The spring tour, which had been sold out a few weeks earlier, began on Wednesday, April 5, 1972 with a concert in Buffalo, New York.
The visit of the famous king of rock’n’roll to the city quickly grew into an event that local radio stations reported almost every day until the singer’s arrival.
More precisely, according to the accounts of fans who for several hours were stuck in the kilometer-long traffic jams forming on the access route to the Memorial Auditorium, where Elvis was to perform, the programs promoting the concert were broadcast an hour before its start.
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Despite the fact that the show was not scheduled to start until half past nine in the evening, the most faithful fans of Presley, clutching tickets – a pass to meet the idol and a great musical event, had been waiting for many hours in queues of several meters in front of the hall located in the city center. the doors take the best places possible.
” I was twenty-one at the time and I was very excited to be able to attend this concert ,” recalled one of the participants years later. “ I entered Aud (popularly named Memorial Auditorium, author’s note) as soon as I opened the door. With the binoculars in hand, I went to the place behind the stage from where I could see the musicians standing on the dais and the list of songs to be performed .
The eagerly awaited appearance of Elvis was preceded by the usual support provided by comedian Jackie Kahane and the accompanying vocal groups – The Sweet Inspirations and The Stamps.
Several dozen minutes later, around 9:30 p.m., the first sounds of the musical theme from Stanley Kubrick’s film, “A Space Odyssey 2001” were heard in the arena. For nearly seventeen and a half thousand people crammed into the building (i.e. a record attendance in this facility) a sign that the one for whom they came here will appear on the stage in a moment.
So as soon as the silhouette of Presley appeared at the entrance to the stage, the audience immediately jumped up from their seats and greeted their idol with deafening applause.
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Dressed in a blue jumpsuit called “Blue Nail”, Elvis returned the warm welcome with his characteristic smile, then breaking through the incessant noise and expressions of adoration still shouted at him from the audience, he opened the show with a strong version of “See See Rider “.
After it, despite minor problems with the sound, he hit “Proud Mary” from the repertoire of Creedence Clearwater Revival and “Never Been To Spain”.
The fans rewarded these and each subsequent performance with a hurricane of applause.
After presenting some of his current hits, such as “Until It’s Time For You To Go” or “Polk Salad Annie”, Presley also recalled some great hits from his previous albums. “Love Me”, “All Shook Up”, “Blue Suede Shoes”, medley “(Let Me Be Your) Teddy Bear” / “Don’t Be Cruel”, “Hound Dog” or the thrilling “A Big Hunk O ‘Love” “.
Without a doubt, for a large group of his admirers, it was the favorite part of his concert.
Especially for his fans, who during the performance of “Love Me Tender” could not only receive one of his scarves but also … a dream kiss.
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This unusual relationship between Elvis and his fans was closely watched by Robert Abel, who was also in the audience that day. As he explained in later interviews, he came to town to get acquainted with the specifics of the hero’s performance in his new film. ” I took a portable Sony Portapack camera to Buffalo and filmed the concert so that we could later analyze the music and all its movements on stage ,” he explained.
However, the material shot at that time was never used in the resulting documentary. The producer only showed it to his closest associates (” all the cameramen who worked for us had to watch this tape ,” he explained in interviews), alerting them to which parts of Elvis concerts they should pay special attention to while filming.
Information provided by Mariusz Ogieg?o of Elvis Promised Land (Poland):
http://www.elvispromisedland.pl/
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