{"id":31877,"date":"2022-09-08T18:33:35","date_gmt":"2022-09-08T22:33:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/?p=31877"},"modified":"2022-09-15T13:17:17","modified_gmt":"2022-09-15T17:17:17","slug":"saturday-night-fever-gets-memphis-makeover-this-weekend-for-elvis-tribute","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/saturday-night-fever-gets-memphis-makeover-this-weekend-for-elvis-tribute\/","title":{"rendered":"Saturday Night Fever gets Memphis makeover this weekend for Elvis tribute"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

John Travolta might not be strutting down Yonge Street ahead of this weekend\u2019s Saturday Night Fever street party, but there might be more than a few people pounding the pavement in blue suede shoes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The music and legacy of the King of Rock and Roll will be celebrated on Yonge Street between Mosley and Wellington Streets this Saturday, September 10 from 4 \u2013 11 p.m.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Town-run event, Saturday Night Fever is presented in partnership with the Downtown Aurora Business Improvement Association and will feature hours of live music, food vendors, and a chance to browse many of Aurora\u2019s downtown businesses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Town of Aurora is proud to present the return of Saturday Night Fever on Yonge Street with a celebration of Elvis\u2019s music over the decades,\u201d said the Town in a statement. \u201cJoin us as we take over Yonge Street in downtown Aurora for a night of dancing and great live music \u2013 all while enjoying the shops. Patios will be set up to enjoy the food from the fantastic restaurants on-site. A nominal fee applies for food.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Performances are set to include sets by the Wreckroom band, Connor Russo, former Junior Champion at the Collingwood Elvis Festival, as well as Collingwood Grand Champion Bruno Nesci and the Casino Brothers Band.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe thing about Elvis is he was so advanced for his time,\u201d Nesci tells The Auroran. \u201cIt\u2019s the way he created music, the way he was able to put certain sounds together, the way he was as a person \u2013 it all showed up on stage. He made everything in life \u2013 the hurt, the good, the bad, the incredible, the big energy \u2013 he put it all into his music. Everything he did was big. Today\u2019s music is just starting, almost \u2013 it\u2019s almost in the beginning stages of tiptoeing over what Elvis\u2019 music did. That\u2019s why I think Elvis\u2019 music is still going as strong as it did back then.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nesci was first bitten by the Elvis bug 23 years ago when a tribute artist performed at his family\u2019s restaurant. It all came down to the reaction he saw on the faces of patrons as the Elvis song book came to life right before his eyes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He might have only been seven-years-old at the time and didn\u2019t really have a full grasp of who Elvis was, but then it was all about the music.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI was attracted to the performing aspect of it, but when I actually did research and started listening to the songs that I realized I knew them,\u201d he says, mentioning songs he picked up along the way from film and TV but hadn\u2019t really noticed at the time. \u201cIt started clicking: I knew this guy. The more research I did the more I fell in love with Elvis and now here I am 23 years later still paying tribute to Elvis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe thing that keeps me going is the Elvis fans. Paying tribute to Elvis is a love for me \u2013 a passion, a hobby, a full-time job. I get to make music with my band and we\u2019re always learning new things. The fans are constantly teaching me as a tribute artist their love for Elvis. Every time I walk on stage there\u2019s someone who wasn\u2019t a fan or a die-hard ends up leaving a fan. That\u2019s what I get out of it: I continue the legacy of Elvis\u2019 music.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And the legions of fans are only growing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While Elvis\u2019 popularity has always been perennial, the recent biopic of his life starring Austin Butler and Tom Hanks has only served to bolster the fanbase, one that is increasingly younger.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSince the Elvis movie came out, the younger generation, closet fans if we want to call them that, they were quiet and private people. I remember being made fun of [in school] for being a huge Elvis fan and very quiet about it. Now that the movie came out I guess they\u2019re more vocal about showing they\u2019re Elvis fans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNow there are people doing Elvis reaction videos on YouTube, there are people bringing up music with rappers remixing Elvis songs, now it is very public and out there. I just got back from Elvis Week in Memphis, placing fifth in the ultimate contest, and at the candlelight vigil the thousands and thousands of Elvis fans \u2013 where it used to be 25 per cent under 20, this time it was about 50 per cent. It\u2019s just exploding.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For more information about this weekend\u2019s Saturday Night Fever, visit www.aurora.ca\/en\/recreation-arts-and-culture\/saturday-night-fever-on-yonge-st.aspx.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Brock Weir
Editor
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter<\/strong><\/p>\n\r\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

John Travolta might not be strutting down Yonge Street ahead of this weekend\u2019s Saturday Night Fever street party, but there might be more than a few people pounding the pavement in blue suede shoes. The music and legacy of the King of Rock and Roll will be celebrated on Yonge Street between Mosley and Wellington […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31877","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general_news","category-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3D2k4-8i9","publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-07-27 21:30:40","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31877","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31877"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31877\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31877"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31877"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31877"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}