On March 3, 1974 Elvis was booked for two appearances at the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo in Houston/Texas. Even though The Astrodome was a (for the time) gigantic venue, the space was needed for the livestock show, rodeos and chuck wagon races. So Elvis and his group had to perform on a very small stage, which was pulled into the stadium (with all musicians in place) while the previous show was running. Due to the limited size the king had to do without the orchestra. The man himself was driven to the stage in a red jeep while the band played the "Opening Riff". After the show was over the vehicle also drove him out of the building. The 2:00 pm concert, during which Elvis wore the "Nail Mirrored Suit", was seen by 43,974 people and broke the attendance record for the facility set by himself in 1970. However, this new record just lasted for a few hours since the 7:00 pm appearance drew a crowd of 44,175 people. And this is the show we are being offered here.

Of course Sony Music Entertainment, the legal owner of the recording, already had released it via their own collector's label Follow That Dream Records. In 2023 it appeared on the tripple disc "Elvis: Houston - Fort Worth - Baton Rouge 1974". However, since the copyright runs out in Europe 50 years after a recording has been made, the Memphis Recording Service was free to use it from 2025 onwards. In April of this very year they put it on an album called "Elvis Live At The Houston Astrodome 1974". As usual the compact disc is housed in a small hardcover book of 36 pages, which deals with the occasion and also offers some nice photos. The original mono recording was beefed up with MRS' digitally extracted stereo remix and now almost sounds like a professional multi track recording. Replay it through a surround system in Arena Mode and you really feel like being there! The Memphis Recording Service released the album on compact disc and vinyl. 

While the band plays the "Opening Riff" Elvis is driven to the stage in a jeep. He's wearing the "Orange Target Suit", a costume made a year ago and appearing to be a little too tight by now. The engineer starts the recording equipment after the singer has climed on stage and received his guitar. "See See Rider" is presented in energetic style, everyone is running at full throttle. Referring to the festival-styled show, Elvis jokingly greets the crowd with "Good evening, I am event number eight".

Now Elvis sings the word "well" in various pitches and announces "That's about it, folks". Then he segues into a fine rendition of the Ray Charles tune. Of course JD Sumner shows off his bass voice at the end of "Amen", but it's kept short and Elvis quickly returns to "I Got A Woman" and gives his guitar back to Charlie Hodge.

The king welcomes the audience once more and sings "Love Me". Because the fans are far away, he cannot give away scarfs and fool around with the ladies. So it's a focused and straight performance.

Up next is the SUN classic "Trying To Get To You". Elvis makes full use of his voice and belts out the chorus in impressive style. The song also wins due to the absence of the orchestra. Sometimes less is more.

Without a bunch of females to fool around with the king really puts effort in his performance. Certainly this is one of his best renditions of "All Shook Up" from the final phase of his career.

Once again the performance wins due to the lack of fans near the stage. Elvis is forced to focus on the song and delivers a short, but really nice rendition of the old movie tune.

"Go down to Louisiana" says Elvis and James Burton plays the intro of "Johnny B. Goode". Once again the king puts a lot more energy into the song than usual, it's far better than his performance on the "Aloha" soundtrack.

Elvis yells "You ain't...we ain't...your ain't" and segues into "Hound Dog". Once again he puts more effort into the presentation as usual, but still he just repeats the same four lines over and over again. After "Johnny B. Goode" this is nothing but a letdown.

During "Fever" we actually can hear the audience. Even though the crowd is far away, the microphones of the singers catch their uproar every time Elvis moves his legs.

Without Joe Guercio's brass section "Polk Salad Annie" sounds vastly different from the usual concert versions. It's simpler and more punchy. Elvis works hard, sings with a lot of power and obviously moves a lot during the finale.

Audibly out of breath the king asks his bass singer, Mr. JD Sumner, to sing the gospel "Why Me Lord". Elvis himself joins The Stamps during the chorus.

Just like "Polk Salad Annie", this song always featured the brass section of the orchestra. And once again it's surprising, how well the song works without it. The band works hard, Ronnie Tutt beats his drums like a maniac and Elvis himself also works up some sweat.

To catch his breath the king takes a minute or two to introduce the band and harmony singers.

Elvis asks "You know, what I can't stop doing?" and segues into "I Can't Stop Loving You". This time I miss the orchestra's brass section, but of course the song also works without it. The king delivers a great performance, he obviously loves this tune.

Now he announces to sing a new song and hopes, the audience likes it. Then he presents an emotional and heartfelt rendition of "Help Me", the b-side of his forthcoming single "If You Talk In Your Sleep".

Elvis stays with religious material and performs the gospel hymn "How Great Thou Art". This is another interesting performance, because the second part of the song features the orchestra in grand style. But astonishingly the band and the harmony singers are enough to carry the hymn. It's an impressive performance by any means and Elvis even offers a short reprise.

This is another new song, but Elvis doesn't mention it. It's another fine rendition and the king seems to like country pop just as much as gospel music. Once again he offers an encore and repeats the last part of the tune.

Because the stadium is lit up anyway the king simply starts to sing "Funny How Time Slips Away". There are no fans to fool around with either, so he focuses on the country ballad and sings it very well.

Elvis takes some time to say goodbye. He thanks the management of the rodeo for inviting him and thanks the people for coming out to see the show despite the energy crises. He also mentions, that this is the biggest audience he's ever played to and that he's quite nervous. Then he segues into his usual closer "Can't Help Falling In Love", which also is performed in a more focused way due to the lack of screaming ladies in front of the stage. The band plays the "Closing Riff" and Elvis climbs into the jeep. He's driven through the arena, so that everyone gets a chance to see him once more before he leaves. This causes the musical piece to be a lot longer than usual, so the band picks up the melody of "See See Rider" and jams a little.