On July 11th and 12th 1975 Elvis had given three concerts in Charleston/West Virginia and all of them had been sold out. Therefore he returned on July 24th of the following year for another pair of personal appearances. As expected the local Civic Center once again was sold out with 8,500 people attending each show. The first one took place at 2:30 pm, the second one at 8:30 pm. Combined they generated a box office of 206,052 USD. In the afternoon Elvis wore the "Blue Egyptian Bird Suit", which you can see on the cover of the album. For the evening show he chose the white edition of the outfit. On this cd we hear the afternoon show, which was the second concert of the tour.

After the pre-show the lights are dimmed and the orchestra launches into "Also Sprach Zarathustra". Then the band takes over with the "Opening Riff" and Elvis appears on stage. Compared to his previous visit his hair and his sideburns are longer and he's obviously gained a few pounds. As usual the king collects his guitar from Charlie and walks over to the mike at the center of the stage.

His performance of the standard opener is a good one, even though not as powerfull as in 1975.

Now the star thanks the audience for the applause and says "balder gel", which might be an inside joke. Thankfully the game with the word "well" is cut short and JD Sumner is limited to showing off his bass-voice once. The medley of "I Got A Woman" and "Amen" is done well, during the gospel Elvis asks the fans to sing-along. Of course the king demonstrates a few of his famous moves and claims to do so to wake everything up. After a reprise of the Ray Charles song he throws his guitar back to Mr. Hodge and wishes the crowd a good afternoon. Elvis also complains about the lights shining directly in his eyes, which might have been corrected if he had bothered to do a sound and stage check before the show.

While the uptempo songs worked well, the slower "Love Me" displays some vocal troubles. When he has to hold the notes for a while, his voice sounds shaky and a bit hoarse.

Compared to his last concerts here the country pop is presented with less zest. Elvis obviously still likes the tune, but somehow he lacks power. He also doesn't hit every note.

During the dramatic power ballad Elvis makes a reference to the blinding spotlights and jokingly changes the lyrics to "blamed for the loss of my sight". The performance is delivered with power and emotion, but once again the king cannot hide his vocal problems.

Now the singer announces a medley of his hits. Ironically he assures a screaming lady, that he loves her and adds "I can't see you, but I love you anyway". It's always good to see a living legend not taking his image too seriously. "All Shook Up" is delivered in fast and routine fashion. With Elvis singing with less energy his voice sounds a bit whining and nasal.

The same applies here. In general it's a routine, business-like presentation, but his vocals are a bit rough. Of course the fans don't care, because Elvis hands out scarfs by the dozen.

With "And I Love You So" the king offers one of the highlights from his previous years' album "Elvis Today". The slow song once again discloses the singer's vocal troubles, he obviously has problems to control his vibrato when he has to hold the notes for a longer time.

The fast "Jailhouse Rock" comes accross much better, even though Elvis messes up the lyrics and sings pure drivel at times. Nevertheless it's fun and the audience enthusiastically claps along.

Elvis continues with "Fever", another beloved oldie. Just like he did during the famous "Aloha From Hawaii Via Satellite" show three years ago, he cleverly moves his legs and drives the ladies wild. Even though he has gained a lot (!) of weight since the television event, the trick still works and mature women suddenly scream like teenagers.

Because of the 200th anniversary of the USA Elvis performs "America (The Beautiful)". Once again he has trouble holding or even hitting some of the notes, but he makes up for it by an emotional and sensitive presentation as well as a thunderous finale.

In the background Charlie Hodge cues the next song on the list, but Elvis says "No Polk Salad". Maybe he wants to shorten the show because he has another one to do today. After joking a bit with Charlie and intoning "Farther Along", the king introduces his band. Everyone plays a solo, Elvis himself just accompanies "Early Morning Rain" and "Love Letters". The latter one is presented painfully slow and the king's vocals are a travesty of his great 1966 studio recording. James Burton does a little trick, plays the guitar on the back of his head (!) and still delivers "Johnny B. Goode" better than anyone else. Elvis mumbles along, which he shouldn't do. In total the musicians are amazing and talented people, but the "Introductions" are way too long and eat up a quarter of the king's time on stage.

Jokingly Elvis announces "We have a new record out, ladies and gentlemen, which I'd like to sing for you at this m-o-m-e-n-t". It's a powerful rendition and the king even reprises the ending. But once again he's not in full control of his voice when he has to hold the notes for a longer time. Nevertheless the belted-out finale is impressive and the audience rightfully loves it.

Now the king asks for the houselights to be turned on to take a look at the audience and once again says "balder-gel". When he discovers an "Elvis For President" sign, he says "Are you kidding? I can't handle this". Unfortunately Elvis also can't handle the country ballad, because once again the slow song puts the focus on his vocal problems. When he sings "Never know when I'll be back in town" the king jokingly makes a reference to the evening concert and adds "tonight, you fool".

Elvis says goodbye and tells the people, that he'd be glad to return to Charleston. He also once again acknowledges the following evening show. Has he really left out "Hound Dog"? It's certainly nothing to be missed, but it's something he sings in each and every show. Maybe he really needs to pace himself. Right in the middle of "Can't Help Falling In Love" the electricity suddenly goes off and everything comes to a halt. As the power is back (and the recording is continued) Elvis re-starts the closing song, obviously amused by the situation. As usual the band segues into the "Closing Riff", the king takes a bow or two and leaves the stage.