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Milan - 7 October 2007 PDF Print E-mail

One Night With Elvis  

Review by Rover

Having just completed the Elvis 2007 European Tour in Paris, Milan was the destination for the eleventh and final show for The TCB Band, Terry Mike Jeffrey and Joe Guercio. The original cast had toured with The TCB Band up until the completion of the Paris show before The Imperials and The Sweet Inspirations left for home. Tonight The TCB Band was also joined by opening act Italian singer Stefano Bardelli and The Dreamers.

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Stefano Bardelli

The Milan Auditorium was a smaller venue to the previous ten, yet spacious and comfortable, seating 1,200 people and purposely designed to carry the acoustic sound effectively to the audience. Home to classical music, tonight was going to be the exact opposite! On arrival at the auditorium and directly outside of the entrance, the kerb boasted a shining pristine Cadillac parked right on top of it, with numerous Harley Davidson motor bikes parked neatly at the side of the building. We later found out that the Cadillac was the supporting acts grand entrance to the show. Talk about doing things in style. What better way than arriving by Cadillac. Then again this was Milan, the place to be for style and class, not to mention the best pasta and calamari you'll ever get! Inside the auditorium people were already filling the place and we were met by a tasteful display of Elvis memorabilia, which included about four jumpsuits, t-shirts, clothing etc., as well as video footage of the incredible Aloha from Hawaii concert which is always great to watch and listen to.

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Terry Mike, Ron and Glen D
It wasn't long before all seats were occupied and the show was ready to start. After a brief introduction and welcome to the show the first act came on stage. Yep, the very guys who had arrived by Cadillac earlier, Stefano Bardelli and The Dreamers. The band consisted of two backing singers and four excellent musicians. Stefano Bardelli, the lead singer, must have been a towering six foot tall if not more and was dressed to impress in black and white, making him look even taller! To be honest, when we heard there was a tribute band on before The TCB Band, the initial reaction was 'Oh, not again.' However, once Stefano was well in to his opening number, C.C. Rider, what a relief, this guy could sing. He had excellent vocals and was extremely confident and comfortable singing this song as he was throughout the show. C.C.Rider was a great number to kick start the show, with the drummer and lead guitarist demonstrating as much energy as the lead singer. By the end of the first number, they had the audience rocking in their seats and up there in the balcony too. Next up we got an excellent rendition of Promised Land followed by Never Been To Spain and What Now My Love (complimented with an excellent bit of keyboard playing),You've Lost That Loving Feeling and the always great to hear Polk Salad Annie ...gaitors got your granny... It was good to watch the rapport between the bass player and Stefano here. The whole audience was buzzing by now and the atmosphere was something else. The band finished with Johnny B Goode, Kentucky Rain, Let Me Be There and Jailhouse Rock. The highlight of this part of the show for me and indeed the rest of the audience was a superb deliverance of Hurt and If I Can Dream. Both numbers receiving a standing ovation and rapturous applause.
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Joe Guercio answers questions
After Stefano had spoken to the audience and his band had left the stage, he introduced  Joe Guercio. Joe was warmly welcomed on stage and it wasn't long before his presence and humour took command. Joe spoke briefly about the wonderful times with Elvis before answering a few questions from the audience. The first question was regarding the well known photograph with Elvis and his hands around Joe's neck! Apparently they both had this ongoing friendly dispute over the correct title for the song It's Now Or Never. Joe would always tell Elvis "It's Italian Elvis, it's O Sole Mio." "No," Elvis would reply, "It is It's Now Or Never." On the photograph they had just exchanged opinions again, hence the reason Elvis has his hands round Joe's neck as he reiterates, "It's Now Or Never."
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Suspicious Minds with Joe and Jerry
Another question asked was who Elvis's favourite singer was. That of course, as most of us already know was Mario Lanza. Joe also added that Elvis was almost a tenor himself! We also got the true 'you got it from Joe' story behind the use of the theme from the 2001: A Space Odyssey for the opening of Elvis's shows. It was thanks to Joe's wife, Corkie, who he had taken to see the film. After hearing the theme herself she immediately turned to Joe and expressed how wonderful it would be to have it open his shows, as she found herself picturing Elvis walking on stage as it was playing! Joe agreed with her comments and, well the rest is history. Another audience question asked Joe for one of his greatest moments with Elvis. Joe replied that he had two. Madison Square Garden and The Aloha from Hawaii satellite concert. Question time over, Joe introduced to the stage Terry Mike Jeffrey. Terry Mike had been performing with The TCB Band and cast throughout the entire Elvis 2007 European Tour. He immediately went in to a superb solo rendition of Surrender, with only an acoustic guitar, which he played himself as backing. He was an instant hit with the audience and the good thing about watching Terry Mike perform on stage is that he doesn't think that he is Elvis nor does he try to impersonate him.
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Terry Mike Jeffrey
Time to bring The TCB Band on stage. This was what the audience had been waiting for and it was more than obvious by the as always, enthusiastic reception they received, with each band member smiling in appreciation. This was going to be a great show! First off was, That's Alright followed by Burning Love. Less than five minutes on stage and the place was rocking. Burning Love had the audience to their feet and received thunderous applause. Next up was Trying To Get To You followed by an amazing keyboard intro from Glen D to Big Boss Man which was complimented by the power of Ronnie on drums. By now people were clapping, singing, waving their arms about and punching the air. It was awesome. Little Sister was next with James' guitar licks more than obvious and Ronnie able to make the sound of the drums beat like a huge rhythmic heart inside of your chest. James then played in with the incredible Steam Roller Blues with Jerry  cool as a cucumber delivering those equally as cool bass tones. "What you wanna play now James?" asked Terry Mike prompting James to hit Johnny B Goode. This was the chance to hear each of the band member's incredible solos. There were very few people in their seats by now and those in the balconies displayed a sea of arms swaying from side to side. "What you wanna play Glen D?" asked Terry Mike and we got to hear the wonderful Just Pretend. This was an excellent choice to make. It kind of sedated the audience for a while as the atmosphere was buzzing by now. You know what? It worked. You could hear the grass grow, well at least until it finished and every one was on their feet again. Next, to the delight of the audience was Big Hunk of Love followed by the wonderful Bridge Over Troubled Water. Glen D had the undivided attention of the audience with his unique keyboard playing and the rest of the band waiting attentively to join in with their own amazing contribution to the number. What a performance and again rapturous applause and a standing ovation. Jerry's turn next with Polk Salad Annie and the focus was on that blue Lakland bass and it's unique player, with Ronnie adding a powerful ending on drums.
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James Burton
This is where the sound effects of the auditorium proved priceless, carrying the bass and drums to the back of the auditorium. Fantastic.Terry Mike announced to the audience that they had all been on a three week tour and that the Milan audience were the best. Of course this had the audience raise the roof of the building. The show would not be complete without Suspicious Minds and Terry Mike invited Joe back to the stage. What fun the band had and the audience with this number. Joe joined heads with Terry Mike at the mic adding a few vocals of his own to the song before jokingly conducting the band with the tempo. He then turned to conduct the audience in joining in. Joe and Jerry joked behind Terry Mike and it was wonderful to watch each band member enjoying the antics of Joe and the audience's response. By now the audience had made their way down to the stage making it clearly obvious they didn't want the show to end. After continuous applause and pleads for more the band returned for another number playing out with CC Rider. The show was without doubt a tremendous success and it is with great thanks to the organisers Dennis Skopaz and Franco Rapillo for organising the show and bringing the fantastic TCB Band and guests to the people of Milan. Well done guys. Grazie mille!
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Franco Rapillo and Dennis Skopaz
 

Published by: Rover/ Source:www.tcbfanclub.com 

 
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