James Robinson
Image-maker & Visual Artist

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It’s 17th April 2025, and I’m coming around the corner of Dunnes Stores with Photographer Brian Lincoln on Belfast high street. We are instantly greeted by the charming lyrics of Elvis’ Can’t Help Falling in Love drifting from a few streets away. As we turn the corner of Doc Martens, there he is: Jelvis Pelvis (aka Jordan Devine) in his full kit – half ironed, half wrinkled – singing at the top of his lungs to the crowd at Victoria Square. He’s definitely sounding better, and with more confidence, than when I last saw him perform on my previous visit home. One kid shouts loudly, “Jelvis, gis a pic here, lad!” and a crowd of what felt like a million uniform-clad youths suddenly surrounds him for an iPhone photo in front of White Stuff. Another older chap randomly hands him a birthday card. Brian and I sit there for nearly two hours watching him perform renditions of all the Elvis classics, ending with the cult favourite Suspicious Minds — one he loves to perform at least three or four times for the Jelvis faithful.

As the performance ends, I instantly spring over to him in a Roadrunner-like fashion to ask for a couple of snaps. After our hello-how-are-you-yes-very-well-thank-you back and forth, Jordan whips out a one-litre bottle of Lucozade original from his granny trolley and has a quick swig. We both head down past Lush towards Castle Lane where we’d parked Brian’s battered 2009 Polo. Fast forward ten seconds: you couldn’t write it. A swarm of pigeon shit sprinkles over us from the Belfast skies above, narrowly missing our heads and Jordan’s glittery white-and-red jumpsuit. Dumbfounded, we continue walking to get into Brian’s car.

We take Jordan on a mini road trip to the outskirts of Belfast to pick up some tanning-solution nasal spray from a local Tiktoker, one who claims will make him look “more Elvis”. No questions asked from Brian nor myself – just a few chuckles mixed with silence in the back seats. The trip feels like a mission from a GTA game set in Belfast: passing bonfires with half-finished effigies and red, white and blue curbstones. At some point Jordan suddenly leaps out of his seat as we pass the famous Bobby Sands mural on the Falls Road. Looking out the window, he proclaims he’s “never seen such a thing before”, eyes lit up with gleaming excitement. We stop and hop out to let him have a quick gander at it. We go down past Tigers Bay, Ballygomartin, passing an exceeding amount of anti-nitrous oxide billboards on the way before finishing off through the gates of the peace walls. So what lies next for Jelvis? Jordan seems to be a man of many talents. With hopes and ambitions for a career as a James Bond villain or a cameo in a Jaws remake set in Carnlough, we’re excited to see what’s next for him. I reckon... watch this space.

As featured in Craic Issue Four.

don’t let the bastards get you down

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