Doug Church, Walton on the Naze 2005.
Having stumbled across the website by accident I was some what skeptical about this Doug Church guy! Id never heard of him and No one is THAT good. I phoned the number given and got through to an enthusiastic and very helpful man by the name of Mark Kent, I just meant to tentatively enquire about prices and the like with half hearted interest but Marks infectious enthusiasm really caught my attention and I booked for the entire weekend for myself and my sister. We are Elvis mad and keen to attend any sort of event where we can pay homage to our man! We are veterans of many Elvis tribute acts and can readily list a number of performers who are more of an insult than tribute but balance that out with the few who really do bring the magic alive and its always worth attending that next show in case its a good one!
Having stumbled across the website by accident I was some what skeptical about this Doug Church guy! Id never heard of him and No one is THAT good. I phoned the number given and got through to an enthusiastic and very helpful man by the name of Mark Kent, I just meant to tentatively enquire about prices and the like with half hearted interest but Marks infectious enthusiasm really caught my attention and I booked for the entire weekend for myself and my sister. We are Elvis mad and keen to attend any sort of event where we can pay homage to our man! We are veterans of many Elvis tribute acts and can readily list a number of performers who are more of an insult than tribute but balance that out with the few who really do bring the magic alive and its always worth attending that next show in case its a good one!
So with that rather less than enthusiastic outlook we found ourselves on the Friday in the previously unheard of Walton on the Naze. Having booked into a local B&B we found the venue and found ourselves a seat at the arranged tables. Before we got to see Mr Church there was a number of dances performed by a local dance school. This was unexpected and a number of people found it to be a strange contrast to an evening of Elvis and the crowd were probably going to be a tough one for the man from the States who boasted "the Voice of Elvis".
After the dancing girls the main act began and we got to hear for ourselves whether this guy was any good..... By the end of the first song we realized that this man sounded uncannily like Elvis. More so than any other performer we have ever seen. The concert progressed and difficult songs that many struggle with were sung in a manner that delighted and astounded a by now enthusiastic audience who encouraged by Doug found their feet and danced along to the voice of Elvis, an accolade now fully understood!
After the dancing girls the main act began and we got to hear for ourselves whether this guy was any good..... By the end of the first song we realized that this man sounded uncannily like Elvis. More so than any other performer we have ever seen. The concert progressed and difficult songs that many struggle with were sung in a manner that delighted and astounded a by now enthusiastic audience who encouraged by Doug found their feet and danced along to the voice of Elvis, an accolade now fully understood!
It was a great night and Doug's amusing chatter between songs just added to the all round entertaining excellence of the man. When, all too soon the evening was brought to an end we were told there would be an all Elvis disco that went on to the small hours and Doug would be attending!! So the partying went on. Doug courteously posed for hundreds of photos and was really warm and sincere as he chatted to just about everybody in the room.
Saturday night was a sell out and a mixture of [now] fans who had seen Friday nights performance and people who had just booked for the one night were treated to an electric performance with a diverse range of songs delivered in a jaw droopingly similar sounding way to the greatest singer of all time. We were left feeling quite honoured to have been present at such a great show! Again, Doug joined all the fans at the disco afterwards and charmed all who met him.
Saturday night was a sell out and a mixture of [now] fans who had seen Friday nights performance and people who had just booked for the one night were treated to an electric performance with a diverse range of songs delivered in a jaw droopingly similar sounding way to the greatest singer of all time. We were left feeling quite honoured to have been present at such a great show! Again, Doug joined all the fans at the disco afterwards and charmed all who met him.
Sunday night was request night where Doug would sing ANY Elvis song of your choice! Amazingly he succeeded in mastering all but one obscure number that the requestor had to admit that Elvis rarely remembered more than the first verse of either!! The versatility of Doug Church is second to none and I urge you to catch a performance if ever you get the opportunity. No one is that good????.... He's that good.
Keep TCB, Sarah.
Keep TCB, Sarah.
Sincerely
Sarah Ellis
Sarah Ellis
Elvis Tribute Artists Radio
