What Now My Love

The orchestra plays the "Einleitung, oder Sonnenaufgang" from "Also Sprach Zarathustra", then the band takes over with the "Opening Riff" and Elvis enters the sage. Charlie Hodge hands him his guitar and the king walks to the microphone.

Compared to the rendition on the first compact disc, Elvis injects a tad more energy here.

The king gives his guitar back to Charlie and performs CCR's big hit "Proud Mary". He does it very well.

In contrast to yesterdays' midnight show, Elvis doesn't move on to "Until It's Time For You To Go", but throws in "Never Been To Spain". It's one of the new songs on his current live album. Here in Vegas the king performs it a tad slower, which I like very much.

Returning to his usual set list Elvis presents the ballad "Until It's Time For You To Go". It's a gentle, emotional rendition.

Today the swamp rocker is performed as planned. Elvis moves a bit to the music and presents a couple of karate figures during the finale. Afterwards he welcomes the audience. Not without a touch of irony he also mentiones, that the Hilton Hotel is plastered with "Elvis" posters.

The dramatic ballad gives the king an opportunity to demonstrate his vocal abilities.

Of course Elvis knows, that the people come to hear him sing his golden greats. He starts with "Fever", a song from his album "Elvis Is Back!".

He continues with "Love Me", a track from his second longplayer. During the performance he throws two scarfs into the audience, each of them is met with hysteria. He also accepts gifts from the ladies.

Leaving out "All Shook Up" and the medley of "Teddy Bear" and "Don't Be Cruel" Elvis moves on to "Blue Suede Shoes". It's another good, but somewhat routine performance.

The medley of "Little Sister" and "Get Back" is also omitted. Instead the king offers his 1958 hit record "One Night". He doesn't sound as edgy as in 1968 or 1970, but he still sings it well.

Maybe he thinks "All Shook Up" needs to be sung, so he includes it now. Elvis uses the tune to communicate with his fans, at times he doesn't even get to sing. Of course the audience loves it.

Now Elvis sings his first number one hit. As usual it's a good rendition, the modernized arrangement fits the old r&b track well.

The king tells the fans, that Ed Sullivan had him filmed from the waste up to prevent the tv audience from inappropriate moves. Ironically he also calles the silly tune a message song. Then he sings a slow, bluesy version of "Hound Dog" before he moves over to the well known rock'n'roll tempo.

Instead of "It's Over" Elvis now presents "For The Good Times", the second new song from his current live album. The tune is sung a tad slower and enhanced with strings. Both occurrences can be called an improvement.

To pick up the tempo of the show the king presents his last number one hit, a song called "Suspicious Minds". While performing a knee-bend he alters the lyrics and sings "I hope these pants don't rip up, baby". Today The Sweet Inspirations react to his usual joke and sing "You'd be in trouble, baby". It's really entertaining stuff.

The king continues the program with a solid rendition of "My Way". The song fits him as well as Sinatra.

Leaving out the rocker "A Big Hunk O' Love" Elvis performs "An American Trilogy". This time the tripple is presented without any jokes. The whole thing is nothing but impressive.

Obviously the show is supposed to be over, but then the king makes up his mind and says "Big Hunk O' Love....let's do Big Hunk O' Love". That's what happens. Elvis and the band are rocking the house with a fine rendition of his number one hit from 1959.

Out of the blue Elvis starts to sing "Tiger Man". The musicians are on their toes and quickly join in. It would have been great to listen to the complete jam, but unfortunately the magnetic tape ran out after twenty seconds or so. As a result, the recording is faded and the beginning of the performance is all we get. Shit happens.