A celebration of Elvis Presley’s 90th Birthday in Atlanta GA at the Variety Playhouse on January 11 and 12 2025 by Kay Andrews
It was September of 2024 when I got the news of the return of the iconic Atlanta based show Big Mike Geier’s Elvis Royale. Big Mike Geier, better known internationally as his alter ego, the sensational singing sad clown named Puddles Pity Party, was reviving his illustrious Elvis Royale for only two nights after a ten year hiatus. This revival was in celebration of Elvis Presley’s 90th birthday, and was a show that had come to settle on my bucket list for the past seven years as I had become a fan of Big Mike’s through my love of Puddles.
Check out the gallery of photos from this weekend here.
Puddles had since rocketed Big Mike’s career into larger and more expansive opportunities which had forced him to leave Atlanta in the dust as he chased the clown across the globe. With that, he’d also been forced to shelve the show that had cut his teeth for performing for massive audiences. The Elvis Royale is a Vegas style show featuring dancing show girls and an arrangement of talented local musicians called The King-sized Orchestra, all of whom originally were exclusive to Atlanta and talented musicians that Big Mike had worked with on various projects over the years. The show found its origins in the artsy neighborhood of Little Five Points and had never left there. Originally started at The Star Community Bar around 1996, the overwhelming popularity of Big Mike Geier’s Elvis Royale forced it to be moved to the larger venue Variety Playhouse; located only a block down the street.


I had never been to Atlanta before, and plans to go there to tour the city were already in the works when I received the news of this. I knew I had to carve out the time considering how rare this show was, and not knowing if I’d ever get the opportunity to see this show again due to the amount of moving parts that had to fall into place in order for it to occur. I’ve had very few interactions with Big Mike outside of the clown, and this was one of the exceptionally remote opportunities to see him step out from the clown’s massive shadow as a performer and stretch his legs in ways that Puddles didn’t quite allow him to.
The unique vibe of the Elvis Royale became immediately obvious to me on the first night. Through discussions with other attendees, I made the discovery that surprisingly few of those who had discovered Big Mike through his alter ego were in attendance, and that this event more attracted people who had known him personally to some degree stretching back years and even decades. This was quite a refreshing concert experience to encounter for any show I’ve had the pleasure of attending over the years.


The featured VIP package for The Elvis Royale came with an acoustic performance featuring Big Mike, which he decided to bring out an unannounced guest for both nights. Both nights for VIP consisted of a small group that ended up being composed almost entirely of Puddles fans. The tension and awkwardness he seemed to feel was palpable as most of us had only ever interacted with him through the clown in which contrary to himself, doesn’t speak and emanates a personality that’s as kind-hearted yet strikingly different from his own.
Seeing his familiar VIP guests, the first thing he immediately commented on for the first night was how weird this experience was for him. I myself didn’t share this feeling, but several attendees around me stated they felt the awkwardness too. It was then made abundantly clear at the real reason why he was bringing unannounced guests to join him on stage.
The guest at the first night’s VIP was Big Mike’s own brother Oz, and although Oz is an exceptional guitarist who is capable of entertaining entirely on his own, Oz’s real purpose there seemed to provide support and to calm his brother’s nerves. This was even more obvious the following night when Big Mike brought out his keyboardist Kris Tonner to sit with him with an acoustic guitar, although a talented musician on keys, it was apparent to everyone that Tonner didn’t actually have any functional knowledge of guitar playing at all.
Tonner quietly made shapes on the fretboard, lightly tapped the strings as Big Mike was the only one to actually play anything. It was a light hearted joke that was neither offensive nor lost on anyone in the room. There’s a level of humor in bringing out a support performer who is not actually there to perform at all.


The main event, which clocked in at around 3 hours including a 20 minute intermission, featured songs from Elvis’ expansive catalog and was a high energy adventure through The King’s musical career. This show featured Big Mike as the centerpiece flanked by a large ensemble of backup singers, a percussionist, a drummer, bassist, guitarist, keyboardist, and a brass section.
Occasional numbers featured the amazing show girls called The Dames Aflame, who regularly changed costumes between their numbers. Their vibrant costumes and choreography did not give way to anything that would’ve been deemed inappropriate for children, and after each number, the ladies were met with a high five from Big Mike.
Amongst the Dames was a drag performer who supplied the comic relief for the evening. At one point, Big Mike playfully chased her around the stage, and kissed her hand before the end of the number. Big Mike was adorned in a black suit studded with large silver stars over his shoulders and back, and had originally intended to wear his cream-colored dress shoes. During the opening number on the first night, Big Mike’s right shoe had detached from the sole, in which a stout performer dressed as Elvis dubbed “Little E” came from backstage to offer a swap with the casual Jack Purcells he’d worn during VIP. Spending ten years buried in a closet somewhere had undoubtedly deteriorated the stitching. Little E made intermittent scripted appearances throughout the evening, offering Big Mike a towel on several occasions to wipe off sweat and offering silk scarves to lucky fans who were against the stage in the pit. During the scheduled 20 minute intermission, Little E also hosted an Elvis costume contest featuring concert goers who had dressed up for the evening.



Big Mike himself sent us on a high energy journey of Elvis’s music, even playing acoustic guitar intermittently, sometimes in conjunction with his lead guitarist RL Martin.
Peppered throughout the set list were glimpses of non-Elvis tunes which we’d all heard from Big Mike’s tiki project Tongo Hiti. These included the iconic guitar riff from Iron Maiden’s “The Trooper”, The Doors’ “Touch Me”, Deep Purple’s “Hush”, and on the first evening eventually culminated in an Elvis style cover of “Holy Diver” from Dio; capitalizing on the viral success of Puddles’ cover with Les Claypool and Primus during the previous summer.
The end of the evening featured a surprise Meet and Greet with Big Mike in the lobby, undoubtedly taking a page from the clown’s book with his iconic after show photos called Puddles Cuddles.


These two evenings really put Big Mike into a larger perspective for me as a performer and a person. Big Mike Geier is as versatile as a performer and entertainer as any high billed act, and he also provides as good of a connection and friendship with his audience as anyone could hope for. The vibe from his Elvis Royale audience is unique, as it provides an authentic sense of friendship, community, and family in an otherwise star-studded show. There is not so much a sense of being a fan of Big Mike as much as a community who comes together to support him and his fellow performers as friends and companions.
In conclusion, the only thing we can hope for is that this show returns annually. I highly recommend that one carves out time for a trip to Atlanta to attend this extravaganza that keeps the spirit of Elvis Presley alive, long after his death. Or perhaps The King himself is still alive somewhere in South Florida, as Big Mike himself seems to jokingly believe. We may never know for sure.
JANUARY 11 setlist:
Kashmir
That’s All Right
I Got A Woman
A Big Hunk O’ Love
Trouble
Just Because
Hound Dog
Jailhouse Rock
Little Sister
Kentucky Rain
(Marie’s The Name) His Latest Flame / American Girl
Wearin’ That Loved On Look
How Great Thou Art
Sometimes I Feel Like A Motherless Child
Could I Go But To The Lord
Up Above My Head
Saved
Let Yourself Go
King Creole
Power Of My Love
In The Ghetto / Stairway To Heaven
Never Been To Spain
Polk Salad Annie
Bridge Over Troubled Water
Bossa Nova Baby / Touch Me
You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’
A Little Less Conversation / Hush
Suspicious Minds
Burning Love
If I Can Dream
Viva Las Vegas
Band Introductions
Holy Diver
(What’s So Funny ’Bout) Peace, Love And Understanding
Check out the gallery of photos from this weekend here.
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