Elvis Presley and the shows that never happened
Elvis Presley was due to start a twelve date tour the day after his death. He had already played 55 dates that year, and had cancelled 4 shows between 31st March and 3rd April when he was admitted to Baptist Memorial Hospital with symptoms of intestinal flu. These concerts were never rescheduled.
The August tour was scheduled to start on the 17th with two shows at the Cumberland County Civic Centre in Portland, Maine, a place that Elvis had never played before. The tour also included a show in Asheville where Elvis had cancelled a date on 30 May because he had been double booked. He instead played the Coliseum in Jackonsville on that date. The tour was to culminate at the end of the month with two homecoming shows at Mid-South Coliseum in Memphis. Tickets for that show were available for as little as $12.50 at the time, and now change hands for hundreds and thousands of dollars.
Full tour dates were
August 17, 1977 - Cumberland County Civic Center, Portland, Maine
August 18, 1977 - Cumberland County Civic Center, Portland, Maine
August 19, 1977 - Utica Memorial Auditorium, Utica, New York
August 20, 1977 - Onondaga County War Memorial, Syracuse, New York
August 21, 1977 - Civic Center, Hartford, Connecticut
August 22, 1977 - Nassau Veterans Coliseum, Uniondale, New York
August 23, 1977 - University Of Kentucky Rupp Arena, Lexington, Kentucky
August 24, 1977 - Roanoke Civic Center, Roanoke, Virginia
August 25, 1977 - Cumberland County Memorial Arena, Fayetteville, North Carolina
August 26, 1977 - Asheville Civic Center Arena, Asheville, North Carolina
August 27, 1977 - Mid-South Coliseum, Memphis, Tennessee
August 28, 1977 - Mid-South Coliseum, Memphis, Tennessee
This is the route the tour would have taken
The August tour was scheduled to start on the 17th with two shows at the Cumberland County Civic Centre in Portland, Maine, a place that Elvis had never played before. The tour also included a show in Asheville where Elvis had cancelled a date on 30 May because he had been double booked. He instead played the Coliseum in Jackonsville on that date. The tour was to culminate at the end of the month with two homecoming shows at Mid-South Coliseum in Memphis. Tickets for that show were available for as little as $12.50 at the time, and now change hands for hundreds and thousands of dollars.
Full tour dates were
August 17, 1977 - Cumberland County Civic Center, Portland, Maine
August 18, 1977 - Cumberland County Civic Center, Portland, Maine
August 19, 1977 - Utica Memorial Auditorium, Utica, New York
August 20, 1977 - Onondaga County War Memorial, Syracuse, New York
August 21, 1977 - Civic Center, Hartford, Connecticut
August 22, 1977 - Nassau Veterans Coliseum, Uniondale, New York
August 23, 1977 - University Of Kentucky Rupp Arena, Lexington, Kentucky
August 24, 1977 - Roanoke Civic Center, Roanoke, Virginia
August 25, 1977 - Cumberland County Memorial Arena, Fayetteville, North Carolina
August 26, 1977 - Asheville Civic Center Arena, Asheville, North Carolina
August 27, 1977 - Mid-South Coliseum, Memphis, Tennessee
August 28, 1977 - Mid-South Coliseum, Memphis, Tennessee
This is the route the tour would have taken
The cities are marked on the map. If you drove from one end of the route to the other, you would cover approximately 2,850 miles before you made it to Memphis.
Are You Lonesome Tonight? is an award winning play about two people who planned to see every date of the tour. It was most recently performed at Camden Fringe Festival from 16th to 18th August 2011. If you would like a copy of the script of the play or are interested in performing it please contact Andy Moseley via the Contact Us page of his website. For more details about the play and previous performances click here.
For more information on Elvis' tour dates from 1975 to 1977 click here
Are You Lonesome Tonight? is an award winning play about two people who planned to see every date of the tour. It was most recently performed at Camden Fringe Festival from 16th to 18th August 2011. If you would like a copy of the script of the play or are interested in performing it please contact Andy Moseley via the Contact Us page of his website. For more details about the play and previous performances click here.
For more information on Elvis' tour dates from 1975 to 1977 click here
