It was an electric show from start to finish.
The audience that packed a sold-out show at Genesis Theatre in Ladner were transported back to Hawaii Saturday night as Eli Williams and friends presented their Aloha from Hawaii tribute show.
Celebrating the 50th anniversary of Elvis’s iconic show in Hawaii, Ladner native Williams, along with his friend Aaron Wong, who opened the show doing his award-winning tribute to Elvis in the 1950s, wowed the crowd with a high-energy performance. An 11-piece band, The Beauty Shop Dolls as well as an authentic Polynesian dance group rounded out the concert experience.
The last time Williams was in Ladner for a show was back in January 2020 with The Relive the Music show, just before the initial COVID pandemic lockdowns.
“It is so good to be back performing in Ladner,” Williams told the Optimist in a pre-concert interview. “I am so very much looking forward to performing, but also being back in the Lower Mainland in general. It's been almost a year and a half.”
In 2021 Williams and his wife moved to East Tennessee where he performs five nights a week in Pigeon Forge at The Main Event Theater.
“Needless to say, COVID did a pretty good number on the entertainment scene not only in Vancouver, but everywhere and when I was given an opportunity to perform full time again in Tennessee, though it was hard to move country and say good bye to friends and family, we love it here,” he said. “To perform is great, but to see family, friends as well as the musicians I’ll be working with, is the real thing I'm looking forward to.”
He says there is a lot of moving parts to this show.
“Myself and the other producer wanted to put out as exciting a show as we possibly could,” he said. “Fortunately, everyone we see working with us are beyond professionals and that makes the process really seem-less. We also wanted something special for the 50th anniversary of the concert itself and Hawaiian culture means a lot to us, so between that and Elvis, we have a vested interest.”
Williams has been an Elvis fan since he was a small child when he was exposed to original vinyl albums. As time progressed, he became hooked by the dynamic music and unparalleled style of Elvis Presley.
In 2007, he met Brian Simpson, a four-time world champion and instructor of the world’s only Elvis school, Elvis 101. Immediately he enrolled and has never looked back.
“I’m first an Elvis fan. I was an Elvis fan before I started doing this and when I stop doing this I will still be an Elvis fan, so I want to provide a show that I would want to see as an Elvis fan. It’s my hope that everyone who attends gets that,” said Williams.
