Elvis On Tour - 50th Anniversary Edition

For the 50th anniversary of the Golden Globe winning documentary "Elvis On Tour" Sony Music Entertainment/RCA Legacy released a digital compilation of the four concerts plus rehearsals, that were taped prior to the tour. It was put on the various streaming platforms in late 2022, a physical boxed set followed in January 2023. It wasn't all that popular since it never made it past number 61 on Billboard's "Top Album Sales Chart", in Germany it peaked at number 53 and in the UK at number 43.

Today the album is available in 24 bit/90 khz flac. That means, if the platform of your choice supports high resolution audio, you can enjoy the tracks in the same quality Sony used to scan and master them. On Spotify, which has a market share of approximately 30% and is the only platform that publishes streaming figures, "Elvis On Tour" accumulates 550 million streams. So in contrast to the physical boxed set, the digital incarnation is well received.

This set included seven discs. Four cds with concert recordings, two cds with rehearsals and a blu ray with the movie. The data carriers were housed in two fold out digipaks and were accompanied by a booklet of 32 pages. It's all designed very well and looks good.

The audio was remastered and remixed by Matt Ross-Spang. Each concert sounds a bit different to mirror the characteristics of the various venues. Mr. Ross-Spang also emphasized on different instruments each time, so you are always able to make out different details. Just like he had done on other projects, he often puts the orchestra and the choires a tad in the background or brings them to the front at certain moments of a song. I like his work very much.

As a bonus the set also includes the movie on blu ray. It's the same version Warner Brothers releaed in 2010, the film wasn't remastered or extended. Back in 2022/23 most fans owned the movie, but still it's nice to have everything in one place. By the way: Instead of the original intro with "Johnny B. Goode", this later edition features "Don't Be Cruel". This had to be done due to a copyright issue.

For in-depth reviews of the concerts and rehearsals, just tap on the accordant links.

Verdict

The set presents the singer at the top of his game. He's in fine voice and delivering great shows. The rehearsals are also interesting, because they feature the well-known concert standards without the orchestra and with just a few of the harmony singers. The audio quality is very good, the same applies to the mix.