RICHARD BALLS Elvis Costello once sang about 'Turning The Town Red' and his fans will be hoping he is in the mood to do just that when he ventures on stage at the University of East Anglia tonight.

RICHARD BALLS

Elvis Costello once sang about 'Turning The Town Red' and his fans will be hoping he is in the mood to do just that when he ventures on stage at the University of East Anglia tonight.

An avid Liverpool supporter, the bespectacled singer-songwriter who burst onto the pop scene almost 30 years ago is said to have pondered whether to travel to Istanbul to watch his team take on AC Milan in the Champions League final.

Instead, he decided to go on with his show in Norwich – his first in the city for many years – but his audience can expect to wait until the final whistle in Turkey for their hero to emerge.

Events organisers at the UEA are insisting that if the game goes to extra time or a penalty shoot-out that the famous Liverpool fan records the remainder of the game and kicks off his own fixture.

Tickets for the concert advise that there will be 'no support', indicating the kind of lengthy set he has been delivering at other venues on his current tour.

Recent shows have been peppered with material from the early part of his career such as Watching The Detectives, Alison and Mystery Dance, as well as from more recent albums When I Was Cruel and his current release The Delivery Man.

Nick Raynes, events organiser at the UEA, confirmed that a support act had been drafted in to play while Liverpool's historic game was in progress, but that Costello was expected to play his full set as the venue was licensed until 2am on a Wednesday.

“He is a big Liverpool fan and this is a really important game for them,” he said.

“We have arranged for a support act to play and Elvis's stage time will now be 9.30pm. We apologise it is slightly later than advertised, but we are still hoping he will do his full set.

“We want him to play the full set he would have played had the game not been on.”

Asked what would happen if the game went to extra time, Mr Raynes said: “We have offered to tape it so he can watch it when he comes off stage and we have pointed out that it would be unreasonable to go on stage at about ten past ten.”