It’s the 50th anniversary of Elvis Presley’s first concert in Macon. A look back
It’s been 50 years since Elvis Presley first performed in Macon.
The performance was on his fifth tour of the 1970s, but was the first one to include Macon.
Elvis didn’t normally play in markets as small as Macon. “You only had 10,000 seats. That wasn’t even one show in Vegas for Elvis to play,” said Jim Lavery on the Middle GA Podcast. His father managed a local venue and used his connections to get Macon on the tour. Tickets to the 2:30 p.m. matinee and 8:30 p.m. evening show sold for $15, $12.50 and $10.
“You know there was no promotion needed. Everything was sold out ahead of time,” Lavery said.
For the first leg of the tour, Elvis traveled to 15 cities in 15 days, performing at least one concert at each stop. He often had two shows, performing matinees and evening shows like he did in Macon. The Macon Coliseum was night 11 of the tour. He performed two sold-out shows.
Between the shows, Elvis stayed at the Macon Hilton and Lavery pitched in with the security team to take Elvis from hotel to venue. He also got to help out backstage and was impressed by Elvis’ generosity. “Elvis was always good to everybody,” he said. “He was the first to feed everybody.” Elvis had a catered spread for the band and production crew.
Elvis started the 22-song playlist with “See, See Rider” and ended the night with the dreamy ballad, “Can’t Help Falling in Love.” The set list included “Never Been to Spain,” “Polk Salad Annie,” “All Shook Up,” and “Love Me Tender.”
Nearly 20 years of performing did not slow the then 37 year old down.
In 1972, Elvis performed in 165 concerts, 57 of them in Las Vegas before his national tour started in Buffalo, New York, according to Scott Jenkins, an Elvis fan who has researched all things Elvis for five decades. In the 1972 documentary, “Elvis on Tour,” he explained how seriously he took every performance.
“I’ve never gotten over what they call stage fright. I go through it every show,” Elvis said. “I never get completely comfortable with it and l don’t let the people with me get comfortable with it in that I remind them it’s a new crowd out there, it’s a new audience. They haven’t seen this before so it’s got to be like the first time we went on. I’ve got to please the crowd.”
Elaine Greene attended the concert with family friends.
“I just remember how excited we were, the fact that Elvis was coming to Macon and that we were going to get a chance to see him,” she told the Middle GA Podcast. She purchased a $10 ticket for the 15th row. Greene says she can still hear the music and recall how exciting the experience was. Her pregnant friend stood in her seat for the show and they screamed and danced all night.
“I don’t think there’s ever been a performer like him.”
This story was originally published April 20, 2022 at 6:50 AM.
