Here’s a brief account from a Vancouver history page…August 31, 1957: Elvis Presley performed one song at a packed Empire Stadium, left the stage when fans begin to battle with police. He returned to sing four more songs, none of which could be heard over the screaming. The next day, Presley's manager, Colonel Tom Parker, happily read aloud to the media a local newspaper account of the riot.
The concert was cut short because of fans rushing the stage. The critics were not yet at a point of appreciating Rock & Roll music. Vancouver Province music critic Ida Halpern wrote that Elvis's performance was "an artificial and unhealthy exploitation of the enthusiasm of youth's body and mind . . . One could call it subsidized sex."
Tonight at the PNE they are having an "Elvis Concert" to commemorate the ocassion. There will be Elvis impersonators, the orignal MC, Red Robinson, and some Elvis friends to share memories. Should be fun!
I was in Fayetteville, Arkansas at the time, still enjoying the peace and security of Mom’s belly! Still 5 weeks from launch date! Little did I know what wild things were going on in the world into which I was about to arrive!!
Pushing 50… Rob; in Vancouver
“We were caught up in the crowd that jumped the wall and ran on to the field with thousands of other screaming, out-of-control fans.” Sharon Jones
1 comment:
That is a really cool piece of history about Elvis and yourself!
But 50 is a lot younger now than it was before the explosion on science and technology! Thank Goodness :)
The Launching of Sputnik on Oct. 4 1957 spurred the US into hypersteller overdrive trying to catch up to their Soviet counter part. They did so by increasing funding to, an otherwise elite reserved subject, science.
a tid-bit of my own
Love Robyn
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