Leather-Clad King From Belfast Tries to Pay Tribute to Elvis, Others

When is an Elvis impersonator not an Elvis impersonator? When he’s the King.

Sure, the King was dressed in Presley-esque black leather on Tuesday during his L.A. debut at the Dragonfly, but his 40-minute set included only one song from the Elvis repertoire, “Suspicious Minds.” The rest of the time, the erstwhile Belfast postal carrier--whose real name is (really!) James Brown--performed most of his debut album, “Gravelands,” a wide-ranging collection featuring Presley-style interpretations of tunes by some of pop’s dearly departed.

Though this apparently sincere, if high-concept, tribute fell flat with such numbers as Nirvana’s “Come as You Are” and Bob Marley’s “No Woman, No Cry,” Brown proved utterly guileless, and his backing quartet romped good-naturedly through such rockers as Jimi Hendrix’s “Voodoo Chile” and AC/DC’s “Whole Lotta Rosie.” The King had the karate moves, hip-swinging and ‘thankyewverramush” down cold, but though his voice resembled Presley’s, especially in the lower register, he wasn’t nearly as charismatic as the original. It was also hard to keep Brown’s heartfelt intentions in mind when the most sublime moment was the most absurd. Announcing “This one’s for the homeland,” he belted Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Sweet Home Alabama” with true Southern, and Elvisonian, zeal. But the real King was born in Mississippi. Then again, that’s close enough for a guy from Northern Ireland.