The 18,000 people who watched Elvis Presley perform at Indianapolis’s Market Square Arena on June 26, 1977 were just a few of the lucky Elvis fans.
Nobody knew this was the last.
It was his final show. Elvis Presley passed away in his Graceland home in Memphis, Tennessee just shy of two months later on August 16, 1977.
The King of Rock and Roll had been on a nine-day tour at this time and this was his last stop.
It was dubbed by the media as a must-see concert for any music fans. The organizer even tried to sell seats behind the stage at $15 (around $65 at present times).
“If you admire Elvis Presley’s back you still can buy $15 seats behind the stage for his concert at the Market Square Arena tomorrow night,” Indianapolis Star reported at that time.
Would you have bought the ticket?
Or maybe you did?
On the tickets, doors were going to open at 7:00 pm and the show would start at 8:30 pm. Like any other concert, it always started with the opening acts.
For this tour, there were brass bands and soul singers opening the show. Comedian Jackie Kahane was also one of the opening acts and he prepped the crowd before Elvis came out.
It wasn’t an easy job.
Kahane couldn’t hold their attention as fans were getting antsy for Elvis by this point.
It became even harder because his previous 18-minute spot stretched to 45 minutes.
He had to improvise and lengthen his spot because it took Elvis longer and longer to prepare himself before his performance.
Around 10:00 pm, Elvis came out.
He walked onstage decked out in his iconic white-and-gold jumpsuit.
For the next 80 minutes, he performed his best hits, which included “Jailhouse Rock,” “Hound Dog,” “Hurt,” and “Can’t Help Falling In Love With You,” which has his closing performance.
Fans adored his performance.
The King could do no wrong in their eyes but, alas, the critics always have something to say. They were a different audience.
They were less impressed by Elvis’ performance that night. Zach Dunkin of the Indianapolis News was one of them.
“Compared to today’s increasingly competitive and sophisticated concert formats for the top-dollar performer, Presley’s has become downright tacky and outdated. The Presley concert is like a sideshow with its warmup group fluff. It’s like waiting through the sword-swallower and the fire-eater before seeing the REAL attraction in the back room,” Zach Dunkin wrote in his piece.
He further wrote that Elvis’ fans need to urge him to perform better and live up to his title of King of Rock and Roll.
Unsurprisingly, the opinion wasn’t popular.
A lot of his fans were angry with Dunkin and he received a lot of hate mail. On the other hand, he also received letters of sympathy from other fans who agreed with Dunkin.
Well, no matter what Dunkin said, Elvis’ fans were still grateful for this opportunity to watch the King in action.
You could hear the loud applause and cheers of the audience when he told them what he would be singing, unwitting to the fact it would be his last serenade.
“Are You Lonesome Tonight?”
Believe it or not, “Are You Lonesome Tonight?” as we know it almost never was.
It was a “surprise” hit.
Elvis did a remake of the song, which his record label did not approve. They delayed the release but it was still released.
All of them were surprised when it became an instant hit. It topped Billboard’s Pop Singles chart and R&B singles chart plus it also topped the UK Singles chart.
Elvis showed them he was the “King of Rock and Roll” for a reason.
Watch Elvis’ final performance in the video below!
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