Published: Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Elvis impersonator captures the spirit of The King
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Contributed photo
Danny Vernon's Illusions of Elvis show will be at the Evergreen State Fair next week.
Call him deluded, a groupie who never grew up, a guy with an identity problem. But local legend-impersonating sensation Danny Vernon sets you straight from the get go.
“Let’s celebrate Elvis,” said this likable but no-nonsense performer, connecting immediately with a respectable showing of 50-plusses last weekend at the Historic Everett Theatre. The big “Let’s do” that answered was a prolonged, rafter-shaking, sonic-booming roar.
Vernon knows who he is, what he is doing, why and who he is playing to.
He always has.
From his days as a kid imitating what he heard on his dad’s scratched-up collection of The King’s albums, Vernon’s life has been about “The Illusion of Elvis,” a show that “respects and supports the integrity of the man and his music.”
Does he deliver?
Others are a closer look-alike. The swiveling hips, bump and grind, and shake-rattle-and-roll, others are better at.
But last weekend, backed by the rockin’ rock sound of the DeVilles, a crowd-pleasing set by Ryan Coleman’s Buddy Holly and wife Marcia Vernon’s version of Jerry Lee Lewis’ “Great Balls of Fire,” it was the voice of Elvis that was where the action was.
Those private, intimacy-bonding moments with audiences that only the voice of the shy mama’s boy in Elvis could create, no impersonator can hope to recreate. Those, Vernon has the good sense not to even attempt.
Instead, from the groundbreaking “Heartbreak Hotel” that launched The King in 1956, to his career-concluding “How Great Thou Art” in the ’70s, Vernon’s voice reminds and remakes, suggests and celebrates.
Elvis’s was the gift of an originator in his time. Vernon’s is the gift of appreciation in our time.
This guy is catching fire. See him next, if you can, at the Evergreen State Fair in Monroe early next week free of charge.
Illusion of Elvis
Danny Vernon does public and private events and special occasions.
Up next is the Evergreen State Fair, noon and 3:30 p.m. Aug. 29 and 11:45 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Aug. 30.
For more information, call 253-691-5450 or visit www.dannyvernon.com
Reactions? Comments? E-mail Dale Burrows at grayghost7@comcast.net or entertainment@weeklyherald.com.
“Let’s celebrate Elvis,” said this likable but no-nonsense performer, connecting immediately with a respectable showing of 50-plusses last weekend at the Historic Everett Theatre. The big “Let’s do” that answered was a prolonged, rafter-shaking, sonic-booming roar.
Vernon knows who he is, what he is doing, why and who he is playing to.
He always has.
From his days as a kid imitating what he heard on his dad’s scratched-up collection of The King’s albums, Vernon’s life has been about “The Illusion of Elvis,” a show that “respects and supports the integrity of the man and his music.”
Does he deliver?
Others are a closer look-alike. The swiveling hips, bump and grind, and shake-rattle-and-roll, others are better at.
But last weekend, backed by the rockin’ rock sound of the DeVilles, a crowd-pleasing set by Ryan Coleman’s Buddy Holly and wife Marcia Vernon’s version of Jerry Lee Lewis’ “Great Balls of Fire,” it was the voice of Elvis that was where the action was.
Those private, intimacy-bonding moments with audiences that only the voice of the shy mama’s boy in Elvis could create, no impersonator can hope to recreate. Those, Vernon has the good sense not to even attempt.
Instead, from the groundbreaking “Heartbreak Hotel” that launched The King in 1956, to his career-concluding “How Great Thou Art” in the ’70s, Vernon’s voice reminds and remakes, suggests and celebrates.
Elvis’s was the gift of an originator in his time. Vernon’s is the gift of appreciation in our time.
This guy is catching fire. See him next, if you can, at the Evergreen State Fair in Monroe early next week free of charge.
Illusion of Elvis
Danny Vernon does public and private events and special occasions.
Up next is the Evergreen State Fair, noon and 3:30 p.m. Aug. 29 and 11:45 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Aug. 30.
For more information, call 253-691-5450 or visit www.dannyvernon.com
Reactions? Comments? E-mail Dale Burrows at grayghost7@comcast.net or entertainment@weeklyherald.com.