While Elvis performed his "Pre-Holiday Jubilee" in Vegas, the press announced a special New Years Eve show at the Metropolitan Stadium in Pontiac/Michigan. The front row tickets were sold at $15, the other seats were available for $11.50 and $6. There were also special tickets for $25, which included a New Years Eve party after the concert. At first all available seats went on sale, but after a few days it was announced, that the upper ranks were closed due to the bad view. Finally 62,500 tickets went on sale and all of them were picked up by the fans. The show grossed 800,000 USD, after all costs were paid half of it went straight into the pockets of Presley and Parker.
Musicians
James Burton (guitar), John Wilkinson (guitar), Charlie Hodge (guitar and harmony vocals), Jerry Scheff (bass), Ronnie Tutt (drums), Glen D. Hardin (piano), David Briggs (keyboard) 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 (Larry Strickland, Ed Hill, Ed Enoch & Ron Booth) as well as Kathy Westmoreland and Sherrill Nielsen.
About The Show
The Pontiac Metropolitan Stadium was opened on August 23, 1975 and was the biggest stadium of the National Football League. First it was the home of the Detroit Lions (NFL), later the Detroit Pistons (NBA) and the Detroit Express (NASL) were added. The stadium was used for sport and concert events. The first one was a show by The Who on December 6, 1975, which attracted 75,962 people. In total the venue offered 82,000 seats.
Originally all seats went on sale for the Presley show, but when the demand for tickets stagnated at the mark of 60,000, Colonel Parker closed the upper ranks and explained, that these seats were too far away from the stage to enjoy the show. Finally 62,500 tickets were offered and sold. To announce some kind of record, the manager told the press, that this was the largest audience a solo artist ever attracted in an indoor-arena. It's all a matter of definition. However, the payment was a record. At the time nobody had ever received 800,000 USD for a single concert. Elvis performed on a special stage, six meters above the ground. The musicians were placed on a separate level, below the main attraction. The king entered the stage through a tunnel, which was built to separate him from the audience. The weather turned out to be a problem, because it was nearly impossible to remove the masses of snow from the vast parking lot. Besides that, it was extremely cold inside of the building. It had been calculated, that the presence of 60,000 people would heat up the air in the stadium to 16 degrees Celsius. Unfortunately this calculation was disproven and the audience and musicians froze badly. Besides that, the instruments got out of tune because of the coldness. Shortly before the show began, there was a death thread against Elvis. The police soon caught a 19yo man, who carried a pistol and was on the way to the stadium. Because the king didn't want to perform longer than usual, the pre-show was stretched to the limit. Besides the usual line up of The Sweet Inspirations, The Stamps and Jackie Kahane, Colonel Parker added the bands Freedom and Bodie Mountain Express. Elvis' part of the program was hampered by the construction of the stage. Because the musicians were placed on a separate level, the communication between the band and the lead vocalist didn't work, which lead to several mistakes. On top of it Elvis split the seam of his pants and had to change the outfit in mid-show. In public he kept smiling, but on the flight back to Memphis he exploded in anger.
Audio
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