The summer tour of 1974 ran from June 15th to July 2nd and included 25 shows. The demand for tickets was so huge, that Colonel Parker staged additional concerts in several cities. The fans from Omaha/Nebraska even sent a petition with 13,000 signatures for a concert in their city. Parker obliged and booked the local Civic Auditorium. The tickets sold like a wildfire and so a matinee was announced. It sold out, too, and the venue was also booked for the following day. Still the request for tickets surpassed the capacity of the arena by far. Finally Elvis ended up with four shows in two days and was seen by more than 40,000 fans from the Omaha area. In total the tour generated more than three million USD, whereof 65% landed in the pockets of Presley and Parker. After all expenses were paid, a whopping million was left to be split between the two men.
Tour Stations
06/15/1974: Fort Worth, Texas; Tarrant County
Conv. Center (28.000 spectators, 2 shows)
06/16/1974: Fort Worth, Texas; Tarrant County
Conv. Center (28.000 spectators, 2 shows)
06/17/1974: Baton Rouge, Louisiana; Louisiana
State University (15.000 spectators)
06/18/1974: Baton Rouge, Louisiana; Louisiana
State Univerity (15.000 spectators)
06/19/1974: Amarillo, Texas; Civic Center
(11.000 spectators)
06/20/1974: Des Moines,
Iowa; Veterans Memorial Auditorium (11.000
spectators)
06/21/1974: Cleveland, Ohio;
Public Hall (10.000 spectators)
06/22/1974:
Providence, Rhode Island; Civic Center (26.226
spectators, 2 shows)
06/23/1974:
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; The Spectrum (38.000
spectators, 2 shows)
06/24/1974: Niagara
Falls, New York; Convention Center (23.000
spectators, 2 shows)
06/25/1974: Columbus,
Ohio; St. John's Arena (13.500 spectators)
06/26/1974: Louisville, Kentucky; Freedom Hall
(20.000 spectators)
06/27/1974: Bloomington,
Indiana; Indiana University (16.000 spectators)
06/28/1974: Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Milwaukee
Arena (11.800 spectators)
06/29/1974: Kansas
City, Missouri; Municipal Auditorium (20.800
spectators, 2 shows)
06/30/1974: Omaha,
Nebraska; Omaha Civic Auditorium (20.557
spectators, 2 shows)
07/01/1974: Omaha,
Nebraska; Omaha Civic Auditorium (20.751
spectators, 2 shows)
07/02/1974: Salt Lake
City, Utah; Salt Palace (13.000 spectators)
Musicians
James Burton (guitar), John Wilkinson (guitar), Charlie Hodge (guitar and harmony vocals), Duke Bardwell (bass), Ronnie Tutt (drums), Glen D. Hardin (piano) and The Joe Guercio Orchestra. The harmony vocals were provided by The Sweet Inspirations (Myrna Smith, Sylvia Shemwell & Estelle Brown), J.D. Sumner & The Stamps (Bill Baize, Ed Enoch & Ed Hill), Voice (Donnie Sumner, Tim Baty & Sherrill Nielsen) as well as Kathy Westmoreland.
About The Tour
Elvis continued to wear his new, embroidered jumpsuits. This time he also added the matching belts, which had not been available in May yet. The names of these five outfits are "Peacock Suit", "Inca Gold Leaf Suit", "Blue Swirl Suit", "Turquoise Phoenix Suit" and "American Eagle Suit". The set list of the shows more or less mirrored the one of the previous concert trip. Compared to his appearance in March, Elvis had lost a few pounds and looked tanned and healthy. His voice was good and so was his mood. The king obviously enjoyed the shows and loved to joke with his band and the fans. As the tour went on, his attitude seemed to change. The banter between the songs took away some of the momentum and Elvis' singing became sloppy at times. Maybe he didn't feel the need to try really hard anymore, maybe it had become too easy to impress the fans. However, in general the king still delivered solid and entertaining shows.
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