Back in 2004 Follow That Dream Records released an album named "Closing Night". It featured a soundboard recording of the infamous finale of the "Elvis Summer Festival 1973". Well, the first seven tracks were taken from the dinner show of the same day, because the engineer didn't tape the start of the concert. The disc was housed in a 5" digipak, whose design looked quite amateurish.

On September 20, 2024 the UK-based Memphis Recording Service provided an update. The sound carrier now is packaged in a 5" hardcover book of 32 pages. It offers some background information, photos of the king on and off stage as well as pictures of promo material regarding this stint. The audio recordings have been remastered and transformed from mono to stereo. Of course no engineer in the world can conjure up additional tracks, but a stereo effect can be generated by copying and pasting the mono signal and using various audio tools. The result is a major improvement! To sum it up: "Closing Night 1973" beats FTD's original release at all levels. And while Sony's own collector's label still refuses to release their stuff digitally, the Memphis Recording Service makes all of its albums available on the streaming platforms.

The show starts with an excerpt of Richard Strauss' "Also Sprach Zarathustra". The band takes over with the "Opening Riff" and Elvis enters the stage. Charlie Hodge hands him his guitar and the show is underway.

The king sounds somewhat nasal and out of breath. He seems to be aware of his condition, because in-between he jokingly asks, if he's singing the right song. During the performance something happens to Elvis' microphone sponge, because he makes some remarks about it after having greeted the audience. With Charlie he also jokes about their general condition, which is quite believable this evening. Elvis slurs his speech and doesn't sound awake.

The Ray Charles hit "I Got A Woman" is performed in an average way. When he speaks, the king once again leaves the impression to be under the influence of something.

Elvis follows the usual opening with a routine presentation of "Love Me". He uses the song to make contact with the females at the edge of the stage and hands out some scarfs.

His second last single is performed very well, at least by the band. Elvis himself isn't able to inject the necessary amount of energy.

The same can be said about "You Gave Me A Mountain". It's not a bad performance, but compared to the version in "Elvis On Tour" (1972) or on his recent sales smash "Aloha From Hawaii Via Satellite" (1973) he sounds just tired and also doesn't hold the notes long enough. In-between he bashes the sound system in the showroom, but says afterwards, that he was just joking. Elvis also introduces his sound engineer, who gets some laughs by answering "Thank you, Elvis".

Now the king announces a medley of Spanish folk songs and intones "Guadalajara". Of course he was just joking and presents a version of "Trouble" from his movie "King Creole". The oldie is arranged very well and the guitar solo sounds unusual for a Presley show. Unfortunately Elvis cannot compete with his musicians. His vocals lack drive and his articulation is unclear.

Elvis makes fun of "Long Tall Sally" by substituting the protagonists of the song with members of his own troop. At the end of "Hound Dog" he shakes to the music, which drives the ladies over the edge. Afterwards he claims, the medley wasn't rehearsed. I don't know why he's trying to sell bullshit like this. Everybody knows, that the medley of "Long Tall Sally", "Whole Lotta' Shakin' Goin' On", "Your Mama Don't Dance", "Flip, Flop & Fly" and "Hound Dog" is a standard of the current set list.

The king announces "I'd like to sing a little bit of  Love Me Tender for you" and imitates a too fast running tape. The second try is done in correct speed, but Elvis changes the lyrics to  "Adios you mothers, bye bye pappa too, to hell with the Hilton Hotel, screw the showroom, too". The audience has fun, but I guess Colonel Parker goes ballistic. He's just dealt out a new contract with the Hilton and I seriously doubt, that the management of the resort likes to be bashed by the one, they are paying the highest fee in town. It's certainly unprofessional, but also funny.

Elvis opens the song with the line "Myrna Smith and JD Sumner had a very mad affair, when their wifes and husbands caught them, they saw nothing but teeth and hair". When I heared this version for the first time, I had to laugh out loud!

Now the lights are going down and a bed (!) is rolled on stage. The king sings the dramatic song while lying down, at one point he places the microphone on a strategic place under the sheet and makes some explicit movements. WTF is happening tonight?!?

The band starts to play "Suspicious Minds", but Elvis sings the lyrics of "Bridge Over Troubled Water"! After fourty seconds he looses track and says "Just drop everything, everybody fall out!". Charlie takes it literally and falls down, to which Elvis reacts by saying "Bless you, son!". It's very entertaining, almost like a party - on and off stage.

Finally the king decides to do "Bridge Over Troubled Water". In mid-song someone in the audience shouts something and Elvis looses track. "What's the words? Give me the words!" he says. Then something unique happens: The audience stands up and sings the song together with the king's bandmates. "Oh, that's nice. Listen, "The Ted Mack Amateur Hour" says Elvis. Now he's back in the game and brings the song to a dramatic, powerful end.

Of course the king also sings "Suspicious Minds". But he's obviously not very motivated and one cannot help to believe him when he changes the lyrics to "You know, I hate this damn song. I really do".  However, the audience loves the performance and has fun.

When Elvis realizes, that Charlie Hodge is picking up the sheet music, his mood swings to the opposite and he gets mad. "Someone else come out backstage and pick up the sheet music? Joe, Sonny, Red, Lamar? There's 25 other employees backstage!" he heatedly says. But he soon calms down, introduces the band and proudly mentions, that Joe Guercio's orchestra has been named "Orchestra Of The Year". The king also introduces George Hamilton, Colonel Parker, Bobbie Gentry, Vernon Presley and Linda Thompson, who are in the audience tonight. Finally Elvis promotes the forthcoming engagements of Shirley Bassey and Bill Cosby. Once again his mood swings, because someone in the audience shouts something. Clearly annoyed he tells the man, that he is running the damn show. To be honest, I don't know what's running Elvis today.

The ballad "My Boy" is sung very well. The king's voice sounds better now and he injects the right amount of energy and feeling. Afterwards Elvis praizes Charlie Hodge for his harmony vocals and also mentiones their long-lasting friendship.

Elvis presents "I Can't Stop Loving You" with power, at the end he toys around with the word "yesterday". After a loud response from the audience, the king jokingly says "Thanks for the polite applause".

On a night like this nobody can expect a serious rendition of "An American Trilogy". When the choir sings "I wish I was in Dixie", Elvis claims, that he wished that, too. Later he also turns Dixiland into Disneyland. However, the second part of the song is sung in a straight and impressive way.

A somewhat tired "A Big Hunk O' Love" follows. Afterwards Elvis comes back to "An American Trilogy" and holds a little speach. "The guy that plays the flute solo, Jimmy Mulidore, he's played it 144 times and never missed it once. Fantastic Jimmy. The trumpet players, they have actually split their lips from blowing so hard, really. We kid a lot, and have a lot of fun, but we really love to sing and play music and entertain people. That's the name of the game. As long as I can do that, I'll be a happy old sonofabitch!"

Elvis continues with the power-ballad "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face". He sings with a lot of emotion and once again his voice is sounding much better than earlier tonight. Then he thanks the management of the Hilton for giving him the gold chain, that he is wearing tonight. But then something surreal happens. All of a sudden he starts telling off the administration of the resort for dismissing a waiter named Mario! What the hell is going on in Elvis' brain?!? 

The angry mood leads to a powerful rendition of "Mystery Train". Before he segues into "Tiger Man" the king says "I'd like to dedicate this next song to the hierachy and the staff of the Hilton Hotel" and continues with "I'm the king of the jungle...". Of course the audience loves all that jazz, but Colonel Parker certainly knows, that he will have a lot to explain. 

Maybe to calm things down Elvis decides to sing the gospel hymn "How Great Thou Art". It's a very sincere performance and due to the enthusiastic reaction of the audience, the king even gives an encore.

From his previous years' longplayer "Elvis Now" the king performs the country ballad "Help Me Make It Through The Night". He jokes around here and there, but doesn't forget to sing.

Now Elvis sits down on a chair and performs "Softly As I Leave You". Well, he actually whispers it in over-dramatic fashion. Nobody knows, what this is all about, maybe except Elvis himselvis.

As usual the king ends the show with "Can't Help Falling In Love". When the "Closing Riff" chimes, Lamar Fike appears again. Elvis jumps on his back and is carried off the stage. But he soon returns, hands out another few scarfs and shakes some hands. Suddenly he runs through the curtain and disappears. The "Elvis Summer Festival 1973" is over.