AUBURN, Wash. — What if Elvis had never "left the building?"
"What would have been if he didn't die in 1977?" Steve Unger asked. "What would his show have been like if he lived on into the 80's?"
Unger and his band, "Alive 85," set out to answer that question every single time they hit the stage.
"Our show begins on Aug. 17, 1977," Unger said, referring to the day that Elvis Presley died. "The show that never was but should have been."
The set list includes a mix of updated classics from the King of Rock 'n' Roll plus the kinds of cover songs he might have played in the mid-1980s.
"Like Whitesnake and Motley Crue and Bon Jovi and Kiss," Unger said. "The younger generation, they don't even know. They're like, 'Man, I didn't know Elvis did a Kiss song.'"
This singer definitely has range. For the past two decades, he's played bass in the hard-hitting band Metal Church.
"I've been all over the world with that band and we've played in front of millions of people," Unger said.
Unger's side hustle as a singin', swingin' icon catches some metal fans by surprise.
"They're like, 'I can't even imagine the guy from Metal Church doing this Elvis stuff,'" Unger said. "And then they come and they see the show and they're like (mind blown)."
Unger was all shook up with a burning love for Elvis at an early age.
"How I learned about music was through Elvis," he said. "Six years old with the headphones on."
Unger is out to re-imagine, not re-create.
"I'm really not trying to be an Elvis impersonator," Unger said.
It's Elvis and beyond.
For one song in front of a pumped-up Muckleshoot Casino crowd, he shared the stage with Elvis tribute artist Phil Edwards. On another, he brings up guest vocalist Pamela Moore, known for her work with Queensrÿche.
Unger and Alive 85 are bringing the King back to life one sweaty scarf, one swingin' hip and one passionate performance at a time.
"I'm having a blast, so I'm gonna keep doing it," Unger said.