Elvis tribute act named one of best in the world lined up string of NI shows
An Elvis impersonator from Dublin who rocked his way to the top of the tribute act world is set to leave Northern Ireland All Shook Up.
Ciaran Houlihan, who walked all over the blue suede shoes of two dozen other impersonators from around the world to take runner-up at the Elvis Tribute Artist World Championship Contest in Las Vegas, has a string of shows lined up here starting from next month.
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Telegraph
a day ago
- Telegraph
The best bars and nightclubs in Zakynthos
Away from Laganas' rowdy three-kilometre-long strip, Zakynthos' (also known as Zante) nightlife scene is far more laid back. Cafés and bars radiating out from Solomas square in Zante town attract locals who sit out in boisterous clusters greeting friends, eating traditional honey and almond mandoles and playing backgammon tavli. A string of chic bars on Bochali's Venetian castle-crowned hill just outside of town attracts a hip crowd who come here to sip cocktails and admire panoramic views. This Ionian island has a traditional music scene, too and it's well worth seeking out the local bars where they still host atmospheric and traditional kandathes nights. For further Zante inspiration, see our guides to the island's best hotels, restaurants and things to do. Plan an extended visit with our ultimate guide to planning a Greek island-hopping holiday. Paradise Cocktail Bar There's always something going on at this funky little bar in the low key resort of Tsilivi. Far from Laganas' rowdy crowds this family-run venue, which has been around for more than 23 years, proudly promotes itself as the place to have 'an old fashioned good night out' with plenty of fun and occasional games, ranging from reggae nights and quizzes, to plate smashing and drag nights. With banners on street lamps proclaiming it to be 'the best bar in Greece' and a wrecked pink motor parked outside with a sign that reads 'Elvis' mothers car', this one is easy to find. Jungle Bar Named for its salt flats, which were abandoned in the 1980s and are now a magnet for migrating birds, the seaside resort of Alykes has one of the island's best low-key nightlife scenes – and the family-run Jungle Bar, set on a busy road in the centre of town, is one of the best places to enjoy it. Children are welcome at this bar's saloon-like terrace (great for people watching) where they serve an extensive range of (competitively priced) cocktails and mocktails, along with Guinness and beer on tap, to the tune of Eighties and Nineties hits. Movida Club Moonlight works magic on this sky bar sat atop the sweet-scented, pine-studded Bochali hill, close to the Venetian castle's crumbled walls, where the city's hip crowd come to sip handcrafted cocktails. Trees strung with glittering lights surround a wood-decked terrace with amphitheatre-like views of the inky black Ionian Sea way below and Zante town's sparkle way beyond. In summer, drinkers (perched on high-backed wooden chairs) are serenaded by the high-pitched toot of Scops owls, and local and international DJs who play mainly chill-out hits. There's also a limited menu: try the handmade burgers with chunky fries. Website: Price: ££ Getting in: Dress code is hip/casual. Cebu Club Although it's just down the road from Laganas, the nightlife in Argassi, just a few kilometres from Zante town, is far more chilled. Early evening is the time to hangout with locals – who flock here to eat in a string of taverns and fast food joints – before heading to one of the laidback clubs. Cebu's palm tree-shaded garden behind high walls is the perfect place to gaze at the stars through waving palm fronds, whilst sipping cocktails. There's also a football-pitch-sized dance space inside where local and guest DJs do their sets. Zakanthi Bar Restaurant Housed in a tall ochre building with olive green shutters along a quiet street in chilled seaside resort Kalamaki, this laidback bar is surrounded by a pretty garden – clipped lawns, palm trees and plants in pots – which makes it feel very private. Interiors are rustic-cosy (think flagged stone floors, chunky wooden tables and candles) but the best seats are outdoors, where friendly waiters serve cocktails handcrafted by a resident mixologist, as the sweet sounds of classic and jazz music filter out from speakers concealed amongst the trees. In summer they also have regular live music nights. Contact: 0030 26950 43586; Price: ££ Getting in: Dress code is elegant casual; it's best to book on weekends. Cotton Club Zakynthos When beret-clad Christian Marstrander and wife Merete, the Norwegian owners of Ibiza's celebrity-loved Cotton Club, first stepped ashore in Zakynthos they were captivated by the Ionian island's pristine seascapes and lush greenery, and vowed to create a second Cotton Club here. An ideal place to escape the coastal crowds, this sophisticated lifestyle club sits on a pine-clad hill with breathtaking views over Laganas bay. Come here during the daytime to sip cocktails and chill by the pool, or stay later to enjoy live DJ's and plant-based menus in the club's al fresco restaurant - for those who choose to linger, they also rent out villas, along with a sleek line of luxury yachts. Porto Azzuro Beach bars are ten a penny in the beach resort of Vasilikos, but Porto Azurro's location – just steps from the warm shallow waters and soft sand of its eponymous beach – combine with an imaginative range of cocktails (try the Greek Collins made with grappa-like tsipouro, instead of gin) makes it a popular lunchtime choice. Drinks can be ordered on the bamboo-shaded terrace of the bar, or from the never-want-to-leave comfort of a sunbed. They also serve Mediterranean snacks: olive oil-drizzled choriatiki salads, fresh grilled meat souvlaki and seafood. Villa Rossa Wine bar Although the best grapes were once exported as currants, these days Zante produces some excellent wines from a wide range of local varietals – and not just the ubiquitous white wine Verdea, either. Housed along the Vassilikos peninsula in an atmospheric villa, with creaking wooden floors and ornate antique furnishings – and which once belonged to the powerful Roma family (who also owned Archontiko Roma in Zante town) – Villa Rossa has plenty of choice. Sit at picnic tables (with plenty of cushions) beneath citrus-scented cypress trees and choose from an extensive list served with spicy ladotyri cheese and other snacks. Portokali Along a side street in the popular seaside resort of Argassi, Portokali (Greek for 'orange') really rocks that amber vibe with carrot-coloured deco ranging from lampshades to seating. Surprisingly, however, the orange-with-everything theme is not oppressive because this quirky live music bar restaurant nestles in lovely lush gardens. There are immense palm trees thrusting palm fronds to the velvet, star-spangled sky and ancient olive trees strung with (orange) hammocks where you can laze and listen to live music which plays most nights here and can be anything from laidback jazz to lively rock 'n' roll. There's also a restaurant serving traditional local treats, including – you guessed it – portokalopita (orange cake). Contact: 0030 26950 45730; Price: ££ Getting in: Casual, but get there early – this place is popular. How we choose Every bar, venue or experience in this curated list has been tried and tested by our destination expert, who has visited to provide you with their insider perspective. We cover a range of budgets and styles, from casual pubs to exquisite cocktail bars – to best suit every type of traveller – and consider the service, drinks, atmosphere and price in our recommendations. We update this list regularly to keep up with the latest openings and provide up to date recommendations. About our expert Heidi Fuller-Love I'm a fan of traditional music, and have spent many summers listening to kanthades in Zante's kafeneions and hiking the island's remotest goat trails.
Times
4 days ago
- Times
Inside the Elvis Evolution chaos: ‘bad pay, booing and low morale'
When performers were cast in Elvis Evolution, an ambitious new theatre show billed as an 'authentic' AI tribute to the king of rock'n'roll, many believed it would be a career-defining opportunity. Elvis Evolution, produced by Layered Reality, is an immersive theatre show blending live performance, storytelling and AI. Set across multiple themed spaces, the experience promised audiences a 'life-sized digital Elvis performing iconic moments in musical history on a UK stage for the first time'. Tickets to the show at the Excel London cost £75 for a standard ticket and £300 for a 'super VIP' option, which includes a mid-show champagne experience, commemorative glass, dedicated seating, a drink at each of the three bars and cloakroom access. • Fans demand refunds over cardboard cutouts at Elvis 'hologram' show Within a week of its opening, on July 18 — and after audience complaints and intense public scrutiny — cast members said the reality behind the scenes had been far from the dazzling production promised. Instead of the holographic Elvis that had been expected, AI had been used only to compile video footage. The holographic imagery promoted in early publicity never materialised. One performer claimed the working environment had left them feeling 'demoralised', 'exploited' and desperate to escape a 'sinking ship'. In a letter sent to producers and seen by The Times, 23 cast members raised several concerns about the production. The letter, signed by 'the cast of Elvis Evolution', raises concerns about pay and chaotic rehearsals. One cast member claims that the show's central draw — an AI-powered hologram of Elvis Presley — was misrepresented. 'We had seen comments on Facebook about the Elvis fans wanting a hologram. And we knew that there were no holograms at all being used,' an actor on the show, who wished to remain anonymous, told The Times. 'Once we saw the AI, we were actually really disappointed. We were sold the same delivery as the audience members. We were told it was going to be this progressive AI, imaginative, creative piece.' Despite tickets being sold for up to £300, performers claim they were paid as little as £13.50 an hour, with some performers alleging that they were 'often left in hallways doing nothing' during rehearsals periods. • From Abba to Elvis — are holograms really the future of pop? Poor scheduling, they claim, made it impossible to take on other jobs. Performers were asked to keep weekdays free in case they were called in at short notice, sometimes for just a few hours but often with nothing to do. 'One day you wouldn't be called in and then the next day you'd find out you're called in for 11 o'clock, only to then leave at one. And in those two hours, you've done nothing,' the actor continued. As morale dropped, the cast say they attempted to raise concerns formally about the conditions. In their letter to the producers, they highlighted that 'the ad hoc nature of the hours, combined with the current level of compensation, has meant that many cast members have had to seek additional employment; second and third jobs, in order to cover basic living expenses'. The response, the actor said, was underwhelming. 'We could see the wheels were falling off the car very early,' the actor said. 'When we sent the letter, they emailed us back saying we can give you 50p more and make it £14 an hour. All while selling tickets on pre-sale for £300.' According to those involved, multiple departments, including costume, reportedly experienced upheaval, with some people deciding to leave the production. The actor claimed 'panic' had spread across the production, with 'every single department' in disarray. This version of events, however, has been disputed by others on the production. One cast member claimed their experience on Elvis Evolution is 'standard across theatre'. They said: 'When rehearsal hours were lower than expected, this was flagged by the cast and quickly remedied for all of us. We reached an agreement on a minimum rate of monthly pay; for me, they've always been open to listening and quick to deal with queries. 'We have an ongoing dialogue with all Layered Reality departments, and we have two team members who are dedicated to working with us. Due to the nature of the show, the director was with the dev and tech teams to bring the show to life. With such a big cast of people playing different roles, rehearsal call times were staggered, but this is standard in an immersive production of this scale.' Responding to claims of upheaval, one cast member said the production had only lost 'one member of cast from the beginning of the rehearsal process'. This, they added, is 'probably a low turnover rate compared to most immersive productions'. The production had initially suggested that the 'brand new interactive experience' would involve cutting-edge AI and holographic imagery. Plans for the hologram were scrapped, a development fans quickly noticed. The audience, the actor said, quickly picked up on the show's flaws. 'I think it's been really awful for the cast. One of my colleagues came on stage and got booed before he'd even given a line,' they said. 'The audience felt duped because they'd read the reviews. It's really demoralising. it's a sinking ship.' 'I said very early on I don't want anyone I know to come and watch this. We were embarrassed. But at the end of the day, we've signed this contract. With the current acting climate and our profession being so risky, we're just doing our job. Ultimately it's not our fault.' Paige Rannigan, 29, from Essex, spent more than £200 on tickets , expecting a 'life-sized digital Elvis'. 'There were three musicians on the stage in front of the screen, acting as the musicians that were there in real life,' she said. 'But their instruments weren't plugged in and there was fake applause over the top. There were only about three songs on his '68 comeback video, but it was anything you could look up on YouTube or iPlayer.' In the cast's open letter, they call for several key changes: a guaranteed minimum weekly pay, a review of compensation, paid breaks and travel reimbursement, clearer scheduling, itemised payslips, and formalised guidelines in line with Equity standards. A Layered Reality spokesperson said: 'As an immersive theatre company, the welfare and happiness of our cast members is of the utmost importance, and we greatly value our entire team. Since the beginning of rehearsals, our cast have had two full-time employees — our company manager and performance manager — dedicated to protecting the well-being of the actors, who our actors can speak to at any time, to address any concerns. 'Throughout pre-production and live shows, where concerns have been raised, adjustments and improvements have been promptly sought and implemented. We're talking directly with cast members who have expressed concerns.' The spokesperson added: 'As with many complex productions that are two years in development, and creating something new to the market, the concept did develop from our earliest vision announced in January 2024, but all communications since October 2024 reflected an accurate picture of the show as it evolved.'
Daily Mirror
5 days ago
- Daily Mirror
'I went to Elvis Evolution to see if it's as bad as everyone's been saying'
Since opening at London Excel last Friday, Layered Reality's Elvis Experience show has been torn to shreds by punters, who have complained about the visual effects and the cost of tickets "It makes me feel sick." Not the most glowing of reviews from Ann, a pensioner who opted to leave the Elvis Evolution experience as soon as the mind-bending, sound-warping, completely Elvis-free first half had finished. Since opening at London Excel last Friday, the show has been torn to shreds by punters like Ann, who had been expecting to see a hologram of the King, only to settle for a selfie with a cardboard cutout. One pensioner was so irate at the steep ticket price he was dragged from the venue after shouting 'b****cks' over the live finale. A tough opening week then for Layered Reality, a London-based events company that combines "the latest in performance technology with live actors and feature quality sets" to produce "the future of entertainment", or so its website says at least. When I visited Elvis Evolution on the grey Wednesday afternoon after its opening, I was taken on a "unique immersive" ride into the world of Elvis. It was just more the parts when he was stuck in a Las Vegas penthouse suite, blasting his mind apart with a diet of nightly shows, hamburgers and Quaaludes, than the bit when he was hot and good at performing. It begins in a 50s-style diner-come-holding pen, where guests are invited to arrive early to enjoy a £10 King and Tonic or a Paramount Pretzel. "They've run out of ice cream, so the Pepsi Floats are off," Cambridge man Carl told me. He'd had to schlep over the Thames on the IFS Cloud Cable Car from Greenwich after discovering the official car park was closed. Having had a good moan about the prices as we queued for the first of about ten times that afternoon, we shuffled into the first scene - a recreation of Elvis's dressing room - and then around it for about 20 minutes. A generous timeslot, given the room was about as faithful a creation of the 50s as the (admittedly incredible) OK Diner on the A1. And then the lights dim and the conceit begins. A washed-up Elvis is refusing to leave his dressing room and hit the stage for his iconic 1968 NBC Comeback Special. A distressed show manager tells us not to worry, the King will be out soon, and that security guards are on site both for our and the staff's safety. A little on the nose, given the pensioner dragging that took place just days ago. Shockingly, the stage manager is wrong. Elvis doesn't actually appear for the entire duration of the show, aside from in short projected clips of old performances, briefly recreated as an uncanny AI figurine and, at one weird point, as a comic book superhero. After tempting punters with a hologram Presley just like ABBA Voyage down the road, Layered Reality made the 'creative decision not to mimic Elvis's performances' with the tech. Or hire one of the tens of thousands of impersonators who would've probably done a great job. Elvis has not just left the building, he was never in it. Instead, we get a supporting cast of four actors who whisk us out of the NBC studio to Elvis' childhood and then on a whirlwind tour back to the moment the King reclaimed his crown. "I couldn't hear a bloody thing," one man told me before following after Ann at halftime and making for the DLR. The sound is admittedly warped and poorly mixed, with the head mics dropping in and out, making the story very hard to follow. "What the hell is going on!?" Catherine, Carl's wife, asked me as she slurps on a Blue Suede cocktail. As someone who has served as an elf in the early years of Lapland UK, I know how difficult it is to keep grinning while guiding ripped-off feeling families to the right Father Christmas' cabin. Or in this case, performing for a visibly bored crowd of pensioners, some of whom have spent up to £300 on VIP passes that get you three "free" drinks and a seat in the finale performance. The actors gave it their all and were the best thing about the show. But they were fighting a losing battle. The script is bad, the effects are weird, and the sound is not quite ear-splitting enough to mask their Mississippi via London accents. We are likely to get more and more of this kind of thing as the film industry continues its contraction and immersive events take over. According to Gensler Research Institute's 2025 Immersive Entertainment & Culture Industry Report, the global market for immersive entertainment was valued at £98bn - and it's projected to reach £351bn by 2030. Elvis Evolution has been likened to the catastrophic Wonka and Bridgerton experiences, but that's a little unfair. Layered Reality has certainly thrown some cash, time and expertise at the event, it's just not enough. The show comes to a climax in a small auditorium where groups of elderly people (who clearly have trouble keeping on their feet but only paid £75 for the cheapest tickets) are ushered into the standing pen, while the VIPs enjoy cinema seats at the back. As has been widely reported elsewhere, Elvis does not appear here as expected. He is beamed onto a flat screen behind a live band, who are pretending to play. It's a limp way to finish things off, yet it gets people dancing, clapping and smiling for the first time. It always seemed to me that Elvis was great in spite of his corny origin story, the cringeworthy PR ops he was pressured into and his vast back catalog of sickly sweet love songs. He was great because of his incredible musical talent, which stayed with him until the very end, when he was still able to summon choirs of angels from his broken, slug-like body. Layered Reality probably should've realised this, cut out most of the bells and whistles, and actually hired an Elvis to sing a few of his tunes. A spokesperson for the company said: 'Elvis Evolution has been praised by Elvis fans and newcomers alike — but it's not a traditional concert or hologram show. From the outset of development, we made a deliberate decision to explore the most powerful and authentic ways to tell Elvis' story. "This major scale production brings together a cast of 28 performers and over 300 skilled professionals across design, production, and visual effects. "Elvis Evolution is a multisensory experience, where technology plays a powerful supporting role — but the show doesn't attempt to recreate Elvis' performances. Instead, it joyfully celebrates the ones he gave us. We're incredibly proud of what's been created, and of how it's reconnecting people with Elvis in new and meaningful ways.'
