Elvis MK II

Author and Archive friend Chris Scott Wilson, knowing I have a soft spot for the King, sent me this link - Now I usually find Elvis impersonators bizarre, and believe me I've seen enough of them at the annual Porthcawl Elvis festival, but this guy Ben Portsmouth, a brit, is incredible and in some of the profile shots he really becomes Elvis.

Rock on Ben

Missed the King

An Elvis on the seafront

More than 25,000 Elvis fans packed the tiny Welsh seaside town of Porthcawl for last weekend's Elvis festival.

I only got to go down there on the Sunday evening as I'd pulled extra shifts in work, but I'm reliably informed that the festival was the best and biggest yet. The Hi- Tide Inn's Elvis show alone featured over 50 Elvis impersonators- all of the town's hotels were fully booked and the streets of Porthcawl were filled with Elvis's - I saw a group of maybe twenty Elvis's walk past when I was there the Sunday evening, though I was too late to catch any of the shows. Though I did catch the tail end of some King inspired entertainment, and as always it was great fun.

Elvis impersonators Marc George and Juan Lozano, both of Merthyr Tydfil, performed over the course of the three-day festival.They became lifelong friends after discovering their mutual love of the King at an early age.

And another on the beach

Juan, 47, said: “The joy is always in the audience and never on the stage – they’re the wildest fans.”


Marc, 46, works as a security guard during the week and plays Elvis gigs at the weekends.
He became an Elvis fan at the age of seven after watching the King perform Burning Love on a Top of the Pops Christmas special. Marc performed almost 30 gigs across Porthcawl over the weekend.
He said: “We’re just wigs and music, but it’s the man who keeps living on.”

Next year I'm going to make sure I'm there for the entire weekend.

Off to see the King

Once again things have been very surreal in the small Welsh village of Porthcawl as the world's biggest Elvis festival takes over the full weekend - as I write the event is still in full swing. I usually attend myself but this year I had to pull extra shifts in the cab to cover a couple of drivers who had ironically gone to the festival.

Still I'm going this evening for the final few events - the  multitude of Elvis impersonators provide great entertainment for any fan of the King and as Porthcawl is less than a thirty minute drive from my home it makes perfect sense to attend. And besides where else could you find several Elvis's parading along the Welsh seafront?

Expect the Archive to be all shook up with our forthcoming report of the 2011 festival.