On celebrating the King of Rock and Roll with Elvis in Concert, the 81-year-old exclusively told Express.co.uk: “It’s one of the best Elvis experiences of all time, even though he’s there only on screen. The audience reminds me of exactly the same audiences when I was on tour with Elvis for hundreds of concerts. And then you add the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra… it’s overwhelming. You really start believing that Elvis is in the arena! There’s no other entertainer – and there’s a lot of great entertainers – who’s stayed so contemporary.”
On his role at the concerts, Jerry said: “I’m the host of the show. I’ll come out and introduce. It’s a little bit of a personal touch with me being Elvis’ long-time friend and business associate. And then about halfway through the first act, there’ll be a special section in honour of Lisa Marie Presley.”
The Memphis Mafia legend accompanied Elvis’ daughter to the Golden Globes this year on her request, to witness Austin Butler win Best Drama Actor for playing her father in Baz Luhrmann’s biopic. Tragically, Lisa died suddenly just two days later, much to the shock of Jerry, her family and the world. He’d go on to pay tribute to the King’s only child, who he remembers holding as a baby, at her funeral held at Graceland.
On the special Lisa Marie tribute during the concert, he said: “We’ll have nice videos of Lisa. And then in the second act, I will share my personal home movies with Elvis, Priscilla’s and fellow Memphis Mafia member Joe Esposito’s.” And if that wasn’t enough, he plans on showing fans “something that hasn’t been done before.”
Jerry revealed: “I filmed beautiful footage inside Graceland’s various rooms this summer and I talk about how we lived there and what it was like. All these segments are from three to five minutes because we don’t want to take away from the great music.”
He added: “This would have been Elvis’ dream come true to perform with the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra. He loved big orchestrations. He would have horns, he would add cellos, but in a regular rock and roll tour you don’t have an orchestra.
“So I think this accomplishes two things that Elvis would have loved to have done and is doing in spirit. And that is to be on tour in the UK and to be with an orchestra of the quality of the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra.”
Check out the full list of UK tour dates and how to get tickets below.
The Vest Best of Elvis in Concert Live on Screen with the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra UK tour
October 25 – GLASGOW OVO HYDRO
October 26 – MANCHESTER AO ARENA
October 27 – BIRMINGHAM RESORTS WORLD ARENA
October 28 – NEWCASTLE UTILITA ARENA
October 29 – LEEDS FIRST DIRECT ARENA
October 31 – LONDON THE O2
November 1 – CARDIFF INTERNATIONAL ARENA