Walking in the footsteps of Harry Houdini and beyond the long shadow of Charlie Chaplin, Frank Carson and the great Leonard Sachs, Elvis Costello brings his new presentation 15 Songs From 50 Years to the City Varieties Music Hall, staging four unique performances over two days.

All four shows will have differing repertoires, with songs selected from each of the five decades of Costello’s astonishing songwriting endeavors.

A 15-song programme will be printed in advance with few, if any repeats anticipated (but with the possibility of impromptu choices along the way). Costello and Nieve very occasionally take requests but should never be mistaken for a jukebox.

The four shows are guaranteed to feature 60 different songs but we suspect this is just the start.

Asked about the involvement of his cohort, Steve Nieve, Costello said, “Well, to paraphrase John Lennon, Steve Nieve will “leap over horses, through hoops, up garters and lastly, through a hogshead of real fire” to bring his particular brand of musical magnificence to these performances.”

Costello added, “The City Varieties Music Hall has always been known for magic, melody, mirth and mayhem. These are all well within our grasp. By the way, had my father not taken a trumpet-playing engagement in London, just before my arrival into this world, I would have been a Chapeltown boy and this would be my hometown gig.“

Unsurpassed in variety and voluminosity, Costello’s renowned refrains, romances, broadsides, bulletins and ballads are perfectly matched by Steve Nieve’s pulchritudinous and pulsating piano playing. The paragon of the profound and the peculiar, these premier performers present a penetrating pageant for perceptive and perspicacious patrons.