Alfie Joey on his top documentary recommendation of 2026

ELVIS is in the building…if that building is a Vue Cinema near you. Other cinemas are available.

‘EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert’, directed by Baz Luhrmann (on the back of his brilliant Austin Butler/Tom Hanks biopic), is a fresh documentary, showing heaps of on stage and behind the scenes footage of the King at his absolute peak.

READ MORE: Alfie Joey on why we should use our phones less and talk more

Critics say Luhrmann stylishly put together newly discovered and restored footage from Elvis’s legendary Las Vegas residencies and early-1970s tours and the reviews say it is so seamless, you cannot see the joins.

I have always been surrounded by very close to acolytes of the King. My Elvis education began early in Thornley, County Durham, where our neighbours were Elvis fanatics, all the records, Elvis mirrors, I remember them crying when he died in 1977.

Also, I clearly remember my great school mate Donald excitedly introducing me to early Elvis (‘Didja’ ever get one of them days’, ‘I love only one girl’, ‘Devil in disguise’), insisting he was at least as good as Frank Sinatra.

Later, when I was in sixth form, I found out about Elvis the comeback king and the Vegas years courtesy of my pal Bern who reinforced the whole King thing to me.

Bern went on to be my best man, but more importantly to him, he went to Memphis, has seen The Jordanaires (Elvis’s gospel quartet) and is a very serious fan to this day.

So I wasn’t surprised when Bern left an excited phone message telling me I MUST go and see ‘EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert’.

So just as I was firmly considering a rare trip to the pictures, my Aunty Patricia and Uncle David WhatsApp me separately to say I HAD to see the Elvis documentary because they have been. Individually they were flagging up how EPIC it is!!

So last Saturday, I go along with Mrs Joey and Alfie Joey Jr to Gateshead Vue.

Wow! No one was exaggerating. It is electric! It IS epic! The film smoothly blends electrifying live performances with the rare material in a way that is hard to describe.

It is like an unbelievable jigsaw but you cannot see the joins. Thankfully, unlike so many current documentaries that are cluttered with endless talking heads (many of whom did not know the subject), Luhrmann just lets Elvis tell his own story through rare or rediscovered interviews.

The film captures the charisma, the humour and the blistering energy of Presley at his dynamic best on stage. And Mrs Joey also noted his collection of rehearsal shirts were simply the best she had ever seen.

So now it is my turn to tell you. You MUST go and see EPIC because, and I repeat, it is…epic!!! You’ll be all shook up, now …thank you very much.

I have left the building.

FACTS AND FOOTNOTES:

l Elvis never performed outside North America— largely because his manager Colonel Tom Parker, avoided travelling abroad

l Frank Sinatra welcomed Elvis home from the army on a TV show special and they duetted ‘Love Me Tender’ and ‘Witchcraft’

l Elvis was a black belt in karate. Obsessed with martial arts, he earned a 7th-degree black belt

Alfie Joey will be IN the building at The Hilton, Gateshead, hosting the BusinessiQ Awards for The Northern Echo on April 22. You can email Alfie via www.AlfieJoey.com and subscribe to his free newsletter there.