Elvis Deathday Memorial

Sat., Aug. 13, Variety Playhouse

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Kingsized’s yearly Elvis birthday and deathday shows have become an unflappable Atlanta tradition, originating at the Star Bar and now at the Variety Playhouse. What began as a celebratory lark now draws enough interest to almost fill the theater, relying on the suspicion that both the average and extraordinary still love them some Elvis.

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Elvis & the Blue Suedes opened with some bass-rattling Sun-era tunes. Young Presley is American pop culture’s most familiar stamp, having set the standard for Jacko and Marilyn look-alikes everywhere. To the credit of Lieber and Stoller and Elvis’ influential rhythm section, when rockers like “Mystery Train” are ably performed, it’s tough to keep your feet from moving. Fortunately, E. & the Suedes know their Elvis.

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Kingsized’s Mike Geier has been synonymous with the Elvis events since their inception. Geier and full band, with the Kingsized horns and vocalist Kim Duncan, took the stage for the 10th anniversary show to the obligatory “Also Sprach Zarathustra”/”C.C. Rider” medley. They covered familiar (“Suspicious Minds,” “Burnin’ Love,” etc.) and deeper selections, like the Memphis cut “Wearing That Loved-On Look.” Brief fragments of Elvis Costello’s “Every Day I Write the Book” and “Jungle Boogie” were dropped into the mix, while various Dames Aflame, in various states of undress, provided the evening’s most stunning theatrics. Geier’s majestic salute to the heavens, though, ranks a close second. On a good night, Kingsized rocks whatever is put in front of the stage, and Geier’s downtown Hilton Atlanta gigs have further sharpened his show-biz act. Rhinestones were seen, but no muttonchops or pompadours made it on stage during Kingsized’s set, save for the hand-knit banner reading “Elvis: El Rey” (“The King”) in the background. After a truly exhilarating “American Trilogy,” the bedazzled, goateed fan with duct-taped sideburns held the devil fingers salute, aware that, even at his most deliberately sentimental, nobody does it quite like the King.