TRURO - Thane Dunn can't wait to visit Truro next week.
The Moncton performer is once again bringing his Maritime Elvis Birthday Tour to the Cobequid Educational Centre.
"I love playing there," he said of the Jan. 11 performance. "There are some crazy people that come out to the show."
With this being about the fifth time Dunn has brought the show to town, he said it could be the last, as far as the birthday celebration show is concerned.
Revamping the band last year aside from one musician, Dunn said things have since taken off.
"Next year, it looks like we might be playing strictly casinos," he said. "It's not like I don't like coming to Truro."
Because he's brought the show to Truro a number of times, Dunn constantly makes changes to the shows - from the songs he performs to the costumes he wears.
"Last year, people kept saying to me that the show was better than all the previous years combined. This band is just incredible, so when I sat down to design the show, I said, ‘I gotta top that.'"
The songs on this year's set list include a number that many people may have never seen performed in the show before, or even by the King himself.
"A lot of the songs are pure rock and roll for the movers and shakers. There are five or six that are similar to Suspicious Minds. I'm all over the place."
Dunn said there are a lot of "amazing" Elvis songs that many in attendance at any tribute show may never get to see.
"They never got to see them live - there's no footage of Elvis performing those, so I'll be doing a bunch of those."
One of the songs he will perform, however, is Separate Ways.
"At half of the places where I've performed those, within seconds of the song starting I've gotten standing ovations," he said.
Having performed as Elvis so many times over the years, and making it into a career, Dunn said he was drawn to the singer back in the 1970s.
"It was when I listened to him. It was everything about his looks, his sound, his moves and his charisma with a capital C. To the end, his voice never let him down."
By performing Elvis songs, it not only brings joy to Elvis lovers, but it also brings back memories for many.
"It's almost like being a keeper of memories to people," Dunn explained. "When people hear a certain song, they can relate to what they were doing or where they were when they heard it. They relive those memories. It's incredible that I am able to do what I do for a living."
This year, a portion of the proceeds of Dunn's show will go to the Colchester East Hants Hospice Society.
Almost every show on his tour, said Dunn, supports cancer in some way. His father passed away from cancer last year, and his now-wife has beaten ovarian cancer.
rtetanish@trurodaily.com
If you go:
WHO: Thane Dunn and the Cadillac Kings
WHAT: Maritime Elvis Birthday Tour
WHEN: Jan. 11, 7:30 p.m.
WHERE: Cobequid Educational Centre on Lorne Street, Truro
TICKETS: More than 400 tickets have already been sold and can be purchased at MacQuarries Pharmasave on the Esplanade, or online at www.ticketpro.ca.
