On July 30, 1976 the king performed at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum in New Haven/Connecticut in front of 11,000 fans, who paid 100,000 USD to see their idol live in concert. A very good sounding mono recording of the event was released in 2009 by Follow That Dream Records. The digipak was designed with pictures from the show and short liner notes. As usual the label did without a digital release.

The pre-show and the break are over, the lights go down and the orchestra plays "Einleitung, Oder Sonnenaufgang" from Richard Strauss' "Also Sprach Zarathustra". Then the band takes over with the dynamic "Opening Riff" and Elvis appears on stage. He wears the "Blue Egyptian Bird Suit".

Charlie Hodge hands him his guitar and the king walks to the microphone in the center of the stage. Elvis tries to sound dynamic, but he lacks energy and his voice appears to be somewhat hoarse.

When the king wants to sing the word "well" in different pitches, the bad condition of the king's voice becomes obvious. He also misses several notes during "I Got A Woman". As usual he includes a bit of "Amen" and spoofs the moves of his early days. Finally he returns to "I Got A Woman", hands his guitar over to Charlie and welcomes the audience. Even though he can't hide his bad condition, he appears to be in a good mood.

Unfortunately a ballad emphasizes on the king's voice more than the uptempo tunes. But Elvis hands out scarfs and the fans don't listen to him anyway. Today the ladies are so wild, that the king asks them to be careful and promises to give away some more scarfs in the near future.

The first lines of the country-pop sound very weak. During the chorus Elvis almost sings softer than the harmony vocalists and at some point stops singing altogehter.

The king tries to belt out some lines, but in-between he gets out of breath and also misses several notes. 

The title seems to be an appropriate choice, but Sherrill Nielsen's strong and accurate harmony vocals just emphasize on the weakness of Elvis' voice. Once again he misses the notes big time and quits singing for a while.

Now Elvis announces the usual medley of hits and even makes a reference to his bad voice. A short communication with some fans is followed by a short version of "All Shook Up".

Within two minutes the king performs another two hits. The lack of care is compensated by a ton of scarfs, that he throws into the audience. 

I don't know, why Elvis doesn't leave this one out. A ballad like "And I Love You So" needs to be sung with accuracy and the ability to hold the notes long enough. Today he cannot hit or hold the notes, gets out of breath and stumbles upon the timing.

In contrast to the previous song, this hymn requires loud, belted-out vocals. Obviously this is easier for Elvis, compared to most previous performances this evening he handles "America, The Beautiful" surprisingly well and even repeats the finale.

Even though the arrangement has very little to do with the record released back in 1957, the king presents the classic with more care than "All Shook Up" or "Don't Be Cruel".

To take a look at the audience, Elvis has the lights switched on. Then he sings the country ballad "Funny, How Time Slips Away". He displays some self-irony by turning the line "I guess, I'm doin' fine" into "I guess, I'm goin' blind".

The introduction of the band, which by now lasts about 15 minutes, provides a break for the worn-out singer. Each and everyone is introduced by name, the members of his band even play a solo. Elvis sings "Early Morning Rain" and "Love Letters", but sounds just awful.

Even though his voice is in a sorry condition, the king performs the power-ballad "Hurt" twice. It works surprisingly well.

Elvis fools around with the intro and butchers the rock'n'roll classic in the usual way.

Once again the king communicates with some fans at the edge of the stage. He wants to say goodbye, but then decides otherwise and starts to sing "The Hawaiian Wedding Song". But his voice is not up to it and so it's just another sorry performance.

Elvis bows out with the usual "Can't Help Falling In Love". The band takes over with the "Closing Riff" and the king leaves the stage. Before the audience is released, the mc promotes the souveniers, that are sold in the lobby of the building.

Follow That Dream Records included a bonus track, recorded on August 1, 1976 in Hampton Roads. Elvis was about to start the "Introductions", when suddenly a fan yelled out a request for "Return To Sender". Even though the movie tune had been performed live just twice before, the king spontaneously started to sing the song. The band was quick on their feet and followed him. His voice still hadn't recovered, but nevertheless it's great to hear Elvis and the band jam along. By 1976 the spark was dim, but it wasn't gone.