|
I would first like to thank Joan Minnery of Memphis Motion, head of the Brantford Elvis Festival (and to quote the National Post, "Canada's 2nd largest Elvis Festival") which is held at the Sanderson Centre each year with proceeds going to charity. Joan does know the Sanderson inside out, so doing one heck of a job setting the stage, decorating the lobby, co-ordinating the rehearsals and promoting the Birthday Show in Ontario, seemed to come naturally and she knew just how to direct the Sanderson crew! Joan, you did a super job and all your staff and volunteers deserve a big hand for helping you out year to year! MM - Rose, Adele & Alicia - you were fantastic! I would also like to wish Joan a very happy birthday on February 8th from all the LLM crew.
A little background & updates on MM -
Joan & Memphis Motion are very familiar to the Ontario audiences, not to mention MM is a household name in Brantford. The audience welcomed them to the stage as background vocalists with lots of applause and sought as many autographs after the show of them as they did the ETAs! Why? Well these audiences have heard MM sing backup for more Elvii than the entire state of Memphis; they've danced to MM as they sang rock & roll classics from the 50s, the psychedelic tunes from the 60s and the musical anthems of the 70s.. they've watched MM grow from a backup group with angelic harmonies and bubblegum dance moves to a major eclectic force of musical brilliance as they ventured out and took centre stage on their own and captured people's hearts and ears from all over North America. That's why and that power house troupe, known as Memphis Motion have taken their award winning showcase and compacted their larger than life sound into one fantabulous CD of Memphis Motion hits and musical classics. Speaking for MM, Joan was quoted as saying - "We felt that it was important to give our fans what they want...the songs that they come out to hear us sing, time and time again". Joan, Rose, Adele and Alicia will be releasing their CD on Saturday April 9th, the exact same day as the tickets for the Brantford Elvis Festival go on sale. They have affectionately entitled their 2005 Tour the "HELL YA" tour (referring to their new anthem song) as they will be performing in more than 60 shows across Ontario by singing the songs of yesteryear with the voices of today! Memphis Motion - 7 Years Of Keeping The Memories Alive. Joan is releasing her solo CD next Tuesday February 8th (her birthday). It includes Jazz, Country, R&B, Rock and Roll and Oldies Pop. Congratulations on the recordings Joan and thanks Memphis Motion for a fabulous party!
Rudy & The Angels Band -
We can't go without mentioning the fantastic performance of Rudy Salerno & The Angels Band. Under the direction of drummer Rudy Salerno, this tight knit four piece ensemble sounded like a ten piece orchestra, "Elvisly" tweeked to perfection! Lenny Feldman was stupendous on keyboards, Brian Wilson (not of Beach Boy fame) a whiz on lead guitar, Gene Falbo kept it smoothly together on bass. Their professionalism and talent were appreciated and enjoyed by both the artists and the audience. I have to say, you boys were sensational, it's obvious you take a great deal of pride in your work - who says practice dosen't make perfect? well done, you're a class act!
|
