"Aloha White"
"Indian"
"American Eagle White"
"Cisco Kid Red"
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Elvis-The Concert, the astounding
production that reunites former Elvis band mates live on stage with a state of
the art video-projected Elvis, continues its historic and critically acclaimed
world tour. This is, in effect, Elvis' first-ever world concert tour, which
began in America in 1998. In his lifetime Elvis' only concerts outside the
United States were five shows in three Canadian cities in 1957. A world tour was
an unrequited dream for Elvis and for his international fans. More than twenty
years after the superstar's death, the dream has come true.
Elvis-The Concert is now an official
Guinness World Record Tm
holder, noted as "the first live tour starring a performer who is no longer
living."
Highlights since the show hit the
road in 1998 have been three sold-out performances at Radio City Music Hall,
Elvis' return to the Las Vegas Hilton, and two smash engagements at London's
Wembley Arena. The show has toured in America several times, toured twice in
Europe, and has toured in Australia and Japan. Critics and fans alike have been
wowed at every engagement. More U.S. dates continue to be booked and return
tours of Europe and Australia are in the works.
The show's concept is to present an
authentic as possible Elvis Presley concert. The producers edited together a
collection of Elvis' finest concert performances that exist on film and video
and removed all sound from the footage except for Elvis' vocal. The Elvis
footage is projected on a large video screen. On stage are a 16-piece orchestra
and a group of Elvis' original band mates from the concert era of his career
perform live with the Elvis video. All music heard in the concert production is
performed live except for Elvis' voice. On either side of the Elvis performance
screen are screens that carry live action from the stage. From the first song,
it's magic. You're at a real
Elvis concert.
The original Elvis
band mates who
participate in this production are: Joe Guercio (conducting), The Sweet
Inspirations (female backing vocals), former members of J.D. Sumner & the
Stamps Quartet or former members of The Imperials (male backing vocals), and the
TCB Band: James Burton (lead guitar), Glen D. Hardin (piano), Jerry Scheff (bass
guitar), and Ronnie Tutt (drums).
Today, people are accustomed to
seeing giant video screens used in live concerts to bring the star closer to the
audience. Elvis' presence on screen is so strong, the interaction with his live
band mates so seamless, the audience reaction so intense that, a few songs into
the show, one can almost forget that Elvis isn't really there in person.
Everything in terms of staging, set design, lighting, sound, and overall
production is as if Elvis were alive and back out on the road. The audience
response to this concept has been overwhelming. Long-time Elvis fans who
attended actual Elvis concerts say they feel that same original excitement and
electricity. The fans who never got to see him perform, many of whom were born
after Elvis' death, say it is a dream-come-true experience they thought was lost
to them forever. The production is so authentic and so well done that there are
moments in the show when even Elvis' own band mates and members of the production
team almost think Elvis is really back in the building!
Elvis concert footage for the show
comes primarily from material shot for the MGM concert films Elvis, That's The
Way It Is (1970) and Elvis on Tour (1972) and from the historic 1973 global
television special Elvis: Aloha from Hawaii, via Satellite. This footage
contains some of Elvis' finest performances from the concert era of his career,
the era that is celebrated by the Elvis-The Concert production. The other main
criterion for selecting from these films is that they were originally recorded
in multi-track. Thus, the producers are able to drop all sound from the footage,
then return to the footage the isolated track that recorded only from Elvis'
microphone in these exact concert performances. This early 1970's footage
captured Elvis at the pinnacle of his superstardom, at the height of his powers
as a concert performer, and in top form physically.
Elvis-The Concert is the road-show
follow-up to the historic Elvis in concert' 97, a similar production that
broke the all-time box office gross record at the Mid-South Coliseum in Memphis
on August 16, 1997, the twentieth anniversary of the superstar's death.
Elvis-The Concert, like its 1997 predecessor, is a production created by a
collaboration between Graceland/Elvis Presley Enterprises, Inc. (EPE) and SEG
Events. EPE financed the development of the show and the first three legs of the
world tour of Elvis-The Concert and has now licensed SEG Events to continue
touring worldwide with this successful and historic production. EPE continues to
work as closely as ever with SEG Events on this show, which has broken new
ground in the entertainment industry.
 
Copyright � 2005 Irish Elvis
Presley Fan Club. All rights reserved.
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