This being las Vegas, can you guess who was one of the first shows to return to the Strip? Elvis of course. Ok, maybe not The “Elvis”, but the best thing next to the original! It’s Pete “Big Elvis” Vallee!!
Like so many of the Strip’s entertainment options, Pete has been gone since March 13 due to the pandemic closure of all things good in Las Vegas. But last week, he returned to his proper place, in his favorite chair inside the Harrahs Piano Bar. Just inside the resort by the Carnival Court entrance!
Performances:
Catch him on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday shows at 2 PM, 3:30 PM & 5 PM. No Cover Charge – Buy a drink and support the talent!!
The Man
I have met and even interviewed Big Elvis on a number of occasions and have always found him to have a heart of gold larger than his weight. Currently sitting at 440 pounds. Not bad considering he was at one time 920 pounds! He loves his fans and loves what he does to entertain them and keeps them coming back.
To say Big Elvis has a cult following would be a major understatement. Vallee has earned himself mentions in the Las Vegas Review Journal’s “Best of Las Vegas” and was named one of the Best 10 Shows in Vegas by USA Today. Even Time Magazine Named him one of the Top Ten Elvis impersonators in the entire country.
Big Elvis Makes Vegas
Big Elvis arrived in Las Vegas in 1997 for a show at the since-closed Roadhouse saloon out on Boulder Highway. Soon after, Station Casinos heard about Vallee’s growing locals following and booked him at Sunset Station and Fiesta Rancho.
Not to be outdone by the local competition, in 2002, then-Coast Casinos owner and Las Vegas gaming icon Michael Gaughan pulled Vallee into the lounge at Barbary Coast. That’s when I first was introduced to the man and the legend. The hotel switched to Bill’s Gamblin’ Hall & Saloon under Boyd Gaming and is today the Caesars Entertainment-owned Cromwell Resort. That made Big Elvis take his show to the Piano Bar at Harrah’s in 2012 and he has been there ever since.
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