Elvis In Iceland with Steve Nieve and Special Guest, Nick Lowe, May 25-29, 2023

Pretty self-explanatory
Offshoreram
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Re: Elvis In Iceland with Steve Nieve and Special Guest, Nick Lowe, May 25-29, 2023

Post by Offshoreram »

I’ve had a few days to consider the trip and looking back it was a special event. Yes, there were certain things that didn’t happen as originally advertised and the raised numbers seemed to put pay to any prolonged interaction with Elvis but overall I guess I was fairly happy with the trip.
The shows and Q&As were all excellent. Prior to the first Q&A we were read the ‘Riot Act’ as the main rep laid down laws that must be observed. Thankfully that fell by the wayside pretty quickly and it became much more relaxed. If they had stuck to the set out rules then I don’t think many would be looking back as fondly.
Obviously my biggest thrill for me was that I requested Tiny Steps at the Q&A and both Elvis and Steve said that would be a good one. Then at the first show he announced it was request time, then told a story about taking bribes, then played Tiny Steps which segued into Waiting for the End of the World. Marvellous! I was intrigued to see Tiny Steps on the sound board setlist for the second show but it wasn’t played.
It was also great to spend a lot of time with Sulky and establish a friendship not only over Elvis but plenty of other things we discovered we had in common. And, of course I got to meet others from on here, some of whom I’d met before briefly but now it’s more than a nodding acquaintance.
Like Sulky, I was surprised by the number on the trip who didn’t seem to have any real background or knowledge with Elvis. I’m sure if you wanted to spend time in Iceland and see a show then there are much cheaper options.
I’m not sure if the raised number attending was a late change as it did seem some of the venues were stretched to capacity to get everyone in.
As previously mentioned, the new Watching the Detectives is really interesting and especially the second version at the Harpa Centre was sonically interesting with sound bouncing around like a Pink Floyd gig.
Oh, and the food was amazing!
Overall I’m really glad I did it. I’m looking forward to the shows in Spain and Hungary later in the year and let’s hope whatever they are planning for next year comes off.
My head is spinning and my legs are weak
MOJO
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Re: Elvis In Iceland with Steve Nieve and Special Guest, Nick Lowe, May 25-29, 2023

Post by MOJO »

Raised numbers is a good thing. EC is in demand. Dang. Plus, more folks to mix and mingle with… always a good time there. Or not.

Here’s hoping they do another island event next year. What is your island of choice? My pick would be any Hawaiian Island or heck, Catalina Island. Close to LA. Maybe the 80s Billy Joel Band from Step Brothers could open! I think ya’ll recognize the drummer and bass player in that band?

https://youtu.be/kFJdl7t2k5E
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verbal gymnastics
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Re: Elvis In Iceland with Steve Nieve and Special Guest, Nick Lowe, May 25-29, 2023

Post by verbal gymnastics »

Thanks offshoreham.

There’s nothing like asking Elvis to do a song and then he does it :D

Good to see you’re still friends with sulky despite spending a lot of time with him :lol:

It was a unique experience (until next time?) and I’m sad not to have been able to go but really pleased for those who did.

I hope somebody recorded it :wink:
Who’s this kid with his mumbo jumbo?
geebot
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Re: Elvis In Iceland with Steve Nieve and Special Guest, Nick Lowe, May 25-29, 2023

Post by geebot »

MOJO wrote:Raised numbers is a good thing. EC is in demand. Dang. Plus, more folks to mix and mingle with… always a good time there. Or not.
Not a "good thing" when we were led to believe it would be more intimate. The issue was more of what was promised vs. delivered for the somewhat hefty price. The "there are a lot of people here" excuse wore thin as people were required to sit in the balcony at the private show and were seated in the wings for other events. The itinerary we saw before we paid was not what we experienced once in Iceland. They relied heavily on "subject to change." Having said that the staff was very accommodating and professional.
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Re: Elvis In Iceland with Steve Nieve and Special Guest, Nick Lowe, May 25-29, 2023

Post by verbal gymnastics »

Has anybody raised this with the organisers?
Who’s this kid with his mumbo jumbo?
sulky lad
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Re: Elvis In Iceland with Steve Nieve and Special Guest, Nick Lowe, May 25-29, 2023

Post by sulky lad »

verbal gymnastics wrote:Thanks offshoreham.

There’s nothing like asking Elvis to do a song and then he does it :D

Good to see you’re still friends with sulky despite spending a lot of time with him :lol:

It was a unique experience (until next time?) and I’m sad not to have been able to go but really pleased for those who did.

I hope somebody recorded it :wink:
You’ll be lucky after those comments :shock: :lol: :lol:
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Re: Elvis In Iceland with Steve Nieve and Special Guest, Nick Lowe, May 25-29, 2023

Post by verbal gymnastics »

:lol:
Who’s this kid with his mumbo jumbo?
MOJO
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Re: Elvis In Iceland with Steve Nieve and Special Guest, Nick Lowe, May 25-29, 2023

Post by MOJO »

geebot wrote:
MOJO wrote:Raised numbers is a good thing. EC is in demand. Dang. Plus, more folks to mix and mingle with… always a good time there. Or not.
Not a "good thing" when we were led to believe it would be more intimate. The issue was more of what was promised vs. delivered for the somewhat hefty price. The "there are a lot of people here" excuse wore thin as people were required to sit in the balcony at the private show and were seated in the wings for other events. The itinerary we saw before we paid was not what we experienced once in Iceland. They relied heavily on "subject to change." Having said that the staff was very accommodating and professional.
Sorry you feel like you were misled. I looked at the Iceland site again, so $6K for two people (3K per person) which includes accommodations, day trips, 3 meals a day, concerts, and Q/As - for 4 nights/5 days in Iceland. That seems like a total bargain to me. Maybe I’m wrong? I’ll take the extra 100 humans - no problem.

I don’t think you can find that deal if you were to book a normal trip to Iceland for 4 nights/5 days. Plus, it included EC, Nick Lowe in concert. Damn, I should have gone to this event. Let’s hope they do another trip like this again (closer to west side of the world). Good times!
Hawksmoor
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Re: Elvis In Iceland with Steve Nieve and Special Guest, Nick Lowe, May 25-29, 2023

Post by Hawksmoor »

So...people who were in Iceland, what were the new songs like? I know that nobody can post recordings or reprint the lyrics or anything, but I think it's OK to ask what they were like?
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thepopeofpop
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Re: Elvis In Iceland with Steve Nieve and Special Guest, Nick Lowe, May 25-29, 2023

Post by thepopeofpop »

Yes, 190 people at Elvis In Iceland, not 100.

The "extra 90" people in the Elvis In Iceland event definitely weren't ringers or locals. They were all EC fans, except for a small number of people (about six) who had been to the Rufus Wainwright event last year and wanted to do another event. I asked them how many people attended the Rufus Event and was advised: 97.

The 4 people seated in the front row at the Harpa Hall show - the two adults who slept through the show and their preteen daughters who were bored - were NOT part of the Elvis in Iceland group. Just random VIPs. Nobody in the front row was part of the Elvis In Iceland group, unless they bought tickets separately (I know someone who did this because they didn't trust the organisers).

Mrs Popey and I were in row 6. Some people wound up in the balcony (in a venue that holds around 1600) because it seems that only 100 tickets were initially purchased for the event.

The venue where the Elvis Q&A was held was completely unsuitable - for the life of me I don't why they couldn't just do it at the hotel we were all staying at: The Grand Hotel had multiple rooms that were large enough to host a lot more than 190 people!

That being said, it was great hearing some new songs. I liked "Hamburg" the best. An instant classic for me.
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MOJO
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Re: Elvis In Iceland with Steve Nieve and Special Guest, Nick Lowe, May 25-29, 2023

Post by MOJO »

So many complainers about this event. What are you going to do, sue? Ya’ll read between the lines of the agenda / schedule. Also, good for EC selling more than Rufus. That makes complete sense. I love Rufus, but It’s EC - hello?

What more could you possibly want from this event? A personal card game with EC? I don’t understand the complaints I guess. 90+ people.. did the Q&A venue not have 100+ seats to support overflow? Also, if you were an artist who oversold an event, in a remote stratosphere, wouldn’t you just want those folks to participate ? Where is the love? (I think that is a lyric)

Also, If you traveled to Iceland only to see EC, then you should probably re-evaluate when/where you check out a live EC show. If you were hoping for a more intimate EC event, then you should have known better. What, did you think the dude would be available for a coffee or something. Come on, man. If I had fans like this, I would be pissed. The EC team tried to put a nice event together for fans and the very fans complain about it. It makes no sense to me. Totally weak. Don’t forget the real fandom - The music, the art, the craft.

Oh, and PS - the family sleeping in the front row, I love that. I hope EC makes a tour t-shirt out of that image (artsy maybe?). I would be happy to wear it!
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verbal gymnastics
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Re: Elvis In Iceland with Steve Nieve and Special Guest, Nick Lowe, May 25-29, 2023

Post by verbal gymnastics »

Fair comment but it seems it was a fantastic event but poorly organised.

To add to it, my friend bought an official photo from the website of the whole group and they cropped Elvis and Steve out of it!
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geebot
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Re: Elvis In Iceland with Steve Nieve and Special Guest, Nick Lowe, May 25-29, 2023

Post by geebot »

verbal gymnastics wrote:To add to it, my friend bought an official photo from the website of the whole group and they cropped Elvis and Steve out of it!
To be fair, that was a third-party link for ordering and a function of the print format selected (relative to the format of the photo).
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Re: Elvis In Iceland with Steve Nieve and Special Guest, Nick Lowe, May 25-29, 2023

Post by Man out of Time »

A review of the public show at Harpa by SteveT published in The After Word on June 2, 2023.

"Elvis Costello and Steve Nieve plus Nick Lowe

Venue:

Harpa, Reykjavik
Date: 28/05/2023

Never look a gift horse in the mouth they say. Well Costello announced a one off gig in Reykjavik – his first visit to Iceland in 13 years. My son lives there so was an opportunity to visit him and get to see this country’s current best songwriter (open to debate but you are wrong). Iceland on the cheap – a rarity as anyone who has been there will know.

Anyway we rocked up at the magnificent Harpa in time to see a fantastic set by Nick Lowe (This country’s second best songwriter currently).His short set encompassed some of his best tunes ie. Long limbed girl, Lately I’ve let things slide but sadly no The beast in me. He was his usual affable, charming self and warmed us up nicely for what was to follow.

EC and SN bounded onto the stage at just after 9pm and launched straight into Accidents will happen followed by Shot with his own gun. Nieve was majestic and Costellos voice was in fine fettle except on Veronica where he seemed to struggle a little. Most of the songs were played fairly straight except for When I was Cruel no2 which was menacing and a lovely reworked Waiting for the End of the World with a great new Steve arrangement.
Best of all though was Watching the Detectives – reworked and greatly expanded on even the reworked version that he has been playing for the last couple of years. Sinister and brooding, the loops were fantastic and this is a direction I would like to see him explore further. A surprise was Olivers Army which I thought had been retired. The offending N word line had been removed and complete updated verse added. Still a powerful song.
Nick joined them for Indoor Fireworks and Peace love and understanding.

Then the absolute peach of a final encore – Alison – sung unamplified/no mic. The audience gasped and then joined in the song in a hushed choir – fantastic.

The audience:

Sensible grown ups with respect for the artist – as audiences should be. Except the twat next to me was asleep for half the gig. A lot of money to pay for a nap – twat.

It made me think..

lost track of number of times I have seen him and this was up there as one of his best. Steve Nieve is a genius – along with Pete Thomas he played with Elvis for close to 50 years. Bruce Thomas must have been some kind of idiot to ruin this friendship."

MOOT
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Re: Elvis In Iceland with Steve Nieve and Special Guest, Nick Lowe, May 25-29, 2023

Post by johnfoyle »

Except the twat next to me was asleep for half the gig. A lot of money to pay for a nap – twat.
Like the couple next to me in the front row. They slept & their restless pre-teen children kicked the stage, occasionally getting bemused looks from Elvis.
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