Virtual Elvis Is In The Building
The King, rest in peace, is dead. But long live the virtual King.
More than 25 years after his last concert in New York City and 20 years after his death, Elvis Presley returned Thursday night through the magic of video. The slimmed down, late '60s image of Presley took center stage at the Radio City Music Hall in "Elvis: The Concert."
The performance was the first of three New York City shows of Elvis Presley Enterprises, featuring Mr. Thank You Very Much on a 20-foot-high screen, flanked by a live band and backup singers.
"In life he was great. In death I'm sure he'll be explosive," said Brent Prince, 29, a Manhattan film editor who trumpets Viva Las Vegas as one of the "all-time great movies" but never saw Elvis in concert. He bought his opening-night tickets weeks ago.
Prince was 4 when Elvis made his last New York concert appearance in June 1972, with four sold-out shows at Madison Square Garden.
The nearly-sold-out new performances, part of an eight-city, 10-show tour, feature original 1960s and '70s concert footage of the hip-swiveling icon.
Accompanying the image of Elvis is a 16-piece orchestra and his old stage associates J.D. Sumner & the Stamps, The Sweet Inspirations and the TCB Band.
A svelte Elvis, in his trademark tight, white sequined jumpsuit, belts chart-topping classics like Hound Dog and croons favorites like Can't Help Falling in Love.
Screens alongside the giant Elvis broadcast live action from the stage. Snappy editing makes it appear as though Presley and his entourage are really jibing.
"Elvis' presence on screen is so strong, the interaction with his live bandmates so seamless, and the audience reaction so intense that ... you forget Elvis isn't really there in person," said Todd Morgan, Graceland's creative resources director, who crafted the show.
The virtual Elvis sings, dances and talks to fans. His legs ripple like jelly during Burnin' Love.
"Our illusion is just about perfect," said Morgan. "It's like he's really back in the building."
The look is so real, in fact, that some promoters are considering reviving other dead artists, Graceland officials said.
It took hundreds of hours of editing and mixing over several years to bring Elvis back to the stage. Footage was culled from his 1968-73 concerts. All sound was stripped except his lead vocal.
"The veteran fans who attended actual Elvis concerts told us they felt that same old excitement and electricity," said show producer Stig Edgren. "The fans who never got to see him perform thanked us for a dream-come-true experience."
Graceland officials kicked off the tour March 10 with a show in Louisville, Ky. Dates also included single shows in Evansville, Ind.; Auburn Hills, Mich.; Cleveland, Ohio; Grand Rapids, Mich.; and Pittsburgh, Penn, and the three upcoming shows in Radio CitMusic Hall, with some tickets topping $60. The tour wraps in Philadelphia March 22.
Concert organizers plan to take the road show throughout the United States and to Europe.
"We're getting calls all the time," said Graceland's Todd Andersen, "asking, 'When's Elvis coming to my hometown? And will he sing 'Suspicious Minds'?"'
Soon. And yes.
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