Elvis Tribute Artists: Jack Gatto & Charlie Gaylard

Jack Gatto & Charlie Gaylard Show

Jack Gatto & Charlie Gaylard Show Rating

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The promo read: For the first time ever, two of Australia’s finest Elvis tribute artists share the stage for an unforgettable night of music! Charlie Gaylard, the 16-year-old sensation from Colac who’s putting the Elvis world on notice, joins Jack Gatto, the Geelong powerhouse with arguably the best Elvis voice in the world. Backed by the world-renowned Tributes In Concert Band—soon to perform for Elvis Presley Enterprises in Memphis—this two-hour spectacular promises electrifying performances, classic hits, and the ultimate tribute to The King.

Jack Gatto, 29, is a born entertainer; a vocalist, guitarist and drummer, with exceptional versatility; he understudied for The Wiggles. So, yes, even without perfecting his tribute in performing the vocals, charisma and audience interaction of ‘Elvis’, he’s a very accomplished and engaging performer. Unexpectedly, I learn that he’s also a wildlife and zoo reptile keeper, but tonight he dons a blue studded jumpsuit and leaves the crocodile shows behind for something else mesmerizing on stage….ELVIS!

Charlie Gaylard has already got his ETA (Elvis Tribute Artist) career kicking goals (after being inspired by Baz Luhrmann’s 2022 movie – he wasn’t even a fan before seeing it) and he has only been doing this for a year and a half.

At the huge annual Parkes Elvis Festival in January, which I attended, a lady behind me said (as Charlie rolled by in a pink suit in the vintage car street parade), ‘Hubba Hubba Who’s That?’; someone replied ‘It’s Charlie! How can you not know him?’, another said ‘Yeah, he’s the boy Go Charlie!’ LOL – Charlie smiled his perfected Elvis lip and waved back (bonus that he does look alike). These fans were in their 70s, and definitely not the usual fanbase for a 16 year old singer, but next time, given Charlie’s rapidly growing popularity, they may be bringing their grandchildren.

There were apparently (according to my chats with locals) more young people at the NSW Parkes festival this year than any prior and probably same with the growing Geelong Elvis Festival (according to the owner of the motel I stayed at this weekend), and, whilst my daughter (19) was no doubt one of the youngest audience members at this show in Geelong, she is a huge Elvis fan and was singing the words just as well as the grey haired gentleman with a walker aide on the aisle; both of them having a great time.

For two non-stop hours we enjoyed toe tapping tunes, hard-belt lyrics and soft sweetness up there on that stage with banging traditional lighting as good as any nightclub, an extraordinary band and in-theme back-up singers. Along with a bit of comedy from both Jack and Charlie, the crowd loved every second from everyone contributing to the spectacle and the two hours flew by.

My Mum played ‘Elvis’ a lot (she was one of those actual teen fans of his heyday, just like most watching this sold out concert at The Sphinx). I knew pretty much all his music by the time I was 12, thanks Mum! In recreating the love, there were quite a lot of ladies like my Mum eagerly going up for a scarf given out by Jack, just as the real Elvis did for his lucky fans.

My favourite song is and always has been HOUND DOG and tonight was no exception with LOVE ME TENDER a close follow up. I could list a heap of others also that were mind blowingly good; Suspicious Minds, Blue Suede Shoes, Burning Love, etc. etc. each and every one totally authentic; our jaws dropped in disbelief on multiples, “just like watching the real thing” my daughter agreed.

My daughter didn’t once look like she’d had enough, the atmosphere of seeing live music she has discovered is far better than ‘clubbing’. Her faves were LITTLE LESS CONVERSATION by Charlie and the duet rendition of JAILHOUSE ROCK where Charlie and Jack were on stage together for the end of the show.

Throughout the night, every single person of any age around us was smiling and cheering in astonishment at the likeness of Elvis as a young performer by Charlie and as a more mature man with Jack on the mic. They were both incredible at showing us his different eras. Jack was generous in giving the scarves out to the ladies too, it was all such fun!

Elvis was one of the most incredible entertainers of all time and what a privilege for these two to keep his stage presence alive, Vegas style! Love love loved!!

Follow @domarpaproductions for updates and give them a huge round of applause for everything they are doing to bring Elvis back for the ‘oldies’ and hopefully introduce more of his undying music to the ‘youngies’.

If you didn’t fly to America in your youth to see Elvis live in concert (or you weren’t born then); you CAN be transported back in time – just go see Jack Gatto and Charlie Gaylard. The two speak highly of each other; they know they are not the real Elvis and the crowd knows it of course; everyone goes along because they loved everything about Elvis from his famous voice to perhaps his even more famous dance style which shocked the world – it’s all part of the fun and the memories and these two tribute artists do Elvis proud! Both Jack and Charlie are down-to-earth and humble of their ability to light up the lives of those watching them as ‘Elvis’ for a night. “Thank-you very much!”

You might likely catch Jack and Charlie together again in November – book quick because they sell out quick, they just have added this new show by popular demand.

See: https://geelongelvisfestival.com.au/ in Geelong or keep posted on all shows ‘Elvis’ via promoters DOM ARPA PRODUCTIONS https://domarpaproductions.com.au/

Venue & Parking: can’t miss the huge “Sphinx” so easy to find and venue has plenty of parking, but it was fairly full for this event so go early, we did however queue outside for a while.

Accommodation: Geelong is an easy commute from Melbourne. We stayed at Rippleside Park Motor Inn a 5min drive from the venue and can highly recommend as a great basic affordable motel centrally located for seeing any show in Geelong – it’s always nice to go away for a night as well to see a show out of town and Geelong has a lot to offer.

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The Ninth Tone

The Ninth Tone

The Ninth Tone Rating

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The Ninth Tone is the latest offering from Speak Percussion, an established Melbourne-based “internationally recognised leader in the fields of experimental and contemporary classical music”. Presented on Sunday, December 1, 2024, at the Museum of Chinese Australian History, the hour-long performance was conceived and composed by Jasmin Wing Yin Leung. This work uses a non-traditional approach to music to explore the 200-year history of Chinese music in Australia. It is a “speculation” and invites a questioning of past, present and future.

Whilst devised through thorough research of performances and practices of Chinese music in Australia, it is not necessary for the listener to have a previous interest in this. What is more important is the ability to sit with the unknown and be curious, similar to the openness needed when viewing modern abstract art.

You will not hear traditional melodies, only a tiny fragment, and the instruments are not used traditionally but adapted to sometimes non-musical details extracted from historical research. For example, the guzheng, usually plucked, is bowed for most of the performance, and its strings are de-tuned to match the dimensions of a tent that was used for Cantonese opera performances in Clinkers Hill, Castlemaine, in the 1850s.

I found the whole experience mesmerising as soon as I entered the performance space, which was dimly lit by a few round red paper lanterns. Set in the round, the variety of instruments on display whet the appetite visually – two sizes of guzheng for Mindy Meng Wang; a woodblock and a collection of small gongs and snares for Kaylie Melville; an erhu, yehu and laptop for Leung the composer; a laptop, a number of transistor radios, a vintage gramophone and an old record player (complete with 78rpm records in shellac and vinyl) for Sally Ann McIntyre who was also a key artistic collaborator.

I had a peek at the scores which were indecipherable to me – no usual 5-line staves or notes, just long horizontal lines divided by small circles, some 3 digit numbers (radio frequencies?), curved lines and performer names at their cues.

From silence, the performance opens with McIntyre setting up a pad of static hiss generated by the gradual activation of each transistor radio and record players. These are recorded and amplified through a microphone wired to the performer’s wrist. The sounds are manipulated through a laptop using Ableton’s looping capabilities. A pre-recorded faint 3 note melodic motif is heard and repeats sparsely, but the soundscape is dominated by layers of static. This fragment is later developed into a duet with the live erhu player, Leung, but for now, it remains a faint bell-like relief from the static.

The texture builds with the addition of sustained bowed notes from the guzheng and yehu (or erhu, I am not sure) and even a bowed gong. I am reminded of some filmic mood music and remain tantalised by the gradual addition of layers of sound and watch closely at all players to see if I can work out its origin – electronic or acoustic, looped from a previous recording or from the current sonic offerings generated in the here and now.

Kaylie Melville, co-director of Speak Percussion, provides the backbone of the highest point of the work with an intense, insistent drum roll on the woodblock, which breaks the dominance of tonal drones and static pads. Different percussive timbres are explored, but eventually, the long tones re-emerge, and the even patter of the woodblock subsides into yet another sustain.

Kudos should be given to Rohan Goldsmith’s sound engineering for sound clarity in the performance space. Also, Giovanna Yate Gonzalez’s very effective lighting design underlined the mood changes between sections.

The performance was effectively closed in a mirror of its opening, with a gradual dimming of light and sound, the thinning of texture, and finally the switching off, one by one of the transistor radios until there was silence and darkness.

I enjoyed this performance of The Ninth Tone: Speculations of Chinese Australian Sonic History (produced by Chelsea Byrne for Speak Percussion). You don’t have to have any prior knowledge of Chinese music or history to appreciate this experimental work, which explores an approach to history’s offerings, recorded and imagined, and its effect on the present and future. But you do have to suspend any expectation of traditional music and join in the “speculation”.

Look for future performances of this exciting work and other works by Speak Percussion on their website, https://www.speakpercussion.com.

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