So, there’s this place called The Velvet Elvis in Milton, Georgia, and they had their Grand Opening tonight (Friday, September 6th, 2024).
It all starts at the front door, so let’s start with the best doorman in Georgia, Rick Michael-who is just perfect. Great guy, great doorman, very personable and the ladies love him!
Jennifer Anderson Allen
Now let’s go inside; It’s a live music venue, on the nicer side. The place was put together very well, with all kinds of really cool decorative touches by an absolutely fabulous interior designer named Jennifer Anderson Allen, and it has a great patio with garage type doors that open up to make the inside and the outside all cohesive and part of the same really cool, upscale yet relaxed experience.
Rocco Gorelik
Killer music is emanating from the stage, which brings us to Rocco Gorelik. Well, he’s 14 years old, can sing pretty damn good and he most certainly can sling a guitar! Rocco has a bass player and a drummer with him, both obvious seasoned music veterans and they can hold the rhythm wherever it needs to be. On bass is Samm Darden and on drums is Brandon Whitley. So, while sitting here writing this article, the Rocco Gorelik band busts out with The Eagles’ “One of These Nights.” Half of these songs are not normally heard at a live music venue, let alone by a 14 year old!
So far there’s been blues, southern rock, classic rock and country.
This teenager just ended his night’s killer set of music with, get this-Dolly Parton’s “I Will Always Love You!” So, as I’m checking all the cameras to make sure I’m not missing this moment, a hand grabs my hand and gently pulls me towards the dance floor. I look up and a beautiful blonde woman is smiling at me saying “come on, you have to dance with me.” Now, who am I to say no to someone asking me so sweetly to dance with her?
The future of music looks bright with youngsters like this coming up playing all the best covers and interacting with the crowd like only a seasoned pro knows how to do. I’m looking very forward to hearing Rocco’s original music! His roots run deep across every music genre, which theoretically would equate to very diverse and deep songs, and with Rocco guitar-licks to match the lyrics.
And let’s take a moment to address the future potential of this young man: Another Atlantan played all around Georgia when he was young, and he built up a very loyal fan base that has grown exponentially all over the world, and I believe this young man will become even bigger than, you guessed it-Zac Brown. The girls at this kid’s school would FLIP if they saw what we saw last night. Raw, real, legitimate talent that is undeniable and you can clearly see the writing on the wall for the future. Rocco Gorelik will be a multi-award winning musician when all is said and done-book it.
I’ve been video recording and broadcasting to Facebook and Tik Tok while I started writing this article. I was so impressed by everything, I didn’t want to forget some details of the evening, so I just started to write in between things. I finally had a minute to actually look around the room, and I’ll tell you this, the most beautiful, sophisticated women in Georgia are all in this place tonight! This is mind boggling, like every former pageant winner, dance contest winner and bikini contest winner are all stuffed in The Velvet Elvis tonight! This is the crowd that every music venue in the country dreams of having. This is like a Palm Beach crowd, or a very good night in Boca Raton. I honestly couldn’t believe my eyes.
So, if you’re the owner of The Velvet Elvis-how would you follow up that great band that just got off the stage? This guy ( Billy Allen) gets Barry Richman with The City Limits Band! Things just got turned up to Space X rocket level-and, with Billy Allen on lead vocals!
Let’s take a moment to address the sound in the room. Good, solid sound on a good system that is all ran on a tablet by the owner’s son, who did an excellent job running sound all night long.
Beautiful blonde 2.0. Barry whips out “Europa,” which I just happened to be blessed with hearing him perform this song since 1991, and here comes beautiful blonde 2.0 and another dance. But I’m working, but-who on earth could resist dancing with her? Another very nice, very well spoken beautiful blonde that dances really good. All I can say is what a night! I didn’t know what to expect on my hour ride to this live music venue tonight, but it definitely wasn’t all this!
This story will continue today (now Saturday), as new details and information keep surfacing. Stay tuned for more from my new favorite live music venue in Georgia, The Velvet Elvis.