The Elvis Experience

With a set list of some of the most famous songs of the post-war period, and a tight, and musically versatile band, Mark Green and The Dixie Rock and Roll Band gave an enthusiastic Lichfield audience more than their money’s worth when they presented The Elvis Experience at Lichfield’s Guildhall on Sunday, September 26th.

With a set-list taken from throughout Elvis’s career, from the early Rockabilly days at Sun Studios to his films, his 1968 comeback special, and his tragically early death at 42 in 1977, the whole story of his short, historical and music-changing career was told.

With the talented singer and performer Mark Greene taking on the role of Elvis, The Dixie Rock and Roll Band also gave a good account of themselves, with Tim Jones on Drums, Dennis McNulty on Guitar, vocalist Nicola Kenning, bassist Kevin Walker and Billy Hayes on Keyboards, they performed blues, rock and roll, gospel, rockabilly, and music from Presley’s later Vegas career with equal dexterity.

With more than thirty songs played throughout the evening, the band worked hard to create energetic versions of such hits as All Shook Up, Blue Suede Shoes, Jailhouse Rock and That’s Alright Mama.

His crooner film career was also covered, with such hits as Devil in Disguise, Now or Never, whilst the blues base of Presley’s early singing style was tackled in such songs as Evil, My Babe, or the funk blues of A Little Less Conversation, and the gospel holler that powered Burning Love. Hound Dog was delivered at a slower pace, whilst hits for other people, such as Proud Mary by Creedence Clearwater Revival, Words by The Bee Gees, and The Everly Brother’s Let it Be Me showed Presley’s skill as an interpretive singer of ballads and songs with a slower beat.

The ballads of Presley’s career were also well played, with In The Ghetto showing the group’s sound in a new light.

However, it was the bigger hits, the more familiar songs that got the biggest audience reactions, with You Were Always on My Mind, Return to Sender, and Heartbreak Hotel all proving to be particularly popular.