Three Elvis shows in Las Vegas are worth your evening, and each picks a different way to bring him back: The King Comes Home in the Westgate, the resort where Elvis played his Las Vegas residency; All Shook Up at Alexis Park, with a live band behind the hits; and Spirit of the King at Notoriety downtown, built around one veteran tribute artist. The history, the band or the performer. Here's how to choose.
The King Comes Home at the Westgate: his old hotel
The King Comes Home plays the Westgate Cabaret, inside the resort that opened as the International Hotel and later became the Las Vegas Hilton, where Elvis headlined from 1969 to 1976. That address is the whole pitch. The show walks through his career in order: the early recordings, the movies, the television special and then the Vegas jumpsuit years, so it plays like a biography with a band. The International Theater, the room where he actually performed, is in the same resort. Fans make a pilgrimage of it.
Where: Westgate Cabaret, Westgate Las Vegas. Ages: 5 and up. Era covered: his whole career, early records to the Vegas years. Best for: first-timers who want the history.
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All Shook Up at Alexis Park: the live band
All Shook Up plays the Athena Showlounge at the Alexis Park resort on Harmon Avenue, a short ride east of the Strip, and its difference is the band. The King sings in front of live musicians rather than backing tracks, so "Suspicious Minds" builds the way it does on the records. The set sticks to the hits, from "Heartbreak Hotel" onward. It's a concert first. Expect to sing along.
Where: Athena Showlounge, Alexis Park All Suite Resort. Ages: no minimum age listed. Era covered: the greatest hits. Best for: anyone who wants a real band.
Spirit of the King at Notoriety: Steve Connolly, and a portrait painted mid-show
Spirit of the King: The Ultimate ELVIS Show belongs to Steve Connolly, who counts more than 12,000 ticketed performances and earlier residencies at the MGM Grand, Fitzgeralds and Paris Las Vegas. He covers the early 1950s through the mid-1970s, including the black leather of the 1968 comeback special and a sit-down acoustic set with Connolly on guitar. Then the party piece: he speed-paints a six-foot portrait of Elvis on stage in about ten minutes while still performing. Nobody else does that. The show plays Notoriety at 450 Fremont Street, downtown.
Where: Notoriety Showroom, downtown on Fremont Street. Ages: 3 and up. Era covered: early 1950s to the mid-1970s. Best for: fans who want a performer, not a lookalike.
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Which Elvis show to book
The building where it happened: The King Comes Home. A band you can feel: All Shook Up. A showman who paints while he sings: Spirit of the King. Staying downtown makes the last one an easy walk, and it pairs with our Gordie Brown review for a second downtown night. Fans of other eras of Vegas nostalgia should read our Rat Pack tribute shows guide next.
