Last Train to Seattle: Elvis in the Jet City
Had a bloated, doped-up Elvis not died on his bathroom’s shag carpet, gold pajama bottoms around his ankles, face-down in his own vomit, he would’ve turned 71 this Sunday. Though Seattle is a long way from Graceland, the King rolled through town during each of his three distinct career phases: ‘50s rock ‘n’ roller, ’60 movie star, and ‘70s touring machine.
His first Seattle appearance took place on September 1, 1957 at the old Sick’s Stadium. Following an afternoon concert at Tacoma’s Lincoln Bowl, Elvis played a 45-minute evening show before a crowd of 16,200, comprised mostly of screaming girls.
After his Army stint, Elvis spent much of the next decade starring in breezy cornball musicals, including the shot-in-Seattle It Happened at the World’s Fair. “The Space Needle rocks and the monorail rolls in an eye-popping riot of explosive hilarity,” boasts the trailer. The hilarity is thin, but the vivid, colorful footage of 1962 Seattle indeed pops eyes. (As recently mentioned, an unofficial, behind-the-scenes DVD is now available too.) As for Elvis, his performance was only a bit more enthused than how he appeared when then-Washington Governor Rossellini presented him with a ham.
Mr. Presley returned to the former World’s Fair site to play a few more concerts in the ‘70s. Thanks to these two fan sites, we can read set lists from these shows and marvel at his fabulous jumpsuits. For instance, during his November 12, 1970 concert at the Coliseum (now the Key Arena), we see him decked out in a white fringe suit and green macramé belt. At two April 29, 1973 concerts at the smaller Seattle Center Arena (now the unused Mercer Arts Arena), he wore the “Blue Swirl” suit for the afternoon show, and for the evening show, his “Egyptian Pharao [sic] suit” with “Red Flower suit belt.” Controversy surrounds his final Seattle appearance, an April 26, 1976 concert back at the Coliseum: Here it says he wore his “White Prehistoric Bird suit,” but here it says he wore his “Aztec (Dark Blue) Suit.”
In any case, he’d be dead within 16 months (we were eight years old when we heard the news on the car radio). Fifteen years later, the USPS let the public vote on which Elvis would grace a commemorative stamp -- the young, svelte, “Hound Dog” Elvis, or the old, fat, “Burning Love” Elvis. We chose the latter, ‘cause that’s the only Elvis we knew.
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