Suspiciously Elvis shakes up Worthing!

Suspiciously Elvis: Photo by Ian Bourn for Scene Sussex.

Suspiciously Elvis: The Factory Live – 6 January 2024, Black Rabbit Productions.

A truly fantastic performance at The Factory Live from Suspiciously Elvis.This show is a must see for any Elvis fans out there, they really do the sounds of Elvis justice.This was a night of pure unadulterated fun!

It was 5 years to the day when I first saw Suspiciously Elvis rock the roof off in Worthing at The Assembly Hall. There was tonight that same palpable sense of excitement buzzing, as I recalled,  around the audience. The venue was sold out. I have been a fan of what Ivor does ever since and have been lucky to see him perform on some big stages.

Suspiciously Elvis: Photo by Ian Bourn for Scene Sussex.

The Factory Live was a perfect setting tonight, the venue is amazing providing almost an intimate setting at times with top notch sound, stunning lighting, the smoke machine was switched to “low” for this event, providing everyone with a clear and enjoyable view, and I will give a special mention to the very attentive, professional staff. The sound mix for this gig was spot on. Thank you guys again for a wonderful evening.

Suspiciously Elvis: Photo by Ian Bourn for Scene Sussex.

As Suspiciously Elvis took to the stage – the band fired up into the first song of the night CC Rider, an immediate crowd pleaser full of pelvis shaking and guitar thrusting, next was Burning Love.

I Got A Woman was up followed by a kind of montage/medley of Teddy bear / Dont Be Cruel– fabulous stuff. This set, as we were told was going to contain some of the Kings more of the slower numbers. I had seen the set list earlier and the order was changed and songs got swapped around at the last minute.

This stellar band are:

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Ivor Potter – Elvis, Tom Walker on Guitars, Mike Drinkwater on keyboards, Darrin Rehu – Bass, Fe Salomon – Backing vocals and Tony Brown on drums. This band were fabulous, totally on point and kept up with Ivor for both sets. Brilliant playing and vocals guys, great set!

I have been to The Factory Live a few times, its almost my second home actually. I have never see it so packed as it was tonight. From the stage to the back of the venue it was full of happy, singing and dancing people. There was even a bit of line dancing going on! The voice, the costumes, the band, the dancing, the music etc. were perfect. Thank you all for reinforcing in all of us that Elvis will always be the King of Rock n Roll!

Suspiciously Elvis: Photo by Ian Bourn for Scene Sussex.

The marvellous band were able to keep up throughout! Ivor / Elvis tonight to start was dressed in a blue outfit complete with flared trousers festooned with studs and rhinestones, a belt with gold chains, boots and those classic gradient tint ‘Elvis’ shades. Perfect. And yes, he did sound like the man himself. Ivor / Elvis stood in the classic split-legged Elvis pose while performing the songs with an impressive number of spins and gyrations!

Suspiciously Elvis: Photo by Ian Bourn for Scene Sussex.

Ivor brings the voice; the moves, the costumes and such great interaction with his audience without making them feel embarrassed or awkward. You just have to sing along, dance and even try to sing a duet with him even if you do not know the words!

I am not going to give the game away dear reader with the full set list, no spoilers! You are going to have to see the show! The first half of the show contained about 15 songs taking up a good hour of stage time to get through. We were treated to some hilarious banter with the crowd. He spotted an Elvis look a like, hen night parties and birthdays. He interacts with everyone and that is part of the charm of this man. The songs laced at times with lyric changes and chatter with the band and the audience.

Suspiciously Elvis: Photo by Ian Bourn for Scene Sussex.

It was all change for the second half, it was time for the full on new white outfit to be unveiled! A splendidly stunning replica. The wispy smoke cleared and as it did the slow burn of That’s alright Mama and I Cant Help Believin’  let everyone know that Elvis was back in the building and he meant rock and roll business. Polk Salad Annie was up next. I have to give Tom Walker on Guitars a shout. His guitar work for this one was stunning as it was for Mystery Train and Tiger. Ivor was all over the place, he climbed down from the stage to interact with his fans. The effect on some folk is quite remarkable, they reach out and touch, pull him over for a kiss or a selfie or two and Ivor is more than happy to oblige. His interaction with the audience was superb.

Suspiciously Elvis: Photo by Ian Bourn for Scene Sussex.

Ivor/Elvis immerses himself totally into the role and you can see he, and his top band, loves every minute…by the second number there wasn’t a single person in the room not tapping their feet, singing along or giving it some shakin’ on floor!

Wonderful choice of music for this set, only a couple of songs I didn’t know and what energy he had, hardly stopping for the whole show. Ivor/Elvis absolutely “gives his all” for his crowd. The real king of rock and roll maybe gone but with Brighton’s own Ivor/Elvis… he is back and rocking! We had Ivor/Elvis at his best and the band seemed to match his changes to tempo or songs perfectly. We had a lovely slice of Sweet Caroline, and at one point he was off on a tangent with a number from Grease! The band quickly followed his lead. Great fun, as segued in was Summer Nights. If I recall this was never sung by the King, passed in 1977, as it was released after his death in August 1978.

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Way Down was in there, and that was one of my favourite songs by The King and Ivor gave it everything and made this a true show stopping moment. It was not long before the front of The Factory Live 2 was packed with dancing bodies! Potter had got the audience eating out of the palm of his hand, and he knew it – “come on ya’ll, dance and sing” and the crowd happily obliged! Jailhouse Rock rocked us all. Suspicious Minds saw Elvis again jump into the pit to get members of the packed crowd to sing a verse or two. This was pure unadulterated fun and was lapped up by everyone. Some fine singing from the crowd

Suspiciously Elvis: Photo by Ian Bourn for Scene Sussex.

Ivor / Elvis “returned” for an encore – as the set was now heading towards its close. A huge version of My Way had everyone singing along. The final two songs we were treated to were Viva Las Vegas and to end the show was A Little Less Conversation. What a way to finish! The crowd went wild for these two songs and clearly they wanted even more, but sadly it wasn’t to be.

Suspiciously Elvis: Photo by Ian Bourn for Scene Sussex.

This is a genuine masterpiece of pure entertainment and showmanship. Ivor that will leave you cheering for more. Ivor is as witty and self-mocking as only Elvis was on stage. He will be back next year for possibly two nights, so do yourself a favour and go dig out the flares, that long forgotten Hawaiian shirt and a pair of mega shades and prepare to treat yourself to a night in Las Vegas!!

Suspiciously Elvis: Photo by Ian Bourn for Scene Sussex.

This complete show was first class. He got the audience involved from right the start. I cannot recommend this man and his band any higher! A truly fantastic performance at The Factory Live.This show is a must see for any Elvis fans out there, Ivor and Co. really do the sounds of Elvis justice.

A VIDEO: A Montage!

I can say that nobody wanted him to stop. A real good fun night – thoroughly recommended. Elvis was most definitely in the building for over two hours.

We felt that we were almost at a Las Vegas supper club in the 60’s until we stepped outside to head off home!

Words, Videos and Photos for Scene Sussex by Ian Bourn.

Thanks to:
Suspiciously Elvis
The Factory Live team
Black Rabbit Productions.

Suspiciously Elvis is on the WWW
Suspiciously Elvis on Facebook

Tom Walker is a superb guitarist, singer and song writer with a couple of cracking albums released. If you see he is due to play near you, I strongly suggest you go see him live. He has a website here.

Black Rabbit Productions hosted the evening. They work hard promoting live music on the south coast. They are a promotion company with years of experience putting on music shows. Tonight was superb. They have some great gigs lined up, a great time is pretty much guaranteed with these guys. You can find Black Rabbit Productions on the WWW

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All original pictures / video – copyright to IANB/MEDIA WORKS/ SCENE SUSSEX – Ian “The Lens” Bourn 2023.

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