I am not sure who suggested going. Maybe it was my sister-in-law Elaine or carer Jan, who both accompanied me to the show. Never mind, thank you to whichever one of you it was. I don’t think I would have gone along to Newcastle Arena otherwise. And I so glad that I did. This was to me, a new type of event and performance. Watching Elvis on screen accompanied by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra was a novel concept which worked exceptionally well. 7000 people standing singing along to Elvis on screen performing “Suspicious Minds” with full orchestra, and cheering and clapping to the screen sounds bizarre. Yet it was brilliant, emotional, exhilarating and highly enjoyable.
The tour publicity heralded the concert thus: “The King is back! One of the most unique concert experiences of recent years is set to return for 2023 having won the hearts of critics and fans a-like, as Elvis is set once again to be back, in an arena near you! The full-scale concert brings the King up close on screen alongside the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra live on stage performing the King of Rock and Roll’s most well-known “rocking” songs and his tender, heart-wrenching ballads, with a special guest to be announced in due course. A show like no other, expect an overwhelmingly encapsulating and enthralling evening!
This is the only chance to experience the man who changed the course of popular music, selling an unparalleled 1 billion records worldwide, his popularity unwavering as the critical and commercial success of the Baz Luhrman produced biopic Elvis showed us in cinemas this year! The collaboration between the music of Elvis and the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra has spearheaded an incredible phenomenon, with new orchestral arrangements of the music of the most legendary artists of all time being presented with the original recordings of the artists’ own voice which led to three huge-selling and critically acclaimed albums (If I Can Dream, The Wonder of You, and Christmas with Elvis and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra).
With Elvis never having toured the UK, or performing with a full sized orchestra as were two of his dreams, these shows are a chance to both honour the legacy of an icon who has defined popular culture for over half a century, and for fans to see ‘The King’ live, who never had the chance to before.”
This was a much easier and smoother journey than that of the previous evening when I went to see Fairport Convention at Hexham Queen’s Hall. After a short journey we arrived at the Arena, Jan, Elaine and I, ready to see “the King” in concert.
I have always been a fan of Elvis. Ever since I was very young and bought copies of “King Creole” and “Heartbreak Hotel” on 78 from a local second hand shop. I played and played those records. I then saw the 1968 Comeback Show on TV at some point and was totally knocked out by the guy, his energy, swagger, style and voice. Without Elvis, would we have The Beatles, and modern day rock ‘n’ roll? Who knows. I also remember buying “In the Ghetto” when it was in the charts. I love that record to this day.
The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra took to the stage to a loud round of applause. A large screen behind the orchestra displayed the initials “EP” to remind us of what we were about to experience. They performed “I Can’t Help Falling in Love With You” with the lyrics displayed on the big-screen. The orchestra was augmented by a band with an excellent guitarist and a group of very soulful singers. Next, another large screen descended from the rafters and Elvis, from Las Vegas, was singing “Burning Love” to us. The sound was amazing and this was the start of a wonderful journey through the life of Elvis Presley. Possibly the greatest singer and artist the world has ever seen.
We were taken through a range of Elvis classics including “Trouble”, “That’s All Right Mama”, “Hound Dog” and “Heartbreak Hotel” with footage alternating between early and mid-1970s Las Vegas performances to film from the aforementioned 1968 Comeback TV Show triumph. All of this reminded me of how great a performer the man was. I can’t quite recall the order of proceedings but there was a short interval during which I had a lovely tray of chips (lots of salt) having had a pint of beer on the way in. I also purchased a T-shirt which I am proudly wearing as I type this with my speech software and a programme (pictured).
There was a tour of Graceland, courtesy of Elvis’ old friend who now manages the estate (I would love to visit) and the voice of Priscilla Presley talking about her life with Elvis while images of Priscilla, Elvis, a young Lisa Marie and happy family memories were shown.
“Love Me Tender” was accompanied by images from the original black-and-white movie, Elvis sang covers of Dusty Springfield’s “You Don’t Have To Say You Love Me”, the Walker Brothers’ “You’ve Lost That Loving Feeling” and Simon and Garfunkel’s “Bridge Over Troubled Water”.
The aforementioned “Suspicious Minds” had everyone up on their feet dancing and singing. They remained so for the rest of the performance which closed with the magnificent “American Trilogy” from Las Vegas and “If I Can Dream” from the 1968 TV show. Very emotional stuff. Much, much better than I had expected.
Many thanks to Jan and Chris for the images.
Setlist: Burning Love; Welcome To My World; Steamroller Blues; Fever; You Gave Me A Mountain; You Don’t Have To Say You Love Me; I Just Can’t Help Believing; Just Pretend; You’ve Lost That Loving Feeling; Amazing Grace; I Can’t Help Falling In Love; In The Ghetto; How Great Thou Art; Bridge Over Troubled Water; Trouble/Guitar Man; That’s Alright Mama; Hound Dog; Don’t Be Cruel; Heartbreak Hotel; Are You Lonesome Tonight; All Shook Up; Blue Suede Shoes; Memories; Love Me Tender; The Wonder Of You; Suspicious Minds; What Now My Love; Big Hunk Of Love; American Trilogy; If I Can Dream.
Now this was a strange one. Should I go or not? What would she do/say? What would it be like? In the end I decided the only way to find out was to purchase a ticket and go along and see the lady myself.
The press release for the UK tour told me: “Actress and businesswoman 
As it turned out it was a very enjoyable evening. The night was in two parts. The first half was Priscilla being interviewed by Edith (see above) who had been with her for the entire UK tour (and Newcastle was the last night of the tour). They sat beside each other in lovely comfy chairs while Priscilla talked about how she first met Elvis in Germany in the early 60s. She was over there because her father was in the military and he was stationed in Germany at the same time as Elvis was serving as a GI over there. Somehow through a mutual friend Priscilla was invited to a party which Elvis was also attending. Her parents would not let her go, but somehow, she managed to get along and she and Elvis met and a relationship began. At first her parents would not let her meet Elvis but eventually they relented, but only on the condition that Priscilla’s father or mother accompanied her. She was 14 years old at the time.
Priscilla told us “there was no physical relationship until much later.” Anyway, the friendship blossomed into a love affair and when they returned to The States the couple were married. All of the above was accompanied by some video footage of the time. Priscilla continued to talk about her life with Elvis, the birth of her sadly recently passed daughter Lisa Marie, and how things started to go wrong during the Las Vegas years, which saw Elvis having parties with lots of friends and girls in attendance. She talked about her love of Graceland and how, for financial reasons, they had to open the gates to the public. She is clearly still very involved with, and very protective of, the Graceland estate and Elvis’ heritage. She also spoke of her time in Dallas and showed some footage from the programme.
The final session took the form of questions from the audience. You could write a question on a card and Edith selected a few which she asked to Priscilla. One that sticks in my mind was “what was it like to have Michael Jackson as a son-in-law?” Priscilla paused to think a little. She revealed that she actually saw very little of Michael, and that he would purposely hide from her if she was visiting Lisa Marie. You got the impression that she was not entirely comfortable with the relationship. Throughout the evening she was a perfect lady, she looked lovely at 77 years old and clearly was enjoying her visit to the UK. The house was full and the first few rows of attendees all had lovely little booklets; they had clearly bought VIP tickets which included meeting Priscilla for a considerable premium. In some ways I wish I had done it. Photography was strictly outlawed so the pictures I have here are courtesy of Wikimedia Commons. I purchased a book about Elvis from eBay just out of interest.
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