Elvis Week 2024 – Same As It Ever Was

It’s now or never
Come hold me tight
Kiss me my darling
Be mine tonight”

These were the words I heard being sung while I was standing at a urinal in the men’s room in the visitors center soon after I arrived at Graceland.  But it wasn’t just Elvis singing.  A guy standing at another urinal just down from me was singing along with Elvis. If I wasn’t at Graceland during Elvis Week, I would have thought this was unusual.  But I see people singing along everywhere at Graceland.  When I exited the restroom, I stuck up a conversation with the singer.  Lou is from New York.  This is his 6^th time visiting Graceland and his 3^rd Elvis Week.  He has a TCB tattoo on the palm side of his left forearm.  He’s there with his girlfriend Jen.  He asks me for advice on good places to get ribs in Memphis.

My trips to the Candlelight Vigil have always been about more than people watching.  Meeting people has always been more interesting than just watching them.  I’ve always been willing to talk to people and ask them about their Elvis connections.  Interesting people sometime have the most interesting stories.

I saw a Japanese couple at a photo kiosk in one of the exhibit halls.  This kiosk allows you to take your picture and manipulate it, so it looks like you are wearing an Elvis jumpsuit.  The woman had posed for the picture, and they were trying to get a picture of the screen with their phone instead of paying to have the kiosk print it out. Their English was limited, and I don’t speak Japanese, but I was about to find out that they were from Tokyo.  This was their first trip to Graceland.  They were not staying for the vigil.

I was trying take a picture of myself in front of part of the jumpsuit exhibit when I met a couple from Wyoming.  They didn’t realize I was taking a selfie, so they thought they were in my way because they were standing in front of me.  They were in Memphis for the FedEx St. Jude Golf Championship being played that weekend.  They decided to make Graceland a part of their visit.  They had several questions about Graceland and Elvis.  The most interesting question was if Elvis had ever won a Grammy.  I walked around the corner with him to show him both Grammys. 

I naturally drawn to talk to anyone with Elvis hair, in a jumpsuit or any kind of Elvis style clothes. While shopping in one of the gift shops, I met Dave Stovall from the Peoria area. I was able to find a picture of us together from 2015 when he was wearing a jumpsuit. He was thinner and I was fatter.  He told me that he had been to Graceland 89 times and usually comes 3 to 4 times a year.  I told him that my first vigil was in 2002.  He was at that vigil with his girlfriend. He told me she was so attractive that she was next in line to be a Dallas Cowboy cheerleader.  He said she got mad at him when he accidentally burned her hair with his candle at the vigil. He complained about the rising prices at Graceland.  He said people aren’t coming anymore because it costs too much.  I didn’t tell him, but I think the main reason the crowds are smaller is because the Elvis fans are dying off.  And the number of new fans isn’t enough to replace them.  I hoped to see Dave later at the vigil. He told me he was going back to the Holiday Inn Express later to change into his jumpsuit. I never saw him at the vigil.

Dave wasn’t the only one that I had met before.  While I was going through an exhibit on the Baz Luhrmann Elvis movie, I saw a lady wearing a shirt that said she suffered from O.C.E.D., Obsessive Compulsive Elvis Disorder.  I asked if I could get a picture of her shirt, and she insisted I get pictures of her custom Elvis pants and shoes too. I met Donna from Branson, MO back in 2022. I got more interesting stories from her then and I suggest going back and reading them. This year she told me she had seen Elvis perform live 8 times.  In 2022, it was 7 times. Either her count was wrong this year or she’s seen him in the last 2 years.  This was her 4th trip to Elvis week. She was looking for an Elvis Shower curtain. Her daughter came on the trip this year just to take pictures of her. The daughter said in their house Elvis was like toilet paper. It’s always in the house. She told her mother has Elvis in every room except bathroom and she wanted to fix that. Her current shower curtain says get naked.

 At 1:30 it was 93 degrees. Heat bouncing off concrete. No air stirring not much of crowd. I started to consider going home early.

 When I was going to take this year’s souvenirs back to my car, a woman from St. Louis named Lynetta told me she liked my shirt.  I was wearing an official Graceland shirt made in the style of a shirt that Elvis wears in Blue Hawaii. It gets a lot of attention, but they are all over the place during Elvis Week.  In the gift shops and on the fans. This is the second shirt that I’ve had, the first one was before I lost weight. Lynetta was there with her friend Stephanie from Kansas City.  Lynetta was the real Elvis fan of the pair. She had been to Graceland about 20 times, but this was her 2nd Elvis week. She asked for tips on navigating the Candlelight Vigil and when to get it line.  Lynetta had bought some material like my shirt to make her own custom top, and I told her about the Elvis shirts that my wife had made for me years ago. They were hip enough to the Elvis scene to refer to the tribute artists as ETAs (Elvis Tribute Artists).  I told them they could see plenty of ETAs at the Elvis Tent.

The Elvis Tent was my next stop. It is no longer in an actual tent but has been moved one of four large exhibit halls in the Pavilion building. The air-conditioning in this venue is more pleasant the old tent area. But a wristband is required to access this area, unlike the past when it was a free attraction.  It is another thing that makes it less of the fan driven experience the started the Candlelight vigil tradition and more of a transaction to keep Graceland in business. With more paid events during Elvis Week, the expectations of the returning fans grow.  Graceland struggles to find a good experience for the regulars in the crowd. The Elvis Tent is a place where these fans try their best to recreate the experience they had in earlier years.  Watching ETAs is part of that experience. I would make several trips back and forth to the Elvis Tent that afternoon.

The first performer I saw was singing I Just Can’t Help Belivin’ but didn’t know his music track well enough and started singing in the wrong place.  Other than that, he was pretty good. He had the sideburns and could affect a decent Elvis accent. His outfit looked like an Elvis themed bowling shirt.

A 17-year-old performer from Myrtle Beach didn’t do much to look like Elvis. I guess his pink polo shirt was supposed to suggest Elvis, but it didn’t work.  The black and white two-toned shoes make him the most Elvis-like, other than a good voice. When I asked him what he planned to do when he graduates high school, he said he might pursue more Elvis music or some other kind of music. I think only suggested still doing Elvis music because that’s what the fans at Elvis Week expect.  His dad was wearing a shirt with his picture on it doing Elvis moves.

Later I saw an ETA using a prop guitar.  I don’t remember seeing anyone do this before.  The way he used it, I’m pretty sure he didn’t know how to play it.  There was no attempt to really play guitar.  But he was a good singer. He did some work in the crowd and the group of women sitting immediately in front of me called him over so they could flirt with him.   

One of the ETAs wearing a black vest made a callback to the Elvis movie by declaring that Elvis is the hero in our comic book.

One of my breaks from the Elvis Tent, I was walking between buildings when I met a small utility vehicle on the sidewalk. I stepped out into the grass and stirred up a nest of fire ants that attacked my right ankle.  It took a while, but I was successful and getting them off me.

I got a notice at 2:30 that the heat advisory was extended to 9 pm.  I am still considering going home early.

When I went to one of the on-site restaurants, I met a lady from Jonesboro, Arkansas with Elvis glasses and fake sideburns hanging off the earpieces.  This was her second Elvis Week with her first one being last year.

Late afternoon, a line was forming in the area to go through security for the vigil.  It was hot and I was still considering leaving early. At an Igloo Beverage Cooler that was set up for people in line, there were 3 people in front of me getting water, 2 women and a man. One woman had sunglasses that I complimented. Told me she was from France. She didn’t understand English well enough to understand anything I said when I tried to tell her where I’m from. When they got their water, they started pouring on their foreheads and rubbing it in their hair. It reminded me of a Methodist baptism.

I ended up going to the vigil ceremony but not going up to the gravesite. It was too hot to stand in the line early enough to get done early.  I met a lady named Sabrina last year and I hung out with her and her family.  She lives in the Nashville area but comes to Memphis regularly for Elvis related events.  She also goes to other Elvis events around the country.  While I’ve met dedicated Elvis fans over the years, I’ve gotten to know Sabrina better.  I’ve gotten insight into the world of a dedicated Elvis fan.  While I hung out with her, she would meet ETAs that she knew well.  There were other Elvis fans that she talked to that were other regulars at the events she attends.  The way the network of people interacted made this event feel a little less like a fan convention and more like a family reunion. 

Before the ceremony started, I spotted a guy that I wish I had gotten in a picture. He had a tee shirt that said “I grew upon Elvis”.   His disheveled look made him look like a cross between a drunk Harry Dean Stanton character and drunk Mr. Gower, the pharmacist that George Bailey worked for in It’s A Wonderful Life.

The executives from Graceland spoke before the vigil ceremony started.  They apologized for the waits in the heat.  It sounded like they didn’t know what the typical Candlelight Vigil experience was like.  When they were considering steps to improve the experience, they said they would ask themselves one question: What would Elvis do? This brought back memories of my first Candlelight Vigil experience in 2002 when I ran into a couple of young women wearing and selling shirts similar to the popular at that time “What Would Jesus Do?” shirts and paraphernalia.  Their shirts had “WWED” letters wrapped in a Christian fish symbol. We have come full circle from a parody of a Christian movement to a legitimate initiative from Elvis Presley Enterprises.

They were also looking forward to an effort they called their “Road to 50” with the 50^th anniversary of Elvis’ death coming in 3 years.  I feel that part of that has to do with their desire for bigger crowds, which always happen on any anniversary year that ends in 5 or 0.  They want a return to the carnival atmosphere instead of the ghost town that the visitor center seems to be during most of the time.

There is no signature story from this year’s trip. As I have told people about my trip over the past few weeks, the fire ants have been my go-to story.  And that’s not a good Elvis Week story. I was more interested in a stop at Waffle House on the way home than I was interested in visiting the gravesite at Graceland.  I’m sure I’m on the road to 50 with the rest of the Elvis fans but I hope the coming years provide a more fulfilling experience.