A whole lotta Elvis goin' on

The phrase "Elvis has re-entered the building" is becoming popular. Hockey announcer Mike Lange is using it, due to the return of Pittsburgh Penguins' owner/star Mario Lemieux.

The real Elvis Presley, who was born 66 years ago come Monday, will return, in at least spirit, at the Third Annual Elvismas celebration on Saturday.

Elvismas is a tribute to Presley in all of his oversized-belt buckles and greasy-sideburns glory, says organizer Blair Powell of Squirrel Hill. The event is intended as a parody of Christmas and the nearly religious worship the King of Rock `n' Roll has inspired among the faithful, he said.

"I wanted a festival that felt like more than just another night at the bar. Elvis was perfect because, though he was really goofy and kitschy, he did make some music that was really amazing and original," said Powell, 35.

To celebrate the irreverent side of Elvis, a black velvet painting of The King will be awarded as a door prize. For those with a more reverent view, there's a full evening of neo-'50s music from the likes of North Carolina's Belmont Playboys.

Guests at Oakland's Club Laga will honor The King's portentous appetite with a buffet featuring His Majesty's favorite fried peanut butter and banana sandwiches. Powell promises that one bite will lend insight into how Elvis filled out his white spandex jumpsuits by the end of his career.

Most of the Pittsburghers who attend the celebration will be too young to have seen Presley in his prime. For many, Elvis - who died in 1977 - was someone their parents listened to.

Still, Powell, who wears a lacquered pompadour culled straight from Elvis' "Sun Sessions" LP, insists that Elvis has a timeless appeal that transcends dates and fashions.

Last year's party drew Elvis fans from throughout the region, including Mike Devine, a Cleveland native who's turned his obsession with the '50s into a lucrative stand-up comedy career.

Devine's burlesque jokes are as dated as his two-tone shoes and vintage zoot suit, but he travels each year to Elvismas, where an appreciative audience is easy to find.

Underneath the irony and camp of a bunch of twenty- and thirtysomethings dressing up like the cast reunion party of television's "Happy Days" is a genuine admiration for the simplicity and innocence of early, pre-movie star Elvis.

And for all of their overtures toward innocence and fun, there is a serious, almost desperate need to escape the present evident among '50s revisionists.

Many will spend thousands on faithful imitations of early tattoos or to travel across the country to vintage rock music conventions.

Powell is among the city's more rigid '50s revisionists. He steadfastly refuses to drive automobiles manufactured after the 1960s, and he spends weekends scouring local flea markets for Eisenhower-era memorabilia to decorate his apartment.

Powell describes the experience of listening to Presley as almost transcendent.

"A lot of pop culture doesn't have a lot going for it. Rockabilly music isn't political, it just takes you back to a simpler time when things like looking cool, picking up a girl and getting loaded to forget about your job were all that mattered."

It's obsessive, to be sure, but Elvis, who eventually was felled by his own obsessions, would have wanted it that way.

- Mike Seate

Birthday party for the King

Guest performers include Pittsburgh's finest jump-suited, scarf-wearing Elvis impersonator, Don Obusek, plus Bones Maki & the Sun Dodgers, who will hop a freight all the way from Michigan for the over-21 show. Vendors will be selling rockabilly CDs and videos, while local Houdinis The Amazing Rob and Razor will perform an escape routine. You can also win door prizes, including a tattoo of Elvis from Shakey of Jester's Court Tattoos. Tickets are $8. Get 'em early - all those pompadours and standup basses take up a lot of room.

- William Loeffler

Elvismas 5

- Scott Mervis

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- Scott Mervis, Weekend Editor

Elvis 66

- Scott Mervis, Weekend Editor