The other performer that we watched for a long time was a young man named Dean Z. While he didn’t really look that much like Elvis, he was a great all around performer. He sang well, danced well and did a good job of engaging with the crowd. He selected good songs that he crowd liked. He even brought up another performer and they sang together. And it was good. I think I saw a pair of panties get thrown on the stage.
After we watched Dean Z, we went to get in line for the vigil. The people behind us in line were from Australia. This was their second time to come to the United States. Both times were to come to Graceland. The man asked if I have ever been to Australia, I said no. He said it was my turn to come and visit him.
The family in front of us were from Michigan. The man works for Chrysler and he wife teaches school. Their daughter looked to be middle school age. Most years when I encounter a family like this, one or two members of the family are big Elvis fans. The rest of the family seems to tolerate the other members Elvis passion. Everyone in this family was a fan. They seemed to have a life beyond Elvis, which is something unique in this crowd. But they were also regular visitors. The man talked about visiting Graceland with his parents a few months after Elvis died. This was before they had opened the house as an attraction but were allowing people to visit the gravesite. He said that there was a line around the corner all the way to Vernon’s house. This is one of those things that the Elvis community knows. They know the name of the street that Elvis’ father lived on and they knew which one was his house. They came to this attraction before it was an attraction. It was another moment when I felt a little out of place.
The weather made for the most pleasant Candlelight Vigil I have ever experienced. It was not the typical hot Memphis August weather. It was not hot or humid. The wind wasn’t blowing so keeping your candle lit was easy. When the ceremony was over, it sounded like the crowd was instructed to “file silently and reverently in single file to the Medication Gardens”.
The path to the gravesite goes between the pool at the house and a small pasture for a couple of horses. This was the first year that I noticed the scent of the horses wafting through the Meditation Garden. A siren from a cop car went off and the horses were spooked. One of the people in line in front of us slowly placed the same rose on Elvis’ grave 3 times while his friend made video of it. After we left the gravesite, we took some cool pictures standing in front of the house.
Outside the gates of Graceland, I felt a little more comfortable in the crowd. There are more of the locals with their chairs and coolers that have come to people watch. Some of them set up shrines to attract the fans. They know how to behave too. They have been invited to this very strange family reunion like I have and you don’t expect to make a scene and still get potato salad. And this family is very open and friendly. They are ready to share their experience with you.
As we strolled around the shrines and street painting, we came up to a “camp” where people were playing guitars and singing Elvis songs. Dean Z was playing one of the guitars and was the main attraction. He could really play. And he really had a passion for Elvis music. I found out a couple of days later that he won this year’s Ultimate Elvis Tribute Artist Contest.
My final Facebook post of the trip: “We came, we saw, we burnt candles”
