Linda Brown of Goose Creek, Louisiana, attended this week's Elvis "Candlelight Vigil" in leather boots, which were accessorized at home in recognition of the 60th anniversary of the movie "Blue Hawaii."
The shoes were blue and swathed in fabric patterned with photographic reproductions of Elvis on a surfboard, Elvis in a guitar, Elvis Hawaiian shirt and lei.
Brown's shoes, like those made famous by Elvis' "Speedway" co-star, Nancy Sinatra, were made for walking—the driveway of Graceland to Elvis Presley's grave in the Meditation Garden, where Brown drove a dozen Yellow roses were kept, as she does every year on the anniversary of Elvis Presley's death. August 16, 1977, at the age of 42.
A retired nurse, Brown and her husband, 70-year-old Burt Brown, haven't missed a candlelight vigil in 22 years. They were here last year, when the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a "socially distanced" vigil that was limited to three hours and 720 ticket mourners - or fans or celebrants or anyone traveling to Memphis. Whatever is the correct word for it. Take part in a candle and a ritualistic appreciation of the life and art of the singer, whose 1954 session at 706 Union Avenue has been described as the Big Bang that ignited the rock 'n roll explosion.
"It was a ghost town, but we couldn't leave it," Linda Brown said of the pandemic-altering 2020 Graceland experience, when all "Elvis Week" events were canceled except for Vigilance. "Seeing all the people here makes all the difference."
If "everybody" wasn't like in previous years (large international fan contingents were mostly absent due to pandemic travel restrictions), Elvis Week 2021 showed "things are moving forward and picking up," said Alicia Dean, Marketing , promotion and events specialist at Elvis Presley Enterprises, which manages the entire street complex of Graceland Mansion and its attractions.
He said around 5,000 people attended the candle lighting ceremony, which began at 8:30 pm. Sunday (the event begins on the eve of Elvis's death) and ends after 2 p.m. on Monday.
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In addition, several Elvis Week concerts and events – this year's festivities hosted by King's Graceland that began on August 11 and ended on Tuesday – include a tour of Graceland Stables, a cocktail party hosted by Priscilla Presley, and an outdoor screening. They were full of capacity. Of "Blue Hawaii" among sold-out events.
Elvis' ex-wife Priscilla, 76, said: "Elvis was always connected with his fans." Sunday. "They made him and he never forgot them."
Priscilla - who pulled her coronavirus-blocking face mask up to her chin when she reached for the microphone used to address fans - called her ex-husband a "celebration". She said that Elvis Presley's absence "is still hard for me to believe ... 44 years after Elvis passed away. Elvis was one of a kind, he really was. When he walked into a room, it was like Wow, what just blew up?"
"It's a wonderful show of devotion and care and inspiration," said Jack Soden, President and CEO of Elvis Presley Enterprises, who faced the challenges of the ongoing pandemic without mentioning the virus by name.
"It's different than anything I think we've ever experienced," he said. "And given the circumstances of the world, it couldn't be more special."
'Like a religious experience'
Early Sunday evening, crowds seemed sparse, with only two hundred fans queuing up at three security checkpoints in front of the mansion on Elvis Presley Boulevard, which was turned away from traffic for the evening.
Checkpoints open at 6:30 pm. And fans already hurried to form a queue at the mansion's iconic music-note entrance, while Graceland employees passed white candles with white holders that resembled inverted witch hats to catch dripping wax. It was a broad round.
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However, by the time the Austin, Texas-based Elvis Country Fan Club—which started Vigilance in 1978, before being adopted by Graceland and forming the emotional climax of Elvis Week—began the "official" lighting ceremony, the broad boulevard was crowded with fans. , most of whom were bedded in various forms of Elvis heraldry and many of whom built Elvis temples or created Elvis art in the street.
Many sat in the street in folding chairs they had brought to Graceland, and some with torches mounted on scooters as hood ornaments in front of vehicles. Perhaps a third of fans wore face masks, which Graceland encouraged but was not required.
On the wide sidewalk across the street from the famous fan-graffiti Graceland stone wall, Greg Dameron, a tech designer from Ashland, Kentucky, created a large and colorful portrait of Elvis with chalk-block pieces from a sidewalk art kit he bought at Walmart.
The picture presented Elvis in the bent-knee knuckle-toe pose made famous by a promotional picture for "Jailhouse Rock", but Dameron had replaced the striped prisoner's uniform that King wore to the more famous Elvis in that film. The ensemble was worn with gold lamé. Dress. Damron's daughter, Haley Damron, of Ellicott City, Maryland, collaborated with her father, using a brush dipped in water to smooth the colors onto the rough concrete and sprinkle glitter onto the moistened gypsum. Greg Dameron explained: "I wanted it to shine."
Reviving the crowd before the vigil, Daryl Argo – known as "DJ Argo", a longtime host on the Sirius XM "Elvis Radio" station – said that Elvis Weeks displayed "different beliefs. And people from different backgrounds can come together in the likeness of Elvis. The world can learn a lot from Elvis fans."
Publicity? Not according to some fans.
"It's been like a religious experience for me, I'm not kidding," said Damron's fiancée, 51-year-old Angela Kees, the first-ever alert appearance. "It has completely changed me.
"I was a fan before, but being here, the way he affects people, even after his death, has really made an impact. We've made friendships with people that I'm sure will last. "