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Vacation Elvis Style - Part 5 / 13
In this series we are taking a look at the places Elvis performed and
played in the event you too would like to take an "Elvis style"
vacation in any of these areas. Remember that hotels often
change ownership and names, as do concert venues. You might
need to do further research to pinpoint some of these locations.
OHIO
We begin in Cleveland, Ohio the site of Elvis's first concerts north of
the Mason-Dixon line.
On
2/26/55 and 10/19-20/55, Elvis performed at Circle Theater's
"Hillbilly Jamboree." No longer there,
old
handbills place the theater at Euclid and E. 105th. Street.
During the day on 10/20/55, Elvis also performed at Brooklyn High
School and St. Michael's Hall. Also performing at these
shows were Bill Haley and the Comets, Pat Boone and The Four Lads.
They were taking part in the making of a short film called "The Pied
Piper of Cleveland," which focused on a day in the life of famed
disc jockey Bill Randle.
(The
footage of Elvis has not surfaced publicly.)
Elvis
performed at the Arena in Cleveland on 11/23/56. On 11/6/71
and 6/21/74 he appeared at the Cleveland Convention Center Public
Hall. On 7/10/75, 7/18/75, and 10/23/76
he
performed at the Cleveland Coliseum in nearby Richfield.
During these appearances he enjoyed Cleveland's Keg And Quarter and
a special menu of corn bread and greens.
On
1/23/86 Elvis was posthumously inducted into the prestigious Rock
and Roll Hall of Fame located in Cleveland. The Elvis exhibit
and the items on loan there from Graceland, changes periodically.
It is
a must-see for any fan of Elvis and rock and roll music who travels
to the area.
Elvis
performed in Columbus, Ohio on 5/26/56 at Veteran Memorial
Auditorium and at St. John Arena on 6/25/74.
The
venue for Elvis's concerts in Dayton was the University of Dayton.
On
5/27/56 his show was at the Fieldhouse and a reporter described him
as "a Tennessee fugitive from a barbershop."
He
performed at the University Arena on 4/7/72, 10/6/74 and 10/26/76.
In
1974 he stayed at the Ramada Inn and in 1976 he stayed at the
Stouffer's Dayton Plaza Hotel.
On
11/22/56 his show was at the Toledo Sports Arena and Elvis stayed at
the Commodore Perry Hotel.
He
returned on 4/23/77 to the University of Toledo's Centennial Hall,
staying at the Sheraton-Westmore Hotel.
In
Troy he performed at the Hobart Arena on 11/24/56.
In
Cincinnati, Elvis had concerts at the Cincinnati Gardens on 11/11/71
and 6/27/73. While Riverfront Coliseum was the site for a show
on 3/21/76 in which Elvis split the seat of his jumpsuit and had to
leave the stage to go and change.He stayed at the Netherland
Hilton Hotel. His next show at the Coliseum was on 6/25/77.
This
trip he was booked into a different hotel and when he had problems
with the air conditioning in his room,
he
marched down the street to the Netherland and checked himself in
there.
MICHIGAN
In Detroit, Elvis performed
downtown at the Fox Theater on Woodward Avenue 5/25/56,
And ads for the show stated "The King is Coming!" The Fox
Theater was completed restored to it's former glory in the
mid-1980s and remains a vital part of the Detroit entertainment
scence.
Subsequent performances on 3/31/57,
9/11/70, 4/6/72, 9/29/74, 10/4/74, and 4/22/77
Were at Olympia Stadium on Grand
River Avenue. Built in the 1920s and the Original home of the
Detroit Red Wings hockey club,
"the old red barn" -- as It was nick-named for the color
of it's bricks --sat vacant after the Red Wings moved to Joe
Louis Arena on the waterfront in 1981. Olympia was Demolished in
1986 and a Michigan National Guard Armory was built on the Site.
On 4/24/77 at Ann Arbor's
University of Michigan Chrysler Arena RCA recorded The songs
"Unchained Melody" and "Little Darlin'" which were released on
The "Moody Blue" album. In Kalamazoo, Elvis performed at Wings
Stadium on 10/21/76 and 4/26/77.
Saginaw Civic Center was the venue
for concerts on 4/25/77 and 5/3/77.At The 4/25/77 concert, RCA
recorded
"If You Love Me (Let Me Know), which made Their way to the
"Moody Blue" album. This venue was renovated in 2001 and
continues to host Various events.
Elvis stayed at the Hilton Hotel in
Troy while preparing for a special New Year's Eve concert at The
Silverdome on Opdyke Road in Pontiac on 12/31/75.Accompanying
Elvis And his entourage were his father Vernon, his daughter
Lisa, his girlfriend
Linda Thompson and singer T.G.
Sheppard and his wife.Problems with frigid Weather, a
two-tiered staging arrangement Elvis was uncomfortable with and
Poor sound in the massive venue were compounded by Elvis
splitting his pants Out early in the show.
After the show, Elvis and his party flew home and Celebrated the
New Year by watching Monty Python tapes.
The Silverdome is no longer the
home of the Detroit Lions or Detroit Pistons and is expected to
be demolished within the next 3 to 5 years to allow for a large
commercial development.
WISCONSIN
A
show on 5/14/56 in Lacrosse at the Mary E. Sawyer Auditorium brought
chaos. Police and MPs from nearby Camp McCoy couldn't contain
the crowd and Elvis had to run for his dressing room on the second
floor.
Outside fans formed a human pyramid nearly 30 feet high trying to
get a
glimpse of him in his dressing room. The local newspaper
editor wrote to FBI director J. Edgar Hoover expressing his
concerns about Elvis and his menace to society. Elvis stayed
at the Stoddard Hotel.
On
4/28/77 Elvis performed in Green Bay at the Brown County Veteran's
Memorial Coliseum, later renamed Brown County Expo Center. And
in Madison Elvis stayed at the Sheraton Inn while performing at the
Dane County Coliseum on 10/19/76 and 6/24/77. Milwaukee
Auditorium Arena, a part of the Wisconsin Center Complex,
was
the venue for shows on 6/14-15/72, 6/28/74 and 4/27/77.
INDIANA
In
Ft. Wayne Elvis performed at the Memorial Coliseum on 3/30/57,
6/12/72 and 10/25/76.
In
Bloomington he appeared at the University of Indiana Assembly Hall
on 6/27/74 and 5/27/76.
He
stayed at the Evansville Executive Inn while performing at Roberts
Stadium on 6/13/72 and
10/24/76. In South Bend, Elvis's concerts were at Notre Dame's
Athletic and Convention Center on 9/30/74, 10/1/74 and 10/20/76.
He performed on 7/9/75 at Terre Haute's Hulman Civic Center, later
named Glenn Civic Center. On 12/4-7/55 Elvis had shows at the
Indianapolis Lyric Theater.
He
stayed at the Hilton Hotel while performing on 4/12/72 at the State
Fairgrounds Coliseum,
and
again on 10/4/74 when he was at the Expo Convention Center. He
stayed at the Stouffer's Indianapolis Inn before his concert on
6/26/77 at Market Square Arena. A CBS film crew filmed him as
he left the plane and receiving an award from RCA as part of the TV
special "Elvis In Concert" which was in production at the time.
The Indianapolis show was Elvis's last concert performance.
(Shows earlier on the tour were shot for the special.)
Elvis
died a little over six weeks later on August 16, 1977.
Market Square Arena was imploded in 2001 to make room for new
development.
KENTUCKY
Elvis
performed for employees of the Phillip Morris company at a private
party they were having on 12/8/55 at the Rialto Theater in
Louisville. The Jefferson County National Guard Armory was the
site of an 11/25/56 performance. He stayed at the Seal Bark
Hotel. Elvis's grandfather Jesse Presley lived in
Louisville and Elvis visited with him at his home during both the
1956 appearance and again in 1971 when Elvis appeared at Freedom
Hall. His grandfather died on 3/19/73 and is buried in
Louisville. Elvis toured there again performing at Freedom
Hall on 6/26/74, 7/23/76 and 5/21/77. We currently have
some of Elvis's army artifacts on loan to the General George S.
Patton, Jr. National Museum of Cavalry & Armor museum in Fort Knox,
Kentucky. You can plan to view these items there until
9/24/05.
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