Review: Elvana at O2 Acadamy in Birmingham - Nirvana tribute act fronted by Elvis? Not as crazy as it sounds
What happens when you put together the king of rock 'n' roll and one of the most influential and important alternative rock bands in history?
You end up with Elvana, who bought their UK tour to the O2 Academy in Birmingham last night.
Opening the show were Leeds rock band Skull, who’s brand of grunge and punk rock did well to entertain the growing crowd as they guzzled their overpriced beers before the headliners.
Elvana is the arguably ingenious idea of combining Nirvana’s music with an Elvis Presley ‘impersonator’.
As mad as that sounds, it’s only the beginning of how great the band are as a live experience.
Taking up the form of a three piece band as well as an Elvis impersonator singer, the band sounded huge when performing tracks from both artists back catalogue.
Tracks such as ‘Breed’ and ‘Rape Me’ are interspersed with snippets of Elvis tracks ‘Viva Las Vegas’ and ‘Love Me Tender’ to great effect.
Heavily rooted in Nirvana’s back catalogue, there’s a wide range of tracks showcased across the long set that presumably wouldn’t get featured in your typical tribute show. There are also notable absences that you perhaps would get at other shows, with the elephant in the room being an absent ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’.
There’s also a real sense of humour and fun within the show, with Elvis often found amongst the crowd and pulling off some highly impressive dance moves, whilst the band returned dressed as Priscilla’s for the encore sending the madness up another level.
It’s hard to pinpoint just one factor that made the evening so fantastic, however what is for sure is that when you leave you won’t be a ‘Negative Creep’ and you’ll certainly be ‘All Shook Up’.
