This is a list of all the Clubs that We know of that will allow children into Dean’s shows for the whole duration of the show. I can only list the ones We know of, but if you have some that you know of please email me so we can add them to the list. There aren’t too many of these left now so We think we should recognise them and say THANK YOU to those that allow our kids to enjoy and participate in Dean’s show, after all, they are the ones who in the future are going to keep the memory of Elvis alive!
NSW CLUBS
Twin Towns Services Club
Tweed Head Bowls Club
QLD CLUBS
Southport Sharks AFL Club
Southport RSL
Arana Hills Leagues Club
Broncos Leagues Club
Norths Leagues Club
Greenbank RSL(until 10pm)
Victoria Point Sharks Club (over 10yrs)
Hervey Bay RSL (over 14yrs)
Caboolture Sports Club
Caloundra RSL
Wednesday, 5 July 2006Â
The Gold Coast is glitzy and glamourous, and even though Elvis has shuffled off this mortal coil (yes conspiracy theorists, it’s time to let go), it’s the perfect place for one of Australia’s top Elvis tribute acts to call home.
Dean Vegas won the “World Number One Elvis Tribute Artist” at the Canadian Elvis Convention in 2000, and continues to make his living singing songs on the coast ‘the king’ made famous, “Elvis just had something a lot of other entertainers don’t have. It’s just that special sparkle, whatever you want to call it. You look at the other entertainers, but there’s always something missing.”
“Nobody in the family actually listened to Elvis”, Dean explains, “I saw him on the TV when I was pretty young, roughly between nine and twelve. I just went ‘wow, this guy is awesome’. He had presence, the looks, he could sing, he could move. There will never be another Elvis. As a kid, if there was anyone I could be like, it had to be Elvis.”
Dean says there is a difference between impersonators and tribute artists, “What I do is a tribute, my tribute to Elvis. I get away with a lot more, I tell jokes in the show, I get out into the audience, I get people on stage. It goes back to square one, I am not Elvis, he lives in our hearts, all I do is keep the memory alive. What I do on stage a lot of the time is Dean Vegas. I’ve got the sideburns and the hair. Reality is, if I shave my sideburns tomorrow and cut the hair back, I look nothing like Elvis. So all you’re doing is recreating an image.”
“Impersonators, they will recreate what Elvis did. They will study every single move, every lip movement, eye action and hand movement in the song. Step by step, if Elvis turned to the left on that note, they will turn on that note. You don’t want to lose your identity, that’s a bit too much.”
Everyone’s got a favourite Elvis song. So what does this tribute artist choose as his own personal favourite? “There’s a lot of favourites. I like a lot of the gospel music, unless you’re a big Elvis fan you haven’t heard them. The mainstream songs I sing all the time, I love performing them, but they’re not what I listen to when I’m at home”, Dean Vegas.
“I met up with two of his co-stars when I was in Vegas. We drove around the streets of Las Vegas in his convertible! We ended up at the Hilton Hotel where he performed, had a chat to the manager, and took photos at the statue.”
“Canada has the world’s largest Elvis convention. They have something like sixty thosuand people that go through the town for the weekend. Last year they had around 140 competitors. They get in there and basically compete against each other. They go by apperance, costume, era, the tone of your voice. It’s the whole package.”
He had presence, the looks, he could sing, he could move. There will never be another ElvisÂ
“I heard there was a bit of controversy when I won it. I wore a dark green leather suit. Elvis never had one. A lot of the other competitors said ‘Elvis never wore that’. But there’s a lot of other factors. It was a great honour, I was there by myself, I was trying to look around thinking ‘who can I tell’!”
Not content with just entertaining the locals, Dean ran for mayor of the Gold Coast in 2004. “Instead of sitting down and whinge and carry on, like a lot of people seem to do, I like to get off my backside and put my money where my mouth is”, Dean explains, “I’ll put my hand up, I’ll get in there and make a difference. Unfortunately a lot of people took it as a gimmick, that was the downside. When you think about it now, if I was there and saw somebody like that I would have probably have thought the same thing.”
DOGS BREAKFAST A SUCCESS
A feast of local celebrities, entertainers and State and Government representatives attended the Dog’s Breakfast and Rescue Animal Reunion at Doug Jennings Park on Sunday the 26th of February. The event was held as part of National Homeless Animals Month to raise awareness for the plight of homeless animals at shelters and pounds across Australia and the tragedy of 200,000 animals having to be euthanased each year simply because there are not enough responsible homes.
The major highlight of the day was entertainer Dean Vegas. Dean made the day a huge success! He whipped the audience into a frenzy by singing some improvised songs such as “You aint nothing but a pound dog” and his new hit “King-cutest puppy you ever seen”, a tribute to his childhood dog. Dean had the crowds amused with his antics including a solo with Sarah on stage, and on a more serious note, made a speech about the responsible pet owners who attended the day and his own dedication to helping support the issues of animals. Kind hearted Dean donated 50 of his CD/DVDs to be sold on the day with all profits to go towards the AWL. Further to this he has dedicated all proceeds raised from the sale of the catchy new tune “King” to be donated to AWL to further help animals in need.