There was a whole lot of shakin’ going on.
The King of Rock ‘N’ Roll came to Borough of Kings when a pair of Elvis tribute acts shook, rattled, and rolled through MCU Park during the Cyclones’ Elvis Night on July 26.
They got the crowd’s mojo working by gracing them with some of the Mississippi-born maestro’s greatest hits before the Cyclones sunk the Vermont Lake Monsters.
One of the performers said he started emulating Elvis by accident.
“I never had aspirations to be an Elvis tribute artist,” said Frank James, who said he first donned the regal rhinestone jumpsuit on a lark during his mothers’ birthday party. “Someone in my family suggested I get an Elvis costume and surprise everybody.”
Now, 10 years later, James is performs part-time throughout the New York Metro area.
But the other impersonator said he was raised on rock.
“My mom was a big Elvis fan — she saw him in Madison Square Garden,” said Cary Weiner of Midwood. “I grew up with his scarf on the wall — it had the sweat stain still on it.”
Wiener has been sporting Elvis’ coif since he was 9 years old, and had rocked a set of mutton chops since he sprouted whiskers.
After his performance, Weiner threw out one of the game’s first pitches.
“I really made the catcher work for it too, because I did all my gyrations,” he said. “It was a dream come true — I never did a baseball stadium before.”
The crowd loved the show, but 6-year-old cancer survivor Maggie Russo got the most applause of the night, when the brave girl threw out the first pitch.
