Forty-seven years ago, Elvis Costello played Rochester’s Auditorium Theatre on his Armed Funk Tour, a Saturday night set on March 24, 1979 that ran from “Oliver’s Army” to “Radio, Radio” with The Rubinoos opening. After the show, he made his way to Scorgie’s on Andrews Street, and what happened next has passed into local legend. Don Scorgie, the venue’s Irish-born owner, ejected him for demanding to be treated like a star. Costello, asked about it years later, was characteristically slippery: “There’s a very good chance it wasn’t me, there’s a chance it was someone in my band.” On Saturday, October 17, Kelley’s Heroes lean into that piece of Rochester rock history with a full tribute evening at Abilene Bar & Lounge.
About the Show
The event, billed as “Bootleg Heroes: A Night of Elvis Costello,” commemorates that 1979 incident and doubles as a full-catalog celebration of the artist who inspired it. Kelley’s Heroes, the Rochester indie rock group fronted by Austin music veteran John Kelley alongside Jon Gary, Dan Hoh, and James Conner, are presenting the evening as “one relentless set” curated by “a deep fan.” The band has long listed Costello among their foundational influences; their Bandcamp bio puts it plainly: “You might hear echoes of our own heroes in our songs: from Elvis Costello to Steve Earle to the Beatles.”
Their 2024 album “Who’s Gonna Save the World?” draws on the same psychedelic-inflected indie rock and sharp songwriting tradition Costello made a career of. Recent singles include “In the 21st Century” (November 2025) and “The Civil War That You Wanted” (February 2026). The event description frames Costello as an “angry young man, Fender-guitar-slinging wordsmith” whose genre-shifting approach kept critics off-balance throughout his career — a catalog with enough range to fill a night without repeating itself. Scorgie’s had its own résumé in that era: the Ramones, the Go-Go’s, the Replacements, and a Rolling Stone ranking among the top 100 clubs in America before it closed in 1994. Abilene is carrying that strand of Rochester music culture forward.
Venue & Logistics
Abilene Bar & Lounge is at 153 Liberty Pole Way in Rochester, a room Kelley’s Heroes know well; the band has played there for a John Lennon Tribute evening and a holiday show. Doors at 6:30 p.m.; show at 7:30 p.m.
Tickets
Tickets are $15 in advance or $20 day of show, available online at abilene.showare.com and at the bar. Buy tickets