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(CPS) — Enigmatic pop star Elvis Costello opted to play to relatively small campus audiences on a recent 14-college concert tour, forsaking bigger crowds and more money waiting for him at off-campus arenas.
No one knows why Costello chose the less-lucrative campus tour, which began at the University of California at Davis and ended May 2 at Cornell, and Costello himself didn't talk to reporters.
People at ICM, the singer's New York booking agency, would say only that, though Costello might have made more money in larger auditoriums, he opted for the college tour.
"He probably could have drawn about 8,000 per show, depending on his following in a given city," said Karen Dolan of Spin Magazine, which covers the rock 'n' roll world. The Cal-Davis concert, reported student Peter Blando, 20, was not sold out.
However, on the East Coast, Ivy Leaguers were more excited, buying up all available tickets at Harvard, Cornell and elsewhere well in advance.
Audience members spun Costello's "spinning wheel of songs" — built to resemble TV's Wheel of Fortune — then danced on stage while Costello ignored them.
"There were distractions piled on distractions: a go-go booth and a television and the (audience) dances," said California (Davis) Aggie reviewer Tracy Renault.
Born Declan Patrick MacManus, Costello, "doesn't give interviews at all," said Susan Brooks of the singer's London office.
In trying to find out more about Costello's Cambridge, Mass. visit; Harvard Crimson reporter Joseph Tedeschi also found that "no one would talk."
But he did discover that Costello's contract with Harvard stipulated the shy singer should not be served quiche, that he wanted slabs — not slices — of cheese, and that he and his crew wanted 24 "good lager beers" nightly and mineral water, apple juice and Perrier daily.
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