On the Road Again
Live Reviews:

Red Elvises
September 14, 1998
The Horseshoe Tavern, Toronto, ON

How do you describe a show that features four fellows dressed in red playing Eastern European-tinged surf and rockabilly? It's that simple. The Horseshoe, who had already played host to the incomparable El Vez (and his Gospel Review) just four nights prior presented these Siberian-raised crazies for a lively and enjoyable set of music. Though I must admit that the garage/surf/rockabilly troika of musical styles is not high on my list of popular music forms, the infectious manner with which the Red Elvises presented their music broke down that barrier of mistrust I have for the genre.

The California-based group played a majority of their music featured in the newly released film, Six String Samurai, plugging the movie on frequent occasions. The bass player acted as the focal point for the show with a custom-built three string bass in the form of a gigantic balalaika. He also acted as the group's emcee, engaging the crowd in friendly banter in a humourous Russian-tinged accent. At one point he convinced a young woman who had been dancing to the Red Elvises rockin' versions of traditional Greek and Russian folk songs to join them onstage for a competent display of belly-dancing. Though the group ran rough-shot over all of the typical clichés associated with this form of music, the lengthy (hour and a half long) set was consistently enjoyable because of the infectious, affable and charming nature of its presenters. Oh, about the band's name...well the 'red' is an obvious reference to their former home. As for Elvis; at one point during the show, the rhythm guitar-player turned up his shirt collar and donned wrap-around shades and gold medallions to croon a silly version of "Blue Moon" for the Elvis portion of the night.