning Songbook)

Broadway Theater

This show took a different format than N1. Elvis would continue to do “Spinning Songbook” shows in later years; to my knowledge this was the first such show. There was a spinning “wheel of fortune” onstage with names of songs, and with some members of the audience having a chance to spin the wheel and/or dance with go-go dancer "Kitty" in a cage onstage. As Wayne Robbins mentions in the review below, the first line of “Accidents Will Happen” provided a perfect opening for this ‘Broadway’ show when the curtain opened. Looking back after seeing many later Costello shows, it was the only time I saw the Attractions in their original form, playing a regular set onstage.

More news clippings from this run of shows.