Elvis: 'The Wonder of You' is a triumphant celebration of Elvis Presley and his music. I attended the first sublime show of this national tour, which was held at the Perth Arena, on Friday 26th May 2017.
Background drop at the Show
Elvis Presley appeared on state-of-the-art screens that have been specially designed for the arena tour and was backed by a full 40-piece symphony orchestra with one of Australia's foremost musical directors, Chong Lim. This show was a triumphant celebration of Elvis Presley, his work and his music and it was presented in a unique way!
Well-known pose
Elvis has sold an amazing one billion records worldwide and this figure is still going up despite the fact that some of the teenagers nowadays have not heard of him! Elvis Presley was born in Mississippi on the 8th January 1935 as Elvis Aaron Presley, and would eventually be known as "King of rock n roll". He was born into poverty and at the age of 21, he acquired Graceland, where he was to live until his untimely death, at the young age of 42, on the 16th August 1977.
Elvis and his mother
One of his sayings was "
A live concert to me is exciting because of all the electricity that is generated in the crowd and on stage.
It's my favourite part of the business, live concerts".
This saying is very obvious when you see the movies of Elvis performing at the many venues that he attended.
The show went on for about 2½ hours and during this time, some of the songs performed were:
Burning LoveWelcome to my WorldSteam Roller BluesFeverYou Gave Me a MountainYou Don't Have to Say You Love MeJust Can't Help BelievingJust PretendYou've Lost That Lovin' FeelinDon'tIt's Now or NeverI Can't Help Falling in Love with YouIn the GhettoHow Great Thou ArtBridge Over Troubled WaterGuitar ManThat's AlrightHound DogDon't be CruelHeartbreak HotelAre You Lonesome TonightAll Shook UpBlue Suede ShoesMemoriesLove Me TenderWonder of YouSuspicious MindsWhat Now My LoveBig Hunk o' LoveAmerican TrilogyIf I Can Dream
The show was brilliantly orchestrated with Chong Lim being the Musical Director. Chong Lim is one of Australia's most respected musical directors, producers and composers and has been commissioned for many musical projects worldwide. His compositions have been performed at the opening and closing ceremonies of the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, the 2002 Commonwealth Games in England, the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne and many, many more.
He is possibly best known as being the musical director for John Farnham for 25 years, as well as Kylie Minogue and Olivia Newton-John, having toured and performed with these artists. He has also led many other famous artists.
Elvis: 'The Wonder of You' Chong Lim has done a fantastic job in bringing together the music of the 40 piece Perth Symphony Orchestra who did such a good job - it was so well done, with the timing being perfect for all the songs that were on the screen. On backing vocals were Lindsey Field, Susie Ahern and Michelle Serret-Cursio.
Three backing singers
Jerry Schilling was the Master of Ceremonies for this Event and Jerry was a long time best friend to Elvis.
Jerry Schilling - longtime friend of Elvis
He presented some of his personal movies of Elvis and his family, and Jerry also wondered through the audience speaking to various people at random. Jerry was friends with Elvis from 1954 and his long professional association with Elvis began in 1964, when Elvis brought him to Los Angeles as his personal aide. Jerry also recounted some of the stories about Elvis, their friendship, career, as well as some stories about Elvis' family.
Elvis: 'The Wonder of You' features the most recognisable voice of all time, along with the full symphony orchestra live on stage performing with the King of Rock and Roll's most well-known toe-tapping songs and his tender, heart-wrenching ballads.
Following on from the 2015 release of the chart-topping Sony Music Legacy Recordings album, If I Can Dream, featuring Elvis Presley with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, came the exciting announcement that Elvis Presley would be on the big screen and backed by a full 40 piece symphony orchestra for a national arena tour of Australia in 2017. The arena tour in the England in November 2016 sold out and the recently announced European arena shows in 2017 are also selling fast.
40 piece orchestra in front of the screen
The actual videos were not clear and were grainy, however, this really served to make them seem more genuine, as some of them would have been nearing 50 years old when cinematography/film clips were nothing like the high standard they are today.
Elvis, doing what he enjoyed most
Elvis: 'The Wonder of You', live in concert, is produced by Elvis Presley Enterprises, and was a show well worth attending!
The Wonder of You Concert
PERTH
Friday May 26, 2017
Perth Arena
ADELAIDE
Sunday May 28, 2017
Adelaide Entertainment Centre
BRISBANE
Thursday June 1, 2017
Brisbane Entertainment Centre
SYDNEY
Friday June 2, 2017
ICC Theatre
Saturday June 3, 2017
ICC Theatre
MELBOURNE
Thursday June 8, 2017
Margaret Court Arena
Friday June 9, 2017
Margaret Court Arena *SOLD OUT
Saturday June 10, 2017
Margaret Court Arena
For tickets, head to the Elvis Live website.