Concert Review: Elvis Birthday Bash @ The Hanger on the Hudson 1/21/24

A motley crowd of about 200 left their inhibitions in their cold cars, let their freak flag fly and their bodies boogie at Troy’s Hangar on the Hudson Sunday night, Jan. 21. Elvis may have “left the building” almost half a century ago, but his spirit was celebrated with gusto at this annual “Birthday Bash” for nearly three hours at a nondescript building on the banks of the Hudson River. 

It was hosted by Johnny Rabb whose pedigree includes a stint with The Neanderthals, a garage rock band that performed in Zorro masks and outlandish costumes and toured the world with The Trashmen of “Surfer Bird” fame. Backing him up was John Tichy, a veteran RPI “rocket scientist” who was one of the founders of The Lost Planet Airmen, a group that redefined underground rock in 1971 with a remake of “Hot Rod Lincoln.” His son Graham was also on hand on guitar along with five others: sax master Luke McNamme, Josh Greenberg on horns, keyboardist Mike Kelly, Stephen Clyde on bass, and drummer Chris Sprague. 

The producers of the TV show The Gilded Age use portions of Troy’s historic downtown to recreate the pomp and pretense of The Big Apple’s late 19^th century upper crust. If they’d attended Sunday’s Bash before filming, they probably would have trashed their plans and done a remake of “High School Confidential.” 

Elvis was a complicated man who, under the wing of Sun Records’ Sam Phillips, re-imagined country and western music with a blues backbone. His ensuing popularity, however, was fed to the masses in songs that covered everything from gospel to confectionary cotton candy scores to the many films his starred in.  

Interestingly, Sunday’s concert zeroed in more on the pop songs from his movies than on his more serious material. While the show ended with “Suspicious Minds,” his last single and one of his best numbers, other huge hits like “Heartbreak Hotel” were not featured. A partial list of what was performed includes: “Viva Las Vegas, “I Want to Play House with You,” “Ready Teddy,” “Do The Clam,” “Lovin’ My Baby,” “Put The Blame on Me,” “The Devil in Disguise,” and “Return to Sender.” John Tichy sang a beautiful version of “Peace in the Valley” that he said had reduced his Elvis hating mama to tears. The one nod to blues was “Hound Dog” by Big Mama Thornton and was also a Janis Joplin chart topper. 

Troy has a colorful history of local acts that together create a legacy that’s an inspiration to today’s active 518 scene.  The artists who performed Sunday night are the corner stones of that legacy. They did not just do cookie cutter copies of Elvis hits, they vamped on The King of Rock and Roll’s repertoire with originality, gusto and just enough humor to accompany some righteous dancers who turned the evening into much more than an homage to a lost age.