A simple heart-felt tribute to an icon such as Elvis Presley can be a very powerful and moving experience. Rob Knight is a Canadian expat who is keeping Elvis’ music and memory alive in PV with his simple, yet compelling Elvis tribute shows.
Wednesday night, I caught his Elvis: The Concert Years show at The Boutique Theatre above Nacho Daddy’s in Old Town. Donned from head to toe in an authentic costume that had been made by one of Elvis’ own tailors, Rob looked very much the part. He considers himself a tribute artist rather than an impersonator, which I really liked. This gives him the freedom to talk about Elvis in the 3rd person and present the audience with interesting and detailed descriptions of the life, times and music of “the King of Rock n’ Roll.”
Rob Knight is a talented, versatile entertainer who could do any number of musical interpretations, but I’m thrilled that he’s chosen to channel the music, style and life of Elvis Presley. The variety of songs from pop to country to inspirational was fantastic. Elvis did all these genres of music in his shows and Rob took us through the spectrum.
One of my favorite parts of the show was when Rob asked a number of guests to pick an Elvis song, which he in turn sang a few a cappella lines from. It was sweet and touching to hear him croon the lines of “Blue Christmas,” “Love Me Tender,” “Jail House Rock,” ” Return to Sender” and “Hound Dog.”
Rob Knight started singing country music at the age of 6 in Alberta, Canada. He joined a country band as his first professional gig and has sung different types of music throughout his career. He is especially partial to “inspirational” music and even sang with the new “Blackwood Brothers,” a famous gospel group that I remember hearing many years ago back East. After performing years of Elvis tribute shows in Canada, Rob Knight and his wife, moved permanently to PV last year. He now performs a variety of Elvis shows at The Boutique Theatre and other venues around the Bay.
As I listened throughout Rob’s performance to songs like, “Always on My Mind,” “Can’t Help Falling In Love,” “Suspicious Minds,” “In The Ghetto,” “One Night With You” and “It’s Now or Never,” I felt overwhelming appreciation for the talent of rock n’ roll’s greatest artist and the man paying tribute to him. With deep rich tones and soaring vocals, Rob Knight portrays the music and the man very well.
The fact that Elvis was a complex character can not be disputed, but his amazing talent and his music will always be appreciated by new generations of fans. Rob Knight’s tribute to Elvis is an incredible reminder of “the King’s” immense talent that he shared with millions his of fans.
Elvis: The Concert Years, features the best of “the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll” with songs from the 1970’s concert years. This show is performed at The Boutique Theatre on Wednesdays at 7:30 pm on January 13, 20; February 3, 10, 17 and March 2, 9, 16, 23.
On January 10th, Rob will perform his Elvis Inspirational Gospel show highlighting the beautiful inspirational, spiritual and gospel songs that Elvis loved and turned to during the trials and tribulations in his life. He will be joined for this performance by award winning, Elvis tribute artist, Dino Macris. And on January 17th, Rob will present, This is Elvis, a collection of audience requested songs from Rob’s tribute performances over the past 3 years.
Rob Knight is also scheduled to perform 2 dinner shows this season at Luna Lounge in Bucerias. Elvis: The Birthday Special will be performed on Jan 8th at 6:30 pm and also features Dino Macris. On February 19th, Rob returns to Luna Lounge with another dinner show called Salute to Elvis Presley. (http://lunaloungebucerias.weebly.com/)
To find out more about Rob Knight or to schedule him for an event or private performance go to www.foreverelvis.ca.
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Rather than not disputing that Elvis was a complex character, what was really extraordinary about him was his having been UNJUSTLY banned in that otherwise wonderful country, first from airplay since 1957, then from stores since 1959, followed by the ban from theatres as of late 1961 and finally, from entering the country as of December of 1962. That ban lasted until 1970 with the truth about the various actions taken against him only surfacing, first but only partially in 1969, with the publication of “Rey Criollo”, by Parmenides Garcia Saldaña then in 1999, with that of Eric Solov’s “Elvis refrito”, the latter following the death of the person responsible for the ban, the all powerful Mayor of Mexico City, and third most powerful man in the country for at least 15 years, Ernesto Peralta Uruchurtu. By the time Presley records were again being played, an entire generation of Mexicans had missed his greatest years while the rumour that he was anti-Mexican, totally invented by Uruchurtu’s clan, which included the main social columnist then working at Mexico’s largest circulating daily, “Excelsior”, Federico de Leon, persists in some uniformed quarters, even to this day,