Elvis Costello will dig into the prolific early years of his career on his 2025 North American tour.
“Radio Soul!: The Early Songs of Elvis Costello” will find Costello crafting a set list primarily out of material from his first 11 albums, 1978’s My Aim Is True to 1986’s Blood & Chocolate (plus a few additional surprises). The tour takes its name from the early Costello tune that later became his classic 1978 hit, “Radio Radio.”
The tour will kick off June 12 at the Woodland Zoo Park Amphitheatre in Seattle and wrap July 12 at the Fillmore Miami Beach in Miami Beach. Tickets will go on sale Dec. 13 at 10 a.m. local time, with an artist presale slated to start Dec. 11 at 10 a.m. local time. Full information is available on Costello’s website.
On the trek, Costello will be joined by his backing band, the Imposters, led by guitarist Charlie Sexton, and featuring Steve Nieve, Pete Thomas, and Davey Faragher.
Speaking of the tour, Costello said, “For any songwriter, it has to be a compliment if people want to hear songs written up to 50 years ago.”
He added: “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, swinging, kicking and screaming rock & roll band who can turn their hands to a pretty ballad when the opportunity arises.”
But Costello, who’s now in his seventies, also suggested that this tour might be the beginning of a kind of end. He said that the Imposter’s close out the gig with an encore rendition of one of their newest songs — “Farewell, OK” off 2022’s The Boy Named If — “it probably means those ‘Early Songs’ will have been performed in your city for the very last time.”
Costello continued, “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.”
Editor’s picks
Elvis Costello and the Imposters 2025 Tour Dates
June 12 – Seattle, WA @ Woodland Park Zoo Amphitheatre
June 13 – Portland, OR @ Keller Auditorium
June 15 – Reno, NV @ (Venue TBA)
June 17 – San Francisco, CA @ The Masonic
June 19 – Wheatland, CA @ Hard Rock Live Sacramento
June 21 – Los Angeles @ Orpheum
June 24 – San Diego, CA @ Humphreys Concerts by the Bay
June 26 – Las Vegas, NV @ The Pearl Concert Theater at Palms Casino Resort
June 28 – Beaver Creek, CO @ Vilar Performing Arts Center
June 29 – Denver, CO @ Bellco Theatre
July 1 – Kansas City, MO @ Uptown Theater
July 3 – St. Louis, MO @ The Factory
July 5 – Nashville, TN @ Ryman Auditorium
July 7 – Greenville, SC @ The Peace Center Concert Hall
July 9 – St. Petersburg, FL @ Mahaffey Theater in Duke Energy Center for the Arts
July 10 – Fort Myers, FL @ Barbara B. Mann Performing Arts Hall
July 12 – Miami Beach, FL @ Fillmore Miami Beach at Jackie Gleason Theatre
