In 1995 a label called CHIPS released "71 Summer Festival". The album features a very good sounding audience recording of the dinner show on August 23, 1971. As a special gimmick the cover/booklet is a reproduction of the souvenir menue, that was given to the guests at the time.

The orchestra performs an excerpt of "Also Sprach Zarathustra", then the band takes over with the "Opening Riff" and Elvis walks on stage. He greets the audience and Charlie Hodge hands him his guitar.

Without a break the band has segued into "That's All Right". Backstage Elvis had complained about flu-like symthomes, but that doesn't keep him from delivering the a-side of his first single release with zest. 

The king continues with a track from his album "On Stage - February 1970". It sounds different, because Ronnie Tutt works his drums differently to Bob Lanning. I regard his style to be an improvement.

The old Ray Charles tune is on the program since the 1950s, but Elvis obviously isn't tired of it yet. He presents it with a lot of drive and even includes a few bars of the gospel "Amen".

Elvis returns to the repertoire of the "On Stage" album and presents a cover version of Neil Diamond's "Sweet Caroline". The song is played faster, it sounds a bit rushed.

The swamp rock is from the same longplayer. In contrast to the previous Vegas stint Elvis now includes the spoken introduction again. He moves a lot during his performance, of course the audience is delighted to see some of the king's famous body action. To catch his breath Elvis chats with the audience afterwards, the band plays an instrumental. To save magnetic tape, the fan stopped his recording equipment and waited, until the king continued with the next song.

Even though the rock'n'roll classic doesn't sound as wild and rough as on the album "From Memphis To Vegas / From Vegas To Memphis", Elvis still lives up to his image as the king of this genre and injects a lot of energy and drive.

The ballad "It's Impossible" is a proof of the singer's versatility. It's the opposite of "Johnny B. Goode" and handled just as well.

Now it's time for the oldies, but goldies. "Love Me" is sung a tad faster than in the studio, but it still sounds great.

The ballad is followed by a rockin' medley of "Blue Suede Shoes" and "Whole Lotta' Shakin' Goin' On".

Elvis presents his first national number one hit in a modern, bluesy style. It's different to the original, but it fits the tune well.

During "Teddy Bear" Elvis throws plush bears into the audience. Of course the people are in uproar, everyone wants to catch a souvenir, touched by the one on only king of music. It's somewhat of a circus, but very entertaining.

Now Elvis tells the audience, that he had to sing this song to a real dog on "The Steve Allen Show" back in 1956. Even though he didn't like the situation, he had performed "Hound Dog" much better. Nowadays he plows through the song within a minute and simply repeates the same four lines over and over again. His previous years' renditions were not more complex, but at least he injected some energy. Maybe it's time to put "Hound Dog" to rest for a while.

Of course the king uses the title song of his first movie to bestow some ladies with a kiss. Needless to say, that the lucky ones go bananas.

With his cheartbreaker from 1969 Elvis returns to more recent material. Of course he also includes some of his patented moves.

Today Elvis introduces his band in a short and straight forward way.

The king continues his show with his current single "I'm Leavin'". It's a very good song, quite complex and handled very well. But it's not all that commercial and the sales are not good. For me it's a good sign, that Elvis from time to time prefers artistry over commerce.

Now the singer returns to the good ole' days and presents a modernized version of "Lawdy, Miss Clawdy". It's still bluesy, but now the king has added some brass. I like the modern incarnation of the old r&b tune very much.

As usual Elvis doesn't waste many words to say goodbye. He ends the show with the usual "Can't Help Falling In Love", then the band takes over with the "Closing Riff" and the curtain comes down. In a few hours the king will be back.