HAVING seen Ben Portsmouth perform his Elvis tribute act at the RIAT air show three years ago,  I was somewhat  excited at seeing him closer to home.

He came on in true Elvis costume looking every bit the part.

However, when he started to sing  I thought ‘oh gosh, either he’s not so good or  the sound system is not in tune’.

He sounded very tinny, the next three songs all sounded tinny, and I was really apprehensive about the outcome of the evening.

However, the sound then improved dramatically and the show for me got properly underway with a fully sold out venue, a few thousand screaming Welsh ladies all joining in, going mad and trying to get to Ben as they had the stage under siege.

The luckiest audience member of the night was a lovely lady called Chris from Caerphilly who danced beautifully doing the Ann-Margret part from Viva Las Vegas.

Ben sang all the famous songs: GI Blues, Wooden Heart, Don’t Be Cruel. Return To Sender. to name but  a few. He has also achieved the ultimate accolade – he was crowned the Worldwide Ultimate Elvis Tribute Artist in Memphis, the only artist from outside the USA ever to win the title.

In the second half , the audience were at the front of the stage joining in, being thrown scarves and teddy bears and going berserk to get one of them.

One of his backing singers did an absolutely brilliant job singing Amazing Grace and had the most powerful, beautiful voice imaginable, and the rest of the Taking Care of Elvis band did an excellent job.

All in all I enjoyed the concert but I didn’t think he was quite as good as I’d expected ­- maybe a different venue or atmosphere, three years on things change, but one thing is for sure, Ben Portsmouth is really the king of Elvis impersonators.

Pam Parker