Live: The Elvis Presley Story told by Colin Mockett with All Shook Up! (6 April 2021)

Before the Beach Boys and the Beatles, before Aretha Franklin and Bob Dylan, Tina Turner and the Rolling Stones, the Kinks, the Who, Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, the Doors, Pink Floyd, David Bowie, Janis Joplin, Elton John, Billy Joel, Led Zeppelin, Creedence Clearwater Revival, the Eagles, Michael Jackson, ABBA, Bruce Springsteen, Queen, the Police, Prince, Madonna, Nirvana and so many other great acts over the past seventy years, there was... the King himself, according to Wikipedia (to which I would whole-heartedly agree) one of the most significant cultural icons of the 20th century, ELVIS.

Presenting his musical biography yesterday 6 April at Drysdale's Potato Shed was local entertainer and presenter Colin Mockett through his Drop of a Hat Productions, with music performed by All Shook Up! By the end of this morning's show, I was well and truly all shook up indeed, like somehow I'd become a passenger on a time-travelling DeLorean in the 80s classic "Back to the Future" and bore witness myself to Elvis and his band playing live. This happened, folks, every time I closed my eyes, and during the intermission when we all wandered out into the foyer to get our coffee/tea I spoke with another audience member who was sitting somewhere beside me and told them to try doing the same thing as well, because it was... the word that frequently comes to mind here is... transportive!

The band consisted of Allan James on lead vocals and guitar, Trevor Harrison on stand-up drums and backing vocals, his son Tom on guitar and vocals, Hergy Hergstrom alternating between saxophone and harmonica, Tamara Andrews on percussion and backing vocals, and of course Colin providing his extensive and immersive commentary all throughout.

The Elvis journey began with (fittingly) "All Shook Up", the moment I started to realize that the years and the decades were beginning to peel away to a time where my parents would have only just been born. What followed was eighteen classic numbers, all of which I will touch on here, as much as I can within the time constraints of this review.

After "All Shook Up", with Allan and Tamara on lead vocals and the band playing as hauntingly as they ever did that day, came "That's All Right Mama" from Elvis's years at the Sun Recording Studios, which saw Hergy playing harmonica before he switched to the saxophone on "Heartbreak Hotel". Both these sounds complimented the band and the singers brilliantly. "Hound Dog" followed with Hergy's sax, and "Love me Tender" before Colin turned to the audience revealing that this was Tom's first time performing with the group which I would never have guessed if I'd seen this show seven times.

Following was "Don't be Cruel", "A Fool Such as I" and "Viva Las Vegas", all dexterously performed by Allan James and the group, before finally the clever little punchline at the end of the first set: "Before you leave for the 20 minute interval, be careful you don't step on my blue suede shoes." Humorous moments like these, and Allan's line "Take my wife and mortgage too" during "Can't Help Falling in Love" in the second set, were the cherry on the cake for this experience for me. If I'd closed my eyes at that point, it would have been the 1960s with Elvis cracking jokes onstage, something I regret not doing, because it would have been wilder than ever before.

The second set followed with more evergreens such as "Jailhouse Rock" and "Wooden Heart" with Hergy switching once again to harmonica and Allan warning the crowd his German might not be very good. I have no idea if it was or it wasn't. It just sounded good.

Next came "Can't Help Falling in Love" which I mentioned earlier, with Allan and Tamara on vocals, and then "Are you Lonesome Tonight?" that eternal classic from the Elvis 1968 comeback special. Another one the band hit out of the park, in counterpoint with Colin's commentary that frequently left me in awe. Listen and learn, Ryan, because you didn't know half of this stuff about music before.

Before "It's now or never" was played, I never realized all of the times I'd heard that song that it was actually the same music as "O sole mio", which made this probably my favourite little fact from Colin throughout this concert. That was his Elvis moment where it actually made the crowd in me go wild?

What followed I knew was going to be challenging for everyone on board. I would have been terrified if it were me, because "Suspicious Minds" is simply one of the greatest songs to have existed. Having treasured it all of these years, I was afraid this was really going to test the group for me, who had a steep mountain climb ahead of them, (and imagine trying to climb a mountain while you're lugging all that equipment about. Yeah, you're thinking, this is bonkers.) You did great, guys, you did great.

The show wound towards its conclusion with "Crying in the Chapel", with more humour from Allan and his sidekick Tamara, "Burning Love" which is another favourite of mine and I found myself humming it practically all the way home, and finally the towering "American Trilogy". I was genuinely afraid for Allan when he walked off the stage towards the end part of the song, thinking he must have flipped out from the pressure of it all, when finally, along with many gasps of surprise (and relief in my case), he returned to the stage in golden Elvis coat. Yes! And this is the part where all of the fans would have started screaming! I came to see an Elvis performance. The ending left me feeling like I was watching an Alfred Hitchcock thriller, with a stunning twist right towards the end, and this is after I've gone back through time before that. Well, well done!

At the end of the show, I was left thinking two things. One: more young people need to be listening to this music. I'm sure a lot of them are, but more of them need to hear it. Or perhaps we need another remix like the 2001 JXL version of "A Little Less Conversation" to encourage them. Two: the program mentioned that venue manager Rob had come up with the idea of performing an Elvis show. I have an idea myself, to see Allan and the group narrated by Colin performing Roy Orbison. I would go just to hear "You got it".

Thank you very much,

Ryan.