← All events
music · Sunday 16 August 2026 · 8:00pm 
Elvis Presley & The Way It Was Orchestra
At Dunamaise Arts Centre · Church Street, Portlaoise, Co. Laois
At Dunamaise Arts Centre · Church Street, Portlaoise, Co. Laois
Kevin Doyle fronts a 12-piece band for Elvis Presley & The Way It Was Orchestra at Dunamaise Arts Centre on Sunday, 16 August 2026, a full-scale recreation of an Elvis concert rather than a solo tribute act. The band includes musicians who have worked directly with Presley’s own musicians, including Ray Walker of the vocal group The Jordanaires and former members of Elvis’s TCB band. The show has toured Ireland and internationally for more than two decades.
The concert follows the structure of a genuine Elvis show: full band and backing vocals, costume changes, and a setlist pulled from across his career rather than just the hits from one era. Because the touring band includes people who actually played or sang with Presley, the arrangements are closer to the originals than a typical tribute act, which is the show’s main selling point. Expect a seated theatre audience rather than a standing gig crowd, given the Dunamaise’s usual layout, and a show built for a broad age range, from people who saw Elvis on television in the 1970s to younger fans who know him through his recordings. Running time is around two and a half hours including interval.
Dunamaise Arts Centre is on Church Street in Portlaoise town centre, a short walk from the main shopping streets and the bus station. Portlaoise train station, on the Dublin Heuston to Cork and Limerick lines, is about ten minutes on foot. Drivers can use the M7, which meets the N8 at Portlaoise.
Portlaoise is the county town of Laois, built around its courthouse, shops and the M7/N8 motorway crossroads, so there is plenty open around the arts centre before a Sunday evening show. The Rock of Dunamase, a 13th-century Norman ruin on a hilltop, is a five-kilometre drive out of town if you arrive early. There is more to see in Portlaoise and across Co. Laois.
Heading to Dunamaise Arts Centre in Portlaoise? Laois has plenty more to see. Read the Portlaoise area guide, find what else is on, and explore the towns and villages nearby.