Ahhh...Thank you very much!

Elvis is not dead...he has been reincarnated in "Johnny".

A group of friends and I have Christmas tradition of going up to the Gibson Amphitheater (Universal Amphitheater, to you OS cats!) every year to see The Brian Setzer Orchestra Christmas Revue.

A few years ago, (back in my psychobilly days) the small group of 8 of us were prepared to put on swing dancing shoes and rock that joint. There was just one small problem, my original date decided that he no longer wanted to go with us. As his ex-girlfriend came back into the picture.

Well, after sorting out that minor mess. I called my friend Cassandra and told her the news. At first, I thought that she would share in my moment of misery, but this was not the case. To which she proclaimed, "That's perfect! I have the perfect cat for you. I've been trying to figure out how to get you two hell-cats to meet."

Now, I love and adore Cass, but her taste in men for me always fall very, very short. This would be no exception to the rule. The night came. We were all decked out. Dressed to the nines. Everyone had on their swing shoes. The guys were in the bright colored zoot suits, leather jackets, dungarees rolled up and bowling shirts. We girls, looked as if we were World War II P-38's pin-up girls that came to life. Nylon lines running down our girly legs, bright red lips and cat lined eyes. LA was our town that we were going to paint it red and swing the night away.

We met up at Johnny's house. It was retro Arts and Craft style house. Inside, you were transported back into the 1940's with a hint of the 1950's. Everything was vintage or complete rebuilt. So far, I was impressed with the boy.

Moment of truth, in walked Johnny, a true psychobilly guy. A perfectly shaved head. Except for the portion that was grown out to create the perfect pompadour. He looked like a greaser that would have given Marlon Brando and James Dean a run for their money. He was dressed in suit that could have been worn by Elvis Presley himself. Well, so far Cass did not let me down. But the night was still young.

We all piled into two cars. One rebuilt Bel Air and the other was a 1954 Cadillac that was made exactly like the one Elvis had.

Johnny LOVED Elvis Presley and I mean LOOOOVED Elvis.

We got the show and had a swinging good time. The two opening acts were pretty good and caused us to have an impromptu discussion to see about all of us hepcats making a trip out to Memphis rockabilly music scene. From there, Johnny said "Well, since all of you are Elvis rookies. We should swing to Vegas first and catch some of the Elvis revues." Now, in this group of greasers...Vegas wasn't a hard sell.

Well, Brian Setzer come on. We sang along. We danced in the aisles. The night couldn't have gone any better.

So with that, the concert was over and we were hungry. Pink's was our dinner of choice for the evening. It was a Friday night and we weren't on planning to come home until late and Pink's is perfectly designed for that. As we started eating , Johnny decided that we should all have a history of the life of Elvis. I was ready for a true fan to enlighten me on Mr. TCB (Taking Care of Business). Oh no, this was not the case. Johnny took off his jacket and button-up shirt. Then ripped off his wife-beater and proceeded to show us the highlights of Elvis' career that was tattooed on his chest and his entire back.

Don't get me wrong, Johnny wasn't bad to look at, but I draw the line with at least 25 different Elvis' tats staring at me. As he described every moment in perfect detail, I began to think, "Huh, he pasted passion and entered into obsession a long time ago. I wonder if I should tell him that the King is dead?" Well, according to Johnny, the King is not dead. Johnny also thought "Paty" didn't suit me anymore and called me 'Priscilla' for the rest of the evening. With that we headed home.

As Johnny walked me to my car, he began to speak exact like Elvis "Hey Pris, I had a swinging time. Let's do Vegas! TBC style! Whadda say?"


I could only answer back with "Elvis has left the building!"