Memories Of Elvis Presley Are Found Again

February 7, 2006

Well, I think that just about everyone in my family has had something to say about Tony Roi and the Elvis Experience. My mom is Shirley the “Shrinewoman” – and you already know how crazy she is over Tony and how many reviews she’s written in support of him. My sister, Tara, is the one who wrote about how she is worried that our mother might need help! My aunt, Sandi, has also written several reviews for Tony and is just as crazy as my mom! Recently, you heard from the South Dakota cousins, too, so I guess I’m long overdue to say a few words. I’ve always been a procrastinator, and my mom has been bugging me to write, so I’ll give it a try.

Fan and Tony Roi I’ve only seen Tony twice. The first time was back in August when my aunt and my mom took my sister and me to Branson to “relive” the experiences we had when we all went to the Elvis concerts when we were young. It was a terrific show and we really enjoyed ourselves.

Tony was just as great as Mom and Sandi had told us. As a performer and as a person, he couldn’t have been more impressive. I was glad I went to see him, but when I got home, I went back to my life and didn’t think too much more about it – until I went back to Branson on December 29th – with Mom and Sandi, of course! It was Tony’s next to the last show of the 2005 season.

I’m not sure what it was that struck me so much harder during that show – maybe I was just in a different frame of mind – but Tony brought back so many memories of Elvis for me that day – and I just want to share them.

When I was in the 9th and 10th grades in the ‘70’s, my best friend, Merrie, and I were absolutely crazy over Elvis. All of our friends just thought we were weird, but both Merrie and I were pretty much raised on Elvis music, so it was only natural to us. My room had a cork wall and it was covered with pictures of Elvis. Mom had just about all the records that Elvis ever recorded.

Just like Tony is an EXPERIENCE now, back then Elvis was an EVENT for us!! It was an EVENT if Elvis was on TV - it was an EVENT if Elvis released a new record - and it was a REALLY BIG EVENT if Elvis was in town for a concert!! When I heard “2001 Space Odyssey” come over the sound system at Tony’s show, I remembered watching the “Aloha From Hawaii” special. Merrie and I locked ourselves in her mother’s bedroom because our behavior could get a little emotional and embarrassing! We just cried and cried and kept saying “can you believe it,” can you believe it” over and over again. Tears would just roll down our faces anytime there was an Elvis EVENT – we were so in love with “the King.” Tony’s singing can sure start the tears rolling down our cheeks, too, especially my mom’s. Merrie would always watch Elvis’s hands – she thought he had such pretty hands - I have noticed that Tony does, also.

Even though our friends didn’t love Elvis the way we did, there was a lot of Elvis music used at different times during our high school years. We were both on Drill Team, and one year for our annual show we did a routine to “Jailhouse Rock” – my mom made our black and white striped convict costumes. It was a big hit. When Tony started to sing that song, I wanted to jump up on stage and dance! When Tony sang “Love Me Tender,” I was reminded of our biology teacher! He was a big Elvis fan, and he sang that at a pep rally before a big basketball game. After the game, we had a ‘50’s dance. I still have the baby blue poodle skirt with Elvis’s name and a guitar on it – Mom made that for me, too. By the way, speaking of dancing, Tony dances a lot more than Elvis did. Elvis had some great moves, but Tony has some moves that probably never even crossed Elvis’s mind!! Mom says it’s Tony’s “hot Cuban blood” – a little salsa in every performance, and everyone loves it!!

We saw four Elvis concerts in Kansas City during the ‘70’s. I remember that once my aunt, Sandi, and I camped out overnight while waiting in line to buy tickets the next morning. I think there were hundreds of people there, and they had stereos set up and played Elvis music all night. It was so fun – such a good memory. Tickets cost $10, a lot of money at that time, I guess. I still have the ticket stubs, and the programs, and an Elvis pennant in my memory box. The concerts were pretty wild. Security had to be really tight because the girls always tried to rush the stage to touch Elvis or just to get closer to him.

One night, Sandi and I ran to the stage while Elvis was giving out scarves and kisses. For some reason, the guards just got out of the way and let us go. We got to about a foot from Elvis when someone grabbed me by my hair and yanked me back, taking a hunk of my hair with her! Then another woman pushed me right into the lap of some poor lady in a wheelchair! By then it was too late, and we never got to touch Elvis. It’s really nice that at Tony’s shows, we can touch him and hug him and get a few of those kisses that we never could get from Elvis!!

Another time, Merrie and I were allowed to go with a whole busload of Elvis fans to a concert in Wichita, Kansas, about 3 hours from home – I think we were 15 years old. Our moms took us to the bus station in downtown Kansas City – they talked to some of the older people who were going and asked them to keep an eye on us. (Can you imagine doing that in this day and age?) We will always treasure that memory. Looking back at pictures we took at those Elvis concerts, Elvis was just a tiny white dot in the middle of the picture! We didn’t have fancy cameras, and we couldn’t get close to Elvis the way we can to Tony. I love the fact that we can sit in the front row at Tony’s shows, and we have taken some really great pictures.

The final concert we saw was June 17, 1977, the last time we saw Elvis before he died. He was obviously ill – the show was disappointing – and no one dared to mention it to Merrie or me on the ride home. Everyone was holding back the tears that night. We were in the kitchen at home on August 16, 1977, just two months later, when my aunt called to say that Elvis had died. We just stood there in the kitchen and cried.

I’m really grateful to Tony for bringing all of these special memories back to me. I’m sure that everyone who sees Tony’s shows has some Elvis memories of their own which they think of every time they see Tony. Tony is so good at what he does that when he is on stage you would swear you had stepped back into the ‘70’s (or the ‘50’s for some of the older people)! His voice, at times, is SO TOTALLY ELVIS that it is spooky.

I think Elvis somehow appointed Tony to be his representative in Branson. I only wish that Tony’s fan base could reach out much farther than that. I know he has fans from all over, but he deserves to be much more widely recognized, because his talent is unbelievable. His “Hand in Hand” CD is so wonderful, and so is his “Latin Album.” TONY singing TONY is every bit as fantastic as TONY singing ELVIS!!

I guess that’s about all I can say for now, but I’m sure I will be going back to Branson from time to time to see Tony’s show (all I have to do is hitch a ride with my Mom and Sandi – they are down in Branson almost as much as they are here!!) In the meantime, I’ll tell everyone that I can about this great singer and performer. Thanks for the memories, Tony, both past and present!

-Tanya Folker, KS

Editors note: Wonderful review Tanya

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