Elvis; Live at Memorial Auditorium, Dallas, Texas, December 28th, 1976

On December 28th, 1976, Elvis played one night at the Dallas Memorial Auditorium, to an audience of 9 800. This is an edited soundboard recording of what was the second night of a short, five-night, five-cities tour ending with the acclaimed New Year’s Eve Concert in Pittsburgh. This short sequence of concerts was remarkable in the context of the time, in that there seemed to be a renewed intensity and edginess to Elvis’ performance, reminiscent of the early seventies shows. Local press covered the concert, and seemed to take the line that the music came second to the event as a whole, and even their entertainment reporters got a little carried away with the overall sense of excitement; The Dallas Times Herald; “…Call it an event, a happening, a carnival, a love fest. It is some and all of this when Elvis Presley ventures into town. It is almost least of all a musical concert. If Presley's music was all there was to it, you would be better off in front of a good stereo set rather than jammed into a packed coliseum with a frenzied crowd of screeching fans grasping at scarves Elvis casually disposes of strolling along the edge of the stage…A Presley audience has grown to be almost as important, if not as important, as Presley himself. Like the one at Memorial Coliseum last night, an audience very much a part of the show itself, feeding off one answer, vibes shooting from one to next like electric currents cracking along a wire fence in a storm…Elvis, make no mistake, is a phenomenon. No one else has gone 20 years perched at the peak. Alice Cooper and the vaudeville rockers may trail in the dust of Elvis' heels. He could probably even cause an alarming dip in the Nielsen rating playing opposite Charlie's Angels. Where superstars quickly burn themselves out, Elvis survives, spreading himself to new generations of fans…” The Dallas Morning News also implied that the music was largely inconsequential in terms of the concert as a happening; “…Criticizing an Elvis Presley concert because the music was disappointing is like criticizing Christmas because there's no snow. Christmas is an event! And so is an Elvis concert. At Elvis' Dallas concert Tuesday night, it didn't make any difference that he was flat when singing his opening song, "C.C. Rider," because the fans were screaming so loud that you couldn't hear anyway…From the minute he walked on the stage, the flashbulbs started going off like a psychedelic earthquake. From then on the fans were as much a part of the show as Elvis…” The soundboard recording gives us a much better perspective on the music than the audience had in the stadium, and it is a lively and powerful show, musically and otherwise. (Concerts reviews sourced from elvisconcerts.com) More at https://www.georgefairbrother.com/elv... (This is not a monetized video. Any revenues are directed to music and spoken word rights holders) #Elvis #Elvisconcerts #Elvislive #Elvis1970s #Dallas #soundboard