The Elvis tent was the gift that keeps on giving. One of the first freaks we had run into was a guy wearing a rebel flag as a cape. The flag had a picture of Elvis in the center. In the picture, Elvis is wearing a cowboy hat. I don’t know where this guy was from. I did get his picture I was afraid to talk to him. If you’ve never been to Graceland, it might be important to this story to know where Graceland is in Memphis. It is in a section of town called Whitehaven. I think it got that name years ago when white people were about all that lived in that section of town. It is not like that anymore. The other important thing to know for this story is that many of the people that work at Graceland during Elvis week are from the neighborhood. Yes, they are black. It just makes things uncomfortable with this guy running around all of the black people while he wears a rebel flag as a cape. I don’t think he’s from Memphis.
One of the most striking things about the people that are dressed like Elvis is how little they look like Elvis. It’s almost like they are trying to not look like him. One of the worst was a guy sitting in a lawn chair next to the beer vendor. He had super thick hair that took the shape of a bedpan sort of like Gene Simmons hair. He also had a full beard cut in a way that really made him look like that guy from the country group Alabama. All of the hair on his head looked like it had received an overdose of Just for Men hair color or a sloppy application of Kiwi shoe polish. He was disturbing to look at because he never smiled and didn’t look like he was having a good time.
There was an Italian impersonator that was really good. He didn’t go for much of an Elvis look except for the hair. He wore a suit with an open collar. He has been performing at the tent for 20 years. He started when he was, as he put it, “a fat little kid”. Of all of the performers we saw, he has the best set. He had lots of upbeat songs and put plenty of energy into the performances. Even his slower songs kept people interested. There was still a bizarre element to his performance. During one of the songs, he pulled an old man out of the crowd up on the stage. The old man was dancing like crazy. It reminded me of Bruce Springsteen’s “Dancing in the Dark” video where he pulls Courtney Cox out of the crowd and dances with her. Except in this case, Italian Elvis is dancing with an old man.
The guy that followed Italian Elvis looked like belonged in a Journey tribute band. A dark, sleeveless t-shirt instead of a suit and the Elvis hair was replaced with a mullet. He sounded ok, but just couldn’t get the crowd involved. It was about this time that I saw the guy in the Elvis jumpsuit. Nick pointed him out. I needed to talk to this guy. I’ve noticed that over the last few years, you don’t see people in jumpsuits at the Elvis tent. I didn’t know why. This guy was also different because he didn’t have the sideburns and he had normal hair. He even had normal colored hair. This guy would have looked out of place if it hadn’t been for the jumpsuit. I had to talk to him. It turns out he was there with his mother. His name was Danny and he was also from Huntsville. Danny’s mother was an artist was going around trying to interest people in her Elvis art. He point to her. She was several feet away talking to some people about her art. She had little cards with samples that she was showing to people. I also found out that mom had made Danny’s jumpsuit. It was nice but it wasn’t made for performance. It had more of the feel of a Halloween costume. It was made to look nice but wouldn’t put up with much wear or movement. Danny told me that he didn’t really want to wear it. He even tried to talk me into wearing it. He told me that they really discouraged people from wearing jumpsuits at the Elvis tent on the day of the candlelight vigil. It takes away from the solemn atmosphere of the occasion and takes some of the focus away from Elvis. OK, like “Burning Love” is a solemn song. I wouldn’t rag on it but you hear it about a million times at the Elvis tent every year. Anyway, I learned something from Danny that I did not know. When I started coming to Elvis week, I know they wore jumpsuits. I even remember seeing Elvi comparing jumpsuits. But that was back before Elvis Presley Enterprises took over the Elvis tent. I guess they want to change the mood of the event. They don’t like the tent and have talked about taking it away but the fans like it too much.
Anyway, I’m talking to Danny and suddenly I hear something behind me. I turn around and Danny’s mom has fallen to the ground. I think she tripped on a concrete barrier or something like that. Her cards with her art samples were scattered on the ground. Danny, some guy from England and I rushed to her side. She was ok other than her knees. Danny ripped the crouch out of his jumpsuit when he bent down to help his mom. The belt also fell off of his jumpsuit. No wonder he didn’t want to wear it. We asked mom if she needed anything. She said she could really use a margarita. Too bad they didn’t have them at the beer stand or I would have bought her one.