Las Vegas Audiences...

[Justin]

I've always wondered about the Las Vegas audiences that watched Elvis during those years....what was the audience mainly made up of? Mostly women? Very little men?

I think about if I was around during that time...geez, I'd probably see Elvis as many times as I could each time he was there. Maybe catch one or two shows a week for that month. Would people do that? Would the audience be mostly mega fans that practically stayed in showroom for the whole night? Were they locals? What was the percentage of out-of-state/country audience members?

Sorry for the flood of questions but it's a very interesting element to the live shows, I think....

[Ben]

i have read somewhere that during some 'bad' shows the non Elvis fanatics walked out and went to play the casino so i think it was sorta half and half fans and the other half just tourists.

maybe someone else can answer this better

good questions BTW

[Suspicious Minds]

Going by That's The Way It Is. It looked like the husbands was jealous.

[Liverbobs]

Also in some Vegas recordings you can hear the clink of cutlery and people talking whilst Elvis was singing, no wonder he grew to hate the place.

[Joe Car]

I think his attendance records that he owns, pretty much answer how the audiences from Vegas like him! There were a lot of times that his performing their, carried that town, especially during the slow periods.

[Little Darlin]

I've always wondered about the Las Vegas audiences that watched Elvis during those years....what was the audience mainly made up of? Mostly women? Very little men?

I think about if I was around during that time...geez, I'd probably see Elvis as many times as I could each time he was there. Maybe catch one or two shows a week for that month. Would people do that? Would the audience be mostly mega fans that practically stayed in showroom for the whole night? Were they locals? What was the percentage of out-of-state/country audience members?

Sorry for the flood of questions but it's a very interesting element to the live shows, I think....

I would say it was mostly married couples - the gent's used to take their wives to keep them sweet I bet, - I wonder how many woman went home and dreamt their Husbands were Elvis after seeing the show . After that I would say mostly young woman as a group of friends - a bit like a girlie's night out.

[Robert]

Las Vegas never carried a true concert atmosphere.

I hate the polite clapping as if people were visiting some kind of opera;)
Elvis hated the glass noise and all while singing his guts out.

That's why I always prefer on tour shows.. the real thing!
True fans did visit LV, in fact from all over the world.
Great part however were tourists who were lucky to see Elvis in person.
People walking out could very well have been Joe Public as mentioned.

Las Vegas audience members in general were people with lots of $$$ for sure.
In other words... many ordinary fans could probably not afford to see the King in Las Vegas..

"I hate Las Vegas"--Elvis Presley,1976.

[KiwiAlan]

[quote="IMETJB"]I've always wondered about the Las Vegas audiences that watched Elvis during those years....what was the audience mainly made up of? Mostly women? Very little men?

quote]

There were not many very little men as they had trouble seeing past the "cillia stlyle hair on the womenf

[ColinB]

I've always wondered about the Las Vegas audiences that watched Elvis during those years....what was the audience mainly made up of?
Mostly women?
Very little men?

There were not many very little men as they had trouble seeing past the "cillia style hair on the women

But remember, members of the Charlie Hodge Appreciation Society used to make an annual pilgrimage to see their hero in action.

[Justin]

Thanks for the info---very interesting.

Were there any groupy fans that watched numerous shows a week? There had to be at least one fan that would boast about how many times she saw Elvis or something....

[Barbie]

Hi - I was at the Vegas shows from '69 - Feb.70 and Sept.70 (we went to Tahoe after that as it's closer to our home)- when we went we barely had the $ to get there from Canada! In fact, in 69 my husband & I came home with 15 cents...........I think we borrowed other people's ID's and travelled youth fare - really cheap!!! (no passport needed in those days!! However, we managed with our funds as we shared rooms with at least 6-8 girls and then we had the $ to pay for the $15 Dinner (Steak & whatever!!)show and the $10 (with 3 drinks!!) Midnite Show................Can you believe it seeing Elvis for that amount????!!!!!!!!! A girlfriend of mine went in Feb.70 and Aug/Sept/70 and she had more $ that I did and paid the tips.............so we got seats on the sides of the stage (hey, Elvis knew where the REAL fans where!!!) not those high rollers in the centre stage seats!!! One time I got booted out of the showroom because I didn't tip the creeps.......he took us down 1/2 way and I said that wasn't good enough so he took me down to the right side of the stage and I just sat down (another friend never accompanied me as she was scared)...........WELL 2 min. later he had some security with him and they escorted me out of the showroom.........I called him a few names as creepy was exiting me !!!.........so I went right to Tom Diskin (a really sweet guy!) and he got me a front row seat in the balcony (by that time the 1st floor of the showroom was filled) and paid my show...............anyway when the true fans went down to see Elvis they watched the dinner and the midnite shows..............it was true Elvis heaven then!!!!!!! Seeing Elvis in his absolute prime and SO close you could see the sweat on his body.....ruff!!!!............my god those times are embedded in my brain and I wish I could pass on all my prescious memories onto the great fans that never got to see him in person!!!!.................I'll never forget the way he looked, sang and moved!!!!................I always preferred to see Elvis in the showrooms as it was so up close and personal..............when you saw him in the larger venues sure there was electricity in the air with thousands of fans shouting and screaming but don't forget if you didn't have a great seat he was just a little guy there on the stage (this was the days before the BIG screens).........I have lots of great memories from those shows too but the showrooms were my favourite venue.
Sure I guess there were a lot of tourists there in the showrooms too but I talked with a lot of people and true fans around me who were there just dying to see Elvis live and in person................

[Joe Car]

Hi - I was at the Vegas shows from '69 - Feb.70 and Sept.70 (we went to Tahoe after that as it's closer to our home)- when we went we barely had the $ to get there from Canada! In fact, in 69 my husband & I came home with 15 cents...........I think we borrowed other people's ID's and travelled youth fare - really cheap!!! (no passport needed in those days!! However, we managed with our funds as we shared rooms with at least 6-8 girls and then we had the $ to pay for the $15 Dinner (Steak & whatever!!)show and the $10 (with 3 drinks!!) Midnite Show................Can you believe it seeing Elvis for that amount????!!!!!!!!! A girlfriend of mine went in Feb.70 and Aug/Sept/70 and she had more $ that I did and paid the tips.............so we got seats on the sides of the stage (hey, Elvis knew where the REAL fans where!!!) not those high rollers in the centre stage seats!!! One time I got booted out of the showroom because I didn't tip the creeps.......he took us down 1/2 way and I said that wasn't good enough so he took me down to the right side of the stage and I just sat down (another friend never accompanied me as she was scared)...........WELL 2 min. later he had some security with him and they escorted me out of the showroom.........I called him a few names as creepy was exiting me !!!.........so I went right to Tom Diskin (a really sweet guy!) and he got me a front row seat in the balcony (by that time the 1st floor of the showroom was filled) and paid my show...............anyway when the true fans went down to see Elvis they watched the dinner and the midnite shows..............it was true Elvis heaven then!!!!!!! Seeing Elvis in his absolute prime and SO close you could see the sweat on his body.....ruff!!!!............my god those times are embedded in my brain and I wish I could pass on all my prescious memories onto the great fans that never got to see him in person!!!!.................I'll never forget the way he looked, sang and moved!!!!................I always preferred to see Elvis in the showrooms as it was so up close and personal..............when you saw him in the larger venues sure there was electricity in the air with thousands of fans shouting and screaming but don't forget if you didn't have a great seat he was just a little guy there on the stage (this was the days before the BIG screens).........I have lots of great memories from those shows too but the showrooms were my favourite venue.
Sure I guess there were a lot of tourists there in the showrooms too but I talked with a lot of people and true fans around me who were there just dying to see Elvis live and in person................

Great stuff, thanks Barbie!

[Ben]

Hi - I was at the Vegas shows from '69 - Feb.70 and Sept.70 (we went to Tahoe after that as it's closer to our home)- when we went we barely had the $ to get there from Canada! In fact, in 69 my husband & I came home with 15 cents...........I think we borrowed other people's ID's and traveled youth fare - really cheap!!! (no passport needed in those days!! However, we managed with our funds as we shared rooms with at least 6-8 girls and then we had the $ to pay for the $15 Dinner (Steak & whatever!!)show and the $10 (with 3 drinks!!) Midnite Show................Can you believe it seeing Elvis for that amount????!!!!!!!!! A girlfriend of mine went in Feb.70 and Aug/Sept/70 and she had more $ that I did and paid the tips.............so we got seats on the sides of the stage (hey, Elvis knew where the REAL fans where!!!) not those high rollers in the center stage seats!!! One time I got booted out of the showroom because I didn't tip the creeps.......he took us down 1/2 way and I said that wasn't good enough so he took me down to the right side of the stage and I just sat down (another friend never accompanied me as she was scared)...........WELL 2 min. later he had some security with him and they escorted me out of the showroom.........I called him a few names as creepy was exiting me !!!.........so I went right to Tom Diskin (a really sweet guy!) and he got me a front row seat in the balcony (by that time the 1st floor of the showroom was filled) and paid my show...............anyway when the true fans went down to see Elvis they watched the dinner and the midnite shows..............it was true Elvis heaven then!!!!!!! Seeing Elvis in his absolute prime and SO close you could see the sweat on his body.....ruff!!!!............my god those times are embedded in my brain and I wish I could pass on all my precious memories onto the great fans that never got to see him in person!!!!.................I'll never forget the way he looked, sang and moved!!!!................I always preferred to see Elvis in the showrooms as it was so up close and personal..............when you saw him in the larger venues sure there was electricity in the air with thousands of fans shouting and screaming but don't forget if you didn't have a great seat he was just a little guy there on the stage (this was the days before the BIG screens).........I have lots of great memories from those shows too but the showrooms were my favorite venue.
Sure I guess there were a lot of tourists there in the showrooms too but I talked with a lot of people and true fans around me who were there just dying to see Elvis live and in person................

THANK YOU Barb, reading your memories is one of the most interesting on the web, i wish you would share your memories more often and talk a little about the shows you attended i love reading about people seeing him live, especially in his prime. please post more on the shows you attended.

thanks
Ben

[Little Darlin]

Hi - I was at the Vegas shows from '69 - Feb.70 and Sept.70 (we went to Tahoe after that as it's closer to our home)- when we went we barely had the $ to get there from Canada! In fact, in 69 my husband & I came home with 15 cents...........I think we borrowed other people's ID's and travelled youth fare - really cheap!!! (no passport needed in those days!! However, we managed with our funds as we shared rooms with at least 6-8 girls and then we had the $ to pay for the $15 Dinner (Steak & whatever!!)show and the $10 (with 3 drinks!!) Midnite Show................Can you believe it seeing Elvis for that amount????!!!!!!!!! A girlfriend of mine went in Feb.70 and Aug/Sept/70 and she had more $ that I did and paid the tips.............so we got seats on the sides of the stage (hey, Elvis knew where the REAL fans where!!!) not those high rollers in the centre stage seats!!! One time I got booted out of the showroom because I didn't tip the creeps.......he took us down 1/2 way and I said that wasn't good enough so he took me down to the right side of the stage and I just sat down (another friend never accompanied me as she was scared)...........WELL 2 min. later he had some security with him and they escorted me out of the showroom.........I called him a few names as creepy was exiting me !!!.........so I went right to Tom Diskin (a really sweet guy!) and he got me a front row seat in the balcony (by that time the 1st floor of the showroom was filled) and paid my show...............anyway when the true fans went down to see Elvis they watched the dinner and the midnite shows..............it was true Elvis heaven then!!!!!!! Seeing Elvis in his absolute prime and SO close you could see the sweat on his body.....ruff!!!!............my god those times are embedded in my brain and I wish I could pass on all my prescious memories onto the great fans that never got to see him in person!!!!.................I'll never forget the way he looked, sang and moved!!!!................I always preferred to see Elvis in the showrooms as it was so up close and personal..............when you saw him in the larger venues sure there was electricity in the air with thousands of fans shouting and screaming but don't forget if you didn't have a great seat he was just a little guy there on the stage (this was the days before the BIG screens).........I have lots of great memories from those shows too but the showrooms were my favourite venue.
Sure I guess there were a lot of tourists there in the showrooms too but I talked with a lot of people and true fans around me who were there just dying to see Elvis live and in person................

Barbie - your wonderful stories should become a permanent fixture on FECC. Thanks for sharing with us.

[Ben]

Barbie - your wonderful stories should become a permanent fixture on FECC. Thanks for sharing with us.

True LD, her stories and memories are the best

[Barbie]

Thanks everyone...........those were the best days of my life! Seeing Elvis live was so very special and we old fans from the 50's did anything we possibly could to get down to the States to see him..............in July '71 I drove all day and night to see him in Tahoe.............we could only see 1 show as I only had the weekend off................but there's a great memory of that fantastic show floating around on bootlegs (Aug.1, 1971) - I lent that tape out and now it's been released twice..................you can tell by our screams and hollering seeing Elvis live made us real happy!!!!!. Wow those really were the good old days....................

[Ben]

Thanks everyone...........those were the best days of my life! Seeing Elvis live was so very special and we old fans from the 50's did anything we possibly could to get down to the States to see him..............in July '71 I drove all day and night to see him in Tahoe.............we could only see 1 show as I only had the weekend off................but there's a great memory of that fantastic show floating around on bootlegs (Aug.1, 1971) - I lent that tape out and now it's been released twice..................you can tell by our screams and hollering seeing Elvis live made us real happy!!!!!. Wow those really were the good old days....................

yes, that is one of my favorite shows ever!! do you still have the original tapes to all 30(i think thats how many you saw??) shows you attended and are we going to be able to hear the great sounding concerts that you recorded anytime??(yn)

thanks for recording the shows they are great