Rockin' tribute to Elvis, Perkins, Lewis, Cash visits Riley Center Aug. 19
The MSU Riley Center will re-create a magical gathering of four young music superstars when it presents One Night in Memphis: The Number One Tribute to Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis & Johnny Cash on Aug. 19 at 7:30 p.m.
The performance will wrap up the Riley Center’s 2017 Spring/Summer Performing Arts Series. Next will come the 2017-2018 Fall/Winter Performing Arts Series. It will feature an entirely new lineup of top-quality artists, thanks to the Riley Center’s many supporters, including The Riley Foundation, Mississippi State University and especially the fans who come to enjoy the shows.
One Night in Memphis harks back to December 4, 1956, at the famous Sun Records studio in Memphis, Tennessee. Perkins, riding the success of his hit song “Blue Suede Shoes,” was recording new material. The then-unknown Lewis, about to release his own first record, was hired to play piano.
At some point, Cash and then Presley dropped by. The four started horsing around, jamming on songs they all knew -- gospel, country and rock ’n’ roll. The impromptu get-together passed into legend as the “Million Dollar Quartet” session.
One Night in Memphis turns back time to that seminal day at the beginning of the rock ’n’ roll revolution. The restlessly creative young men in that studio were about to change the world. The show romps through energetic versions of some of the songs that did just that.
Amid all the shakin’ goin’ on, the actor-musicians also remind us that these were just four kids hanging out and having fun, with no real idea of where the stardom they craved was about to take them.
Tickets are $28 and $22 at the MSU Riley Center Box Office, which is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and an hour before showtime on the day of the show. Tickets can be purchased online at www.msurileycenter.com or by phone through the box office at (601) 696-2200.
