Scot Bruce is not Elvis – and doesn’t pretend to be – but he has the King’s music flat nailed, along with an energy and vitality that harks back to Presley’s earliest days.
Backed up by a fantastic band, Bruce is bringing his show, "Shake, Rattle & Roll," to the Barter Theatre through Sept. 12, and that, in my humble opinion, is probably just about all the venerable old Barter superstructure can stand – if it doesn’t shake, rattle and roll itself to death before then.
I admit that I have seen enough Elvis impersonators to last me well into several lifetimes, but Bruce’s performance is so real, so honest and so mesmerizing that I, like everybody else in the audience, was swept up in the magic.
For some, the music of Elvis brings back memories of their teenage years, of drive-in movies and first loves. I was only 10 when he first burst onto the scene, yet his music speaks to me of another America, imaginary perhaps, of simpler times and places.
Presley really did change America and the world probably more than any musician before or since; that’s a bold statement, I know, and probably not defensible, but in the history of both music and social change, the name "Elvis" will definitely be writ large when I, and you, are long gone and forgotten.
I feel guilty in a way for touting an "Elvis Presley Tribute Show," but if you have even the slightest interest in rock ’n’ roll, musical history or Americana, then "Shake, Rattle & Roll" is well worth the time and money. Or simply take the grandkids and let ’em get a taste of what music really ought’a sound like.
Rock on!
-- For dates, times and reservations: (276) 628-3991 or www.bartertheatre.com.
Email
Facebook
Google
Twitter
Favorites
More
Advertisement