Yes, I was there. No, I wasn’t this close to Elvis. A friend sent me the picture. But those are my ticket stubs.
What was the concert like? Actually pretty decent. They made an album from it–well, from this particular night and the previous night’s show. The entire concert from May 7 is on YouTube. I remember when he told the young mother sitting near the stage that she had her baby too close to the speakers.
I was one of the younger ones in the crowd. Most were women in their late 30s and 40s with the teased high hairdo’s still common at that time.
The tickets were $10 each. That seemed expensive at the time, but I was working and used my own money!
I’ve seen other entertainers/groups who put on better shows. Elton John, The Eagles, Little River Band, and many more. But I was floating when I left the arena that night. At that time, he was the most famous celebrity I’d ever seen. Unless you count James Brolin and Rosie Greer, whom my parents and I saw at a telethon in Nashville. But here’s the catch: no matter what your age, you know who Elvis Presley was. If you’re younger, you may have no idea who James Brolin or Rosie Greer is.
I’ve outgrown the starstruck mentality because I’ve learned that celebrities are just people like the rest of us who just happen to have careers that put them in the limelight. Elvis was a flawed human being whose fame elevated him to some sort of bigger-than-life status that I kind of think he loved and hated at the same time. People may argue about his talent (or lack of talent) and they may choose to believe the negative things publicized about him or the positive, but I think there’s one fact they can’t deny.
Elvis had a fan following like no other entertainer, and that following is still going strong as younger people jump on the fan-wagon. I know of no other entertainer that was as famous and beloved almost 50 years after his death as he was in life.
Do you?
Life As I know it 