WORDS AND IMAGES DESH KAPUR
I went to Manchester Academy to experience something truly unique – Elvana. They come from “Disgraceland”, a band that looks and plays like an Elvis Presley cover band, but with a twist: they cover Nirvana songs. Yes, you heard that right – Elvis meets Nirvana. And you might be wondering, does it work? Well, I can tell you with certainty that it most certainly does.
As soon as the band bounded onto the stage to the backing tape of Frankie Valli’s “Grease”, the crowd erupted in excitement. The band’s enigmatic frontman bounced across the stage and launched into “Territorial Pissing”. The crowd was already loving it, and this was only the first song! They followed up with “Stay Away” and an interesting segue into “That’s All Right”. The few thousand people in the Academy were ecstatic. It made me wonder what Kurt Cobain would make of it all.
Throughout the performance, the frontman energetically engaged the crowd, with plenty of clapping, hip thrusting, and frantic arm-waving. However, despite the fun and playful atmosphere, these guys are serious musicians who play everything to perfection.
One of the most WTF moments of the night was when they mashed “Rape Me” into “Love Me Tender”. It shouldn’t work, but it did, and the crowd loved it.
“Grungy Elvis” was all over the stage, moving from front to back, left to right, and even venturing into the crowd to shake hands. It was pure entertainment that wouldn’t look out of place on a Las Vegas stage.
I think the key to Elvana’s success is balance. Blending the king of rock and roll with the king of grunge could easily fall into the realm of cheese and high camp, but Elvana has found the perfect balance. They mix and mash songs together brilliantly, and even though the Elvis impersonator doesn’t try to sound like Elvis, even admits he doesn’t sound like Elvis, This doesn’t seem to bother him or the packed-out venue one bit he still manages to capture the spirit of both Elvis and Nirvana. It was great fun!
SET LIST:
1/ TERRITORIAL PISSING
2/ STAY AWAY / THAT’S ALL RIGHT
3/ IN BLOOM
4/ SCENTLESS APPRENTICE / HOUND DOG
5/ RAPE ME / LOVE ME TENDER
6/ SILVER
7/ ALL FUCKED UP
8/ ABOUT A GIRL / NOW OR NEVER
9/ DANNY’S SONG ( Guitarist sings )
10/ DIVE / DEVIL DISGUISE
11/ TROUBLE / BREED / VIVA LAS VEGAS
12/ DUMB / ALWAYS ON MY MIND
13/ JAILHOUSE TOURETTES
14/ FRANCES FARMER WILL HAVE HER REVENGE ON SEATTLE / SUSPICIOUS MINDS
15/ HEARTBREAK HOTEL / LITHIUM
16/ LOVE BUZZ ( Rachel lead vocals )
17/ CAN’T HELP FALLING IN LOVE / HEART SHAPED BOX
18/ A LITTLE LESS CONVERSATION / SMELLS LOKE TEEN SPIRIT
19/ COME AS YOU ARE
FOLLOW ELVANA
My life is a soundtrack, i track my life through music, photography is my passion, my escape, my expression. Without both i have pieces missing, thankfully i’m blessed and get to combine both.
Born in Manchester, lived in Australia for 22 years where i was heavily involved in the Australian Music Industry, firstly in bands (Singer) and then managing bands (all original), I moved back to the UK, Wales specifically 10 years ago
