Elvis at The O2, The O2 - exhibition review

This skimpy ragbag is less exhibition, more thrown-together car boot sale
John Aizlewood25 January 2015

Elvis At The O2 is, apparently, “the largest Elvis Presley retrospective ever mounted in Europe”. Maybe it is, but this skimpy ragbag is less exhibition, more thrown-together car boot sale.

Essentially, it’s a trawl through Elvis’s bottom drawer. Knick-knacks include a crayon box young Elvis (probably) scribbled on; his Graceland keys; a cockatoo statue and several white jumpsuits, proving the theory that if you’ve seen one white jumpsuit, you’ve seen ’em all. Even with the opportunity to buy a replica for £2,900 afterwards.

This slender smorgasbord of scattergun tat has unquestionable allure, but what’s lacking, apart from any suggestion of imperfection or anything new (aside from the shoes which show what unnaturally long feet Elvis had), is depth, fun and a cohesive narrative. And the opportunity to take Elvis into the 21st century has been spurned: the sole interactive element is Elvis’s very first recordings being piped though headphones.

The experience is encapsulated in a lazy 26-minute film, where familiar photographs including some from the ’68 Comeback Special, are followed by some filmed performances. Presley’s takes on An American Trilogy and All Shook Up are breath-taking, but they underline that Elvis At The O2 will take nobody’s breath away.

In life, Presley’s spectacular talent was wasted. When asked about Elvis’s death, his inept but venal manager “Colonel” Tom Parker declared “nothing has changed”. How right he was. The most influential man in popular music was more than a bloke with a naff statue of a cockatoo in his garden.

Elvis At The O2 runs until Aug 31 (elvisattheo2.com)

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