On November 14th and 15th Elvis performed in Long Beach/California. Both concerts were sold out with an audience of 15,000 people. A very good sounding audience recording of the second show was released by Touchdown Productions in 2011. The album included a booklet of 16 pages, printed on heavy, glossy paper.

The show is opened by the orchestra, playing the "Einleitung, oder Sonnenaufgang" from Richard Strauss' "Also Sprach Zarathustra". Seamlessly the band takes over with the "Opening Riff" and Elvis appears on stage. Charlie Hodge hands him his black guitar, the king is ready to rock the house.

Like in the currently shown movie "Elvis On Tour" the concert begins with "See See Rider". It's a powerful performance, a perfect start for the show.

The Ray Charles classic get a more subdued treatment and the king leaves out the "Amen" tag. In general his rendition is closer to the original version, which I like very much. Afterwards Elvis gives his guitar back to Charlie and welcomes the audience.

Up next is the ballad "Until It's Time For You To Go", which was released earlier this year on a single and on the longplayer "Elvis Now". It's played a tad faster, which is a good decision. The live version is much more appealing than the studio recording.

This one had been a top20 hit for Elvis in 1970, but it's also included on his current live album. Of course his performance doesn't differ from the one on the record. It's a good rendition, albeit the tempo is higher than two years before.

The same applies here. "Polk Salad Annie" is also a part of "Elvis As Recorded At Madison Square Garden" and it's done faster than in 1970. The swamp rock is also featured in "Elvis On Tour". The man from Memphis moves much less than he had done before, but it's certainly enough to make the ladies scream.

The king flirts with some of his female admirers and jokingly announces a medley of Greek folk songs. Of course this means, that it's time for the expected oldies. Elvis starts with "Love Me", a song from his second album. It's performed faster and without any schmaltz.

His mega seller from 1957 is sung for a minute or so. The tempo is high, but somehow it works.

Elvis' first national number one hit sounds quite modern, I especially like the bluesy vocals of The Sweet Inspirations.

The rocker is sung in a fast, short and business-like fashion. It's another quick reminder of the past.

The more current "The Wonder Of You" gets the same treatment like the oldies. It's a shortened version, Elvis starts with the second verse and finishes off the ballad within 1.5 minutes. However, it's not a bad performance though.

The performance of the hit medley is comparable to the one on the recent album "Elvis As Recorded At Madison Square Garden". It's fast, but fun.

The title song of Elvis' first movie turns women in their 30s into screaming teenagers. There are not many artists, who get these reactions from a mature audience.

The idea to couple "Little Sister" with The Beatles' "Get Back" might appear somewhat strange, but it works astonishingly well.

Elvis needs just two words to get the people on their feet. "You ain't" is enough to make them scream. The king uses the situation for some jokes, then he sings "Hound Dog" in a slow, bluesy tempo. Of course he speeds it up and presents the tune in the expected way. Well, not completely. I would have expected a bit more energy, a tad more enthusiasm. However, the fans seem to be fine with a rendition like this.

Now Elvis announces one of his favorite songs. To everyone's surprise it's the ballad "I'll Remember You", a bonus song on his soundtrack album "Spinout". The king delivers the tune in sensitive, emotional style. His heart is much more into stuff like this than into the songs, that are considered to be his greatest hits.

Elvis sticks to his output of the mid-sixties and presents the title song of his second gospel album. Compared to the recorded version today's rendition is arranged in a more bombastic, theatrical way. But it's a good opportunity to display his great voice and also to showcase the talents of the orchestra and the choir.

His last number one hit is not performed as athletic as in the movie "That's The Way It Is" from 1970. Today Mr. Presley acts much tamer, moves much slower and much less. But it still looks good and the ladies are obviously happy to see some body action.

To give himself a little break, Elvis introduces the band and the harmony vocalists.

After quite some time the king just recently returned to the top3 of the Billboard Charts. In concert "Burning Love" sounds even better, but Elvis needs an idiot sheet to get through it. Maybe a performer of his level should bother to learn the words to his songs at home, before presenting them to a paying audience. But as said before, the performance itself is very good.

Elvis uses the oldie (it was released twelfe years ago on his comeback-album after his Army stint) to drive the ladies wild. He doesn't need to do anything more than moving his legs. It's obvious, that the singer has as much fun as the audience. Afterwards Elvis introduces his daughter Lisa-Marie and says, that this was the first time, she sees her daddy making a fool of himself in front of several thousand people.

Finally the king even presents a new song. It's also included in his current movie "Elvis On Tour", but it's not available on a record. The musical soap opera offers another opportunity to display his great voice. Elvis delivers a very dramatic, emotional performance.

Without saying goodbye the king starts to sing "Can't Help Falling In Love", his usual closer. As expected the band takes over with the "Closing Riff", Elvis shakes a few hands, gives away the scarf around his neck and leaves the stage.