The King lives! Well, after the Elvis Presley in Concert event at The O2 Arena on 16th March you could almost be led to believe that he did. Read on to find out how the greatest performer the world has ever seen will be returning to the stage. Elvis Presley was arguably the biggest thing to ever happen to popular music. By the time of his tragic death at the age of just 42, he had sold millions of records, practically inventing rock & roll and popularising country music along the way. Not only that, but Presley also found time to star in 33 films – many of which proved to be Hollywood blockbusters purely on the strength of his involvement.
Elvis was much more than just a mainstream pop icon and teen idol, though. He was also a huge influence on the respected rock artists that dominated the late sixties and early seventies. The great John Lennon once said: “Nothing really affected me until I heard Elvis. If there hadn't been an Elvis, there wouldn't have been the Beatles.” High praise indeed.
Of course, Elvis himself has been dead for close to 35 years now, so a whole generation of music lovers has grown up without having had first-hand experience of the Elvis craze. Occasional crossover hits like 2002’s JXL remix of A Little Less Conversation have provided brief reminders of the great man’s talent, but Presley’s iconic status has arguably overshadowed his music for younger listeners, which is a crying shame.
Thanks to the wonders of technology, along with a few of Presley’s old friends, the King will return to the stage and offer a new generation the chance to see what Elvis was really about.
How will this work? Some of Elvis’s former band mates – dubbed by Elvis himself as the TCB Band (Taking Care of Business) – along with backing singers and a 16 piece orchestra will provide a live accompaniment to concert recordings of the great performer. In addition, real footage of the singer performing each song will be projected onto a huge backing screen. It’ll be quite a show, that’s for certain. As for the music that will be played at this massive O2 Arena event, you can expect to see and hear all of The King’s greatest hits over the course of the show’s two hour running time.
Head on over to The O2 Arena website now to learn more and book tickets for the event. To get a taster of what you can expect from the show, check out this video.