Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Presley’s show marked by star (not vocal) power

After she introduced her band Saturday night, Lisa Marie Presley had a bit of fun with her audience.

"And my name is Macy Gray," Presley proclaimed.

You really didn't need to remind us of that, Lisa.

Gray is a bona fide chanteuse. Her voice is an instrument that fills concert halls and carries her live shows.

The limitations in Presley's vocal abilities, meanwhile, were apparent throughout her Las Vegas debut at House of Blues at Mandalay Bay.

The 35-year-old singer struggled both to project her voice and to find the proper key at points during the show, the first stop on her inaugural headlining tour.

Presley also appeared uncomfortable in the spotlight, bouncing her left leg nervously, even during her most gentle ballads.

In short, it was exactly what you might expect from an artist making the first headlining appearance of her career -- even if her name is Presley.

That didn't mean the night wasn't a whole lot of fun for the 1,700 fans in attendance, though. Not even close.

Presley's Las Vegas loyalists sang, danced and cheered wildly between songs, prompting their heroine to blush on more than one occasion.

"Thanks, you guys," Presley said, looking downright embarrassed by the show of total affection.

Several fans sported clothing featuring the initials "LMFP," as did Presley's own skirt's rear section and the bass drum on the stage behind the singer. The lettering didn't stand for "Lisa Marie for President." Think Presley's three initials, with an expletive sandwiched between.

One zealous male admirer displayed his sentiments in an even more obvious way.

"You have a tattoo of me on your chest," Presley noted, bringing a round of laughter from the crowd.

The audience was in a jovial mood throughout Presley's set, having been taken there by opening act John Eddie. The bar-room singer/songwriter drew plenty of chuckles with self-effacing songs that poked fun at his own relative obscurity.

One, "Play Some Skynyrd," echoed words he and his twangy backing band must have heard plenty of times over the years. The chorus begins, "Play some Skynyrd / Play some Petty / Play some Seger / Play some Dead," and Eddie added the line, "Play some Presley" near the finish, to the crowd's delight.

The improvised lyric was almost certainly a reference to Presley's famous father. It would be the only mention of Elvis all night, though his daughter conjured up plenty of images of the King during her own performance.

As she sang, Presley's lip frequently curled up, eerily similar to her dad's familiar facial expression. During one number she even grabbed her microphone stand and swayed her hips from side to side, as if she too would have dared Ed Sullivan to televise her gyrations.

If Presley's dance moves wouldn't have had her banned from 1950s TV, her outfit probably would have. Black leggings were attached under her short, black skirt with garters, revealing most of her thighs.

And to be fair, some of the difficulties Presley experienced might have been technical. Her six-piece backing band frequently drowned out her vocals, and it was sometimes difficult to make out her words even when the music stopped and she addressed the crowd.

Presley also occasionally fiddled with the monitors in her ears, a sign that her crew still needs to work out glitches in her new stage show.

Presley will likely also gain more confidence as the tour progresses, as she reportedly did during her recent stint as the opening act for Chris Isaak.

For her longer headlining slot, Presley added two tracks from debut album "To Whom it May Concern" -- "So Lovely" and "Important" -- to her live repertoire.

Along with the 12 cuts from her CD, she covered Pat Benatar's "Heartbreak." A pre-show set list also included the Beatles' "While My Guitar Gently Weeps," but she left the stage after a one-song encore without playing that classic.

Presley also debuted a two-song acoustic segment. The quiet version of "The Road Between" was flawed vocally, but showed potential to be a show-stopper if improved.

"Now I know what to do if I can't find a key, just hand (the microphone) over to you," Presley said, after the crowd helped out with the song's chorus.

Presley's performance worked best when it rocked hardest. The back-to-back combo of "Lights Out" and "S.O.B." featured a more self-assured Lisa Marie, who belted out the songs' caustic lyrics.

"You said I'm something I'm not / And I fell on my face / You said I wouldn't rot / But worms are crawling on me," she roared, glaring intensely and whipping her arm around.

Presley's album proved she has talent -- songwriting talent. Her tunes are relatively catchy, and her lyrics -- many of which touch on her relationships with her father and her three ex-husbands -- are personal and entrancing.

If she can work out some of the kinks, Presley's live show also has the potential to be musically compelling. It just remains to be seen if rock 'n' roll's first princess will blossom into its newest queen.

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