Any trip to Elvis Week has to include a trip to the performers’ tent. One of the singers told the crowd, “We are all here for the same reason.” As soon as he said this, I considered that I was probably not there for the same reason as most people. I thought it was a bit odd that this performer follows this statement by singing “Bossa Nova Baby”. The Elvis Tent was cosplay long before cosplay was a thing. The tribute artists have moved away from old men in jumpsuits mimicking an established entertainer to young men trying to capture the spirit of the young artist making his breakthrough in music and movies. These young men get to feel a small bit of the admiration that Elvis experienced.
I cannot stay at the tent forever so I strolled down to the visitor center to get pictures and video before it changes next year. I ran into a nice couple from Wisconsin with stories about Elvis and Graceland the faded into the mix of every other story I’ve heard. I also saw some people being led away from the property in handcuffs by the police. They didn’t appear to be Black Lives Matter protesters. They were white but not all of the protesters were black. My first thought was that they were drunk and disorderly but someone suggested that they could have been shoplifters. Either way, it was the first time that I had seen anyone arrested at Graceland.
Our time waiting in line for the Candlelight Vigil to start was another time for firsts. It was the first time I had stood in line next to an “Elvis person.” By Elvis person, I mean someone with black hair, possibly dyed, worn in the style of Elvis. This would be the minimum for being and Elvis person. This man also had Elvis style shades clothes in the style of casual Elvis. I have talked to them and taken pictures of them, but never stood in line with them at the vigil. I spend more time with the people in line and typically get to know them better. It turns out that this guy was from Marion, Arkansas and was a regular for Elvis Week. He had also gotten married earlier in the week and was there with his bride. We got to see pictures of the ceremony which was held at the edge of a cliff on a mountain somewhere in Arkansas. At some point, I had to ask if he was a performer. You never know if the Elvis People are actually tribute artists who are performing at the tent, singers who perform elsewhere but can’t get on the stage at Graceland for whatever reason or those that just want to dress like Elvis. I didn’t find out if my new friend was performing at Graceland, but he did tell me that he ran karaoke 3 nights a week in Memphis and Little Rock. When I asked the karaoke newlywed for a picture, he lit up and went into full tribute artist mode. He changed the way he carried himself. I could tell that he enjoyed posing for pictures at Elvis Week. Not everyone was at Elvis Week for that reason. Later, a kid snuck a picture of him. When he realized what had happened, he followed the kid and posed for a picture with him.
The couple in line behind us were from England. The man built bridges for a living. He talked about pouring concrete all day. This was their first trip to Graceland and would possibly be their only trip ever. They had detailed questions about how the vigil would work. They were also concerned that we wouldn’t understand the way they talked. They were easy to understand compared to the Italians in line behind them. They were a young couple and the woman spoke no English at all. I don’t think the karaoke newlywed was disappointed when I got my picture taken with the international couples behind us. It was more about documenting who I met and not just taking pictures of Elvis people.
Later, we were in the gift shop that isn’t associated with Elvis Presley Enterprises. This non-authorized store is a great place to find the junkiest souvenirs and the most interesting people. They always create their own Elvis Week commemorative shirts that are always the cheapest in terms of quality and price. Made of the thinnest material, I doubt if they would make it through one washing without shrinking significantly or disintegrating completely. I ran into a guy from Peoria in one of these shirts who raved about some Elvis toy to a friend. We talked at length about Elvis gifts and the protesters. Then he noticed the Elvis Week cap on my head. It was the only I had bought earlier in the day from the official gift shop. He pulled down on the bill of the cap to get a better look, pulling my head down with it. He said how much he liked it and that he had never seen one like that before. From talking to him, he was enough of a regular to tell me about a visit inside Vernon’s house around the corner from Graceland. Most hardcore fans have a story about Vernon’s house and the neighborhood around Graceland. Had he never been to the official gift shops? He looked like someone who might regularly bypass the “big shops” because they just want to much for those thick, fancy shirts.
Any trip to Elvis Week has to include a trip to the performers’ tent. One of the singers told the crowd, “We are all here for the same reason.” As soon as he said this, I considered that I was probably not there for the same reason as most people. I thought it was a bit odd that this performer follows this statement by singing “Bossa Nova Baby”. The Elvis Tent was cosplay long before cosplay was a thing. The tribute artists have moved away from old men in jumpsuits mimicking an established entertainer to young men trying to capture the spirit of the young artist making his breakthrough in music and movies. These young men get to feel a small bit of the admiration that Elvis experienced.
I cannot stay at the tent forever so I strolled down to the visitor center to get pictures and video before it changes next year. I ran into a nice couple from Wisconsin with stories about Elvis and Graceland the faded into the mix of every other story I’ve heard. I also saw some people being led away from the property in handcuffs by the police. They didn’t appear to be Black Lives Matter protesters. They were white but not all of the protesters were black. My first thought was that they were drunk and disorderly but someone suggested that they could have been shoplifters. Either way, it was the first time that I had seen anyone arrested at Graceland.
Our time waiting in line for the Candlelight Vigil to start was another time for firsts. It was the first time I had stood in line next to an “Elvis person.” By Elvis person, I mean someone with black hair, possibly dyed, worn in the style of Elvis. This would be the minimum for being and Elvis person. This man also had Elvis style shades clothes in the style of casual Elvis. I have talked to them and taken pictures of them, but never stood in line with them at the vigil. I spend more time with the people in line and typically get to know them better. It turns out that this guy was from Marion, Arkansas and was a regular for Elvis Week. He had also gotten married earlier in the week and was there with his bride. We got to see pictures of the ceremony which was held at the edge of a cliff on a mountain somewhere in Arkansas. At some point, I had to ask if he was a performer. You never know if the Elvis People are actually tribute artists who are performing at the tent, singers who perform elsewhere but can’t get on the stage at Graceland for whatever reason or those that just want to dress like Elvis. I didn’t find out if my new friend was performing at Graceland, but he did tell me that he ran karaoke 3 nights a week in Memphis and Little Rock. When I asked the karaoke newlywed for a picture, he lit up and went into full tribute artist mode. He changed the way he carried himself. I could tell that he enjoyed posing for pictures at Elvis Week. Not everyone was at Elvis Week for that reason. Later, a kid snuck a picture of him. When he realized what had happened, he followed the kid and posed for a picture with him.
The couple in line behind us were from England. The man built bridges for a living. He talked about pouring concrete all day. This was their first trip to Graceland and would possibly be their only trip ever. They had detailed questions about how the vigil would work. They were also concerned that we wouldn’t understand the way they talked. They were easy to understand compared to the Italians in line behind them. They were a young couple and the woman spoke no English at all. I don’t think the karaoke newlywed was disappointed when I got my picture taken with the international couples behind us. It was more about documenting who I met and not just taking pictures of Elvis people.
The clouds had returned and so had the rain. Earlier in the day, I had gotten concerned about the weather enough that I considered purchasing an Elvis umbrella. I had bought one at a previous Elvis Week. This year, they were as impossible to find as Elvis Week pint glasses. As time for the vigil ceremony got closer, it began to rain more often. I waited a little longer than I wish I had to put on my poncho. The time came to light candles and I was afraid that someone might light my poncho. In this year’s photo of the ceremony, there are almost as many umbrellas as there are candles. As the ceremony came to an end and the line started moving for people to make their way to visit the grave, the rain turned into a storm. The light rain became a heavy rain and the wind whipped my poncho into the air. As the water hit the part of my shorts that stuck out below the poncho, the water wicked up. I was damp before I put on the poncho but I was soaking up even more water as the night went on.
Water flowed like a river next to the sidewalk. Our position in line hadn’t moved to the sidewalk yet so our feet were getting soaked. The line moved quickly compared to previous years. Lots of people were deciding to go home or wait until the storm blew over. While we considered leaving, this would be a new way to experience the candlelight vigil. As we went through security, we were told that we couldn’t take umbrellas. Some people were leaving the line. Some were leaving their umbrellas in a huge pile at the gate. Because the Jewish man in front of us was arguing with security about the umbrella situation, no one noticed that Tina folded up her umbrella and carried it with her.
They weren’t lighting anyone’s candles at the gates. The torches weren’t even lit anymore. The only candles were battery operated. Candles and candleholders were littered along the driveway. The reverence usually observed had given way to complaining and a fight for survival. I still had my candle in my hand when I arrived at the grave site. I had never left anything at the grave before but this year, I would join at least one other person by leaving my candle on the grave.
I had walked through enough water at this point that when I wasn’t wading through a puddle, water was squirting from my shoes with every step. The sidewalk in front of Graceland on the exit side was another body of water. We were warned about stepping of the sidewalk into an extremely deep puddle. The tributes usually set up in the road were all abandoned. There were empty lawn chairs scattered throughout the road. We walked up to the shops at the visitor’s center. People were huddled under the awnings of the building. They appeared to be waiting for the storm to blow over before visiting the grave. Or maybe they were waiting to go back and get their chairs out of the road. We would walk though several other bodies of water before leaving Graceland. The biggest was the parking lot. There were at least 4 inches of water standing in the entire parking lot, or at least from the edge to where my car was parked. The sandals I had thrown in the back of my Jeep in case my feet got wet came in handy. But we were still wet enough that we left puddles where we sat in the Waffle House for our annual post-vigil meal.
