Elvana: Elvis Fronted Nirvana - Barbican, York 01.03.2025
Elvana, if you don’t know who they are, are either the most inspired or craziest idea you’ve ever heard of. Basically, they perform the music of Nirvana while fronted by Elvis, they also play a lot of Elvis as well and throw some other covers in but basically it’s a form of madness that probably shouldn’t work but it does.
They have been firm festival favourites for a number of years, I last saw them at Kendal where they will be playing again this year. They have long been a go to band at festivals as they are undoubtedly talented while being highly entertaining. I’d never seen them in their own right before so was intrigued what it would be like.
Support came from a band brand new to me, Dead Wrestlers, they wandered onto the stage about 8pm to a roughly one third full crowd which grew to about two thirds full during their set. It’s always a sign that the drummer means business, at least, when he walks out onto the stage and before he gets behind the drums, strips to waist. Having watched him drum I’m not surprised though, his top would have been sodden, he is one drummer that holds nothing back and leaves it all out on the stage.
Dead Wrestlers played a full on set, going for it big time and trying to win over some news fans. I suspect they will have succeeded, initially the reception was lukewarm, I suspect because many didn’t know them, by the time they left the stage there was a lot of appreciation in the audience. This is a band that can rock, I did enjoy their set and suspect they will start to develop a following quite quickly amongst those looking for a new full on aural experience.
It was then a brief wait for Elvana who came on stage just after 9, after we’d had a selection of some brilliant country songs (you wouldn’t expect anything else from this band!).
With backing singers who also double as cheerleaders in proper Nirvana style, a band who are dressed like they should be going to the local country club and a singer who is unapologetically both channelling Elvis and most of the time not sounding much like him this is the most fun you can have listening to a band.
The lead singer is clear that at times he sounds like Nicholas Cage, at times like Mathew McConaughey and, ever so often, sometimes not intentionally, like Kurt Cobain but rarely like the King himself yet his impression of Elvis is perfect for this show.
We had some of the best of Nirvana, 'Come as You Are', 'Lithium' etc while 'Smells Like Teen Spirt' appeared out of a rendition of 'A Little Less Conversation', we also had 'Can’t Help Falling In Love' and a slightly different version of 'All Shook Up' amongst a Bowie cover and a huge selection of other songs.
It’s not just about the music, it’s also about the interaction, the stage presence and the audience engagement. In this gig we had crowd surfing by the lead singer that went wrong (they collapsed beneath him), a mosh pit and sadly a full on fight at the front which was incredibly well dealt with by the security and the backing singer who was on lead vocals at that time.
I thoroughly enjoyed the gig, so why only four out of five? The band tried really hard but not quite as hard as I’ve seen them, but for me the crowd, aside from a small core, didn’t really get into it and my past experience of seeing Elvana has been of the whole audience losing it, I don’t know if it was just an off night but I felt it never quite hit the heights they are capable of. Don’t get me wrong, Elvana, even when not at their peak, are better than most live acts and I suspect this tour will go from strength to strength. An excellent night out which was still highly enjoyable, if you haven’t seen Elvana you should, you won’t regret it!
Review - Iain McClay
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