After having performed at Huntsville's new Von Braun Civic Center for three days (and five shows) in a row, the king moved on to Mobile where he was booked for a pair of shows on June 2nd at the Municipal Auditorium. The appearances were seen by 21,340 fans and generated 197,000 USD. For the matinee, which took place at 4:30 pm, the singer wore the "White Phoenix Suit". During the 8:30 pm show he dressed in the "Indian Chief Suit". The first show was delayed for ten minutes, because Elvis got stuck in a traffic jam. Between the concerts the situation got worse, since the people who were leaving and arriving for the concerts ran into 9,000 parents, seniors and friends from a pair of high school graduations in another part of the cemplex. Even the local tv station advised the people to stay away from downtown Mobile.

However, we get to hear the afternoon show. The instrumental introduction "Also Sprach Zarathustra" as well as the opening song "See See Rider" and major parts of the "I Got A Woman" / "Amen" medley were not recorded.

The recording starts with the final part of "Amen", which Elvis uses to demonstrate a selection of his famous moves. He quips "I just got through eating" and JD Sumner produces some very low noises. After a reprise of "A Got A Woman" the king throws his guitar back to his assistant and jokingly introduces himself as Johnny Cash. The band is fast on their feet and plays a typical boom-tshaka-boom pattern. Elvis tells the crowd, that he's never played a matinee on a Monday before and wonders how so many people got off from work and from school.

The oldie from his first longplayer is followed by an oldie from his second one. "Love Me" gets a lighthearted treatment, basically Elvis is walking back and forth and hands out a scarf or two.

Jokingly Elvis asks what song was up next and adds "I just work here!". Olivia Newton-John enjoyed a hit with "If You Love Me (Let Me Know)" last year, the king picked it up shortly afterwards presented it during his "Elvis Summer Festival 1974". Today the tune is presented a tad faster, which works very well. It's quite obvious, that Mr. Presley likes this kind of music.

But the fans are here for the old stuff and so he quickly returns to the Golden Fifties. After a funny false start the king sings the title song of his first movie and provides a few ladies at the edge of the stage with kisses. The whole thing has very little to do with music, but Elvis enjoys the circus as much as the women do.

Up next is a hit from 1957. Once again Elvis uses the track to fool around with the fans and to have a little fun.

The same year saw the release of the movie "Loving You" and the mega seller "Teddy Bear". Elvis cleverly tags it to "Don't Be Cruel", the best selling single of the whole decade! While singing the medley Mr. Presley throws some more scarfs into the audience.

He continues with "Hound Dog", which was the flipside of "Don't Be Cruel". Elvis limits the song to four lines, which he repeats over and over again. The finale is beefed up with brass sounds and Presley shaking his chubby, 40 yo body. One cannot really tell if this is pure duty to him or if he simply refuses to invest any energy in drivel like this.

After all these oldies Elvis returns to more recent material. Since the band starts to play while he's having a zip of water, he holds them and claims, that there was an old Chinese proverb saying, that one cannot sing with water in mouth. Compared to 1970 the song is shortened a bit and also played a tad faster. The king's vocals, as impressive as they still are, also lack the accuracy of the past.

First Mr. Presley requests "Polk Salad Annie", but quickly makes up his mind and wants to do "Burning Love" instead. He delivers a powerful rendition and even moves surprisingly fast during the finale. However, for a few seconds he gets tangled up in the lyrics.

Now it's time to introduce the band and harmony singers. Compared to his previous visits to Mobile the procedure now is padded out with various solos and other stuff. Elvis' musicians are able and their solo pieces are very good, but nevertheless one might get the impression, that the aging singer needs a break and wants to kill some time.

Earlier the king fluffed the lyrics to "Burning Love", now he even admits that he doesn't know the words of his latest single "T-R-O-U-B-L-E" and has to read them from a sheet! Then he jokes about the echo in the arena and sings the song. He does it really well, the performance is as zesty as the one on the record!

Originally this ballad was released by Elvis in the mid-sixties, but most people know it from the more recent television concert "Aloha From Hawaii Via Satellite". Maybe because of the fast rocker he has presented before, Mr. Presley sounds a bit out of breath. But even though his rendition cannot match the ones in the studio (1966) or the live album (1973), it's still something to enjoy.

Now Elvis hands over the lead vocals to JD Sumner and joins The Stamps for the chorus. But in contrast to the version on last years' album "Elvis Recorded Live On Stage In Memphis" the king uses the opportunity to crack JD up. It's quite amusing to hear the men having a bit of fun.

The same album featured Olivia Newton-John's "Let Me Be There". Nowadays it's played a bit faster and Elvis toys around with the melody and the harmony singers. Both changes work very well. The man from Memphis seems to like the country pop very much since he offers a reprise of the finale.

Of course the Southeners love the patriotic anthem and of course Elvis sounds as impressive as ever when he's belting out the chorus. But he's far away from the precision of his presentations in 1972 and 1973. His current album proves, that he still can sing very well if he wants to.

As usual Mr. Presley has the house lights turned up to look at the audience and also fools around with some of his fans. Then he segues into the country ballad, which is presented quite well. Elvis also offers JD Sumner another opportunity to show off his voice.

Jokingly the king announces the tune as "Little Darlin' Number Two". It's basically a tool for him to have some fun and use his falsetto voice.

While Elvis starts to say goodbye someone in the audience asks for "Mystery Train". Surprisingly the singer accepts the request and sings the song! As he has done so often before, he tags it to "Tiger Man" and even moves in true "That's The Way It Is"-style! He may be fat, he may be fourty, but if he likes to, he still can rock the house!

Now the king bows out with a few nice words and sings his usual closer "Can't Help Falling In Love". The band takes over with the "Closing Riff", Elvis shakes a few hands and leaves the stage.