About
Top of the Bill is a tribute singer for hire in Sydney, NSW.
Bill has spent more than ten years taking Elvis around Australia, backed when you want it by his Rock Revival Show Band. The set runs past the obvious hits into the songs Elvis loved and often owned better than the people who wrote them: Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Neil Diamond, the Bee Gees, the Beatles, Simon and Garfunkel, Olivia Newton-John. Book it small and it's a guest appearance or a quick Elvis-gram in whatever corner of the office you can spare. Book it big and the band comes too, with a rock show that keeps travelling all the way to the 90s. For a crowd of 30 or more, a changing area and a staging space with power will do it. Public liability insurance is held, and documentation is available.
Watch
The show
Bill has been doing this around Australia for over a decade and treats it as a lifetime passion rather than a costume. The hardcore Elvis fans get what they came for, and so does everyone who only knows the choruses and wants to sing them. The set goes past the obvious hits into songs Elvis loved and covered himself, Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Neil Diamond, the Bee Gees, the Beatles, Simon and Garfunkel, Olivia Newton-John. He trains for the physical side of it, not just the voice, and it shows in a performance that keeps moving. Quick to smile, and that matters. There's a difference between an impersonation and someone genuinely enjoying being up there.
On the day
What's needed depends entirely on the size of it. For a guest appearance there's nothing for you to do at all beyond deciding who announces that Elvis has left the building. For a quick surprise spot at a workplace, an out of the way area with a bit of room is plenty, though it's worth telling management he's coming. Once you're at an audience of thirty or more, or the band is playing, you'll need a changing room and a staging area with power. If travel is involved, access to look at the space in advance may be needed.
Performance options
It scales a long way. At the small end it's an appearance or a solo performance. At the other, a full show with a band, sound and lighting behind it. How many musicians and performers come along, and how much production sits around them, depends on the event, so the line-up gets settled after a conversation about what you're running rather than picked off a list. Include your postcode and venue details in the enquiry if there's travel involved, since that shapes the answer too.
Insurance and paperwork
Public liability insured
Song list
Do you have a favourite Elvis hit? Let us know today!
