ALMOST HALF A century after the death of its subject, a brand new Elvis Presley film, EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert, debuts on February 20 in IMAX, followed by a wider national release on February 27. It is filmmaker Baz Luhrmann’s second King-centric movie, following his 2022 biographical pic, Elvis. This one features reams of never-seen-before footage, some of which was literally salted away in a Warner Bros. film archive located deep within a Kansas salt mine. Technicians spent two years pairing it up with audio of The King performing the various songs featured in the movie.
Of course, Elvis shares an enduring, if somewhat morbid, connection to the Hoosier state, having performed his last concert here at Market Square Arena. But that wasn’t his only Indiana appearance. Far from it. During his more than two-decade career, he did (so far as we can tell) some 25 shows in these parts.
The first took place at the dawn of his career, when he participated in what must have been a grueling four-day stand at the long-gone Lyric Theater from December 4–7, 1955, as part of the Hank Snow All-Star Jamboree. At the time, the man who would be King was just an undercard performer. The main attraction was country singer Hank Snow, followed by the Rainbow Ranch Boys, Rod Brassfield, Mother Maybelle, The Carter Sisters, and then Elvis, along with his backup band, The Blue Moon Boys.
On December 4, the revue did four shows, the first at 2 p.m. and the last at 9:30 p.m., followed by two each on the next three days. Elvis next graced Indiana on March 30, 1957, when he played the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum in Fort Wayne. And that was pretty much it for a while. Elvis first did a stint in the Army, then spent the 1960s trying to be a movie star, appearing in such undying cinematic gems as Kid Galahad, Tickle Me, and The Trouble with Girls.
He started touring again in the 1970s, visiting the Indiana State Fairgrounds Coliseum on April 12, 1972, and doing two shows on October 5, 1974, at the Expo Convention Center (the very first iteration of what would become The Indiana Convention Center & Lucas Oil Stadium). Other early ’70s Hoosier stops included Evansville, Bloomington, South Bend, and Terre Haute. This was Elvis’s “performing in rhinestone-encrusted karate outfits” era. Unfortunately, it was also his “eat way too many peanut butter and banana sandwiches and horse down way too many illegal drugs” era, which contributed mightily to The King’s ever-expanding waistline and sluggish onstage demeanor.
None of which prevented his fans from lining up for hours at the Market Square Arena box office to secure $15 tickets for his June 26, 1977, show. But in a strange throwback to his long-ago Lyric Theater performances, the roughly 18,000 fans who packed the building that night had to sit through multiple, forgettable opening acts, including a brass band, a soul singer, and a comedian, before Elvis finally took the stage at around 10 p.m.
The Indianapolis Star’s music critic, Rita Rose, was charitable about the star’s physical condition, opining that “At 42, Elvis is still carrying around some excess baggage on his midsection, but it doesn’t stop him from giving a performance in true Presley style.”
But Indianapolis News critic Zach Duncan was far less forgiving, stating that, “It’s time ardent Presley fans quit protecting their idol and start demanding more. They know ‘the King’ can do better.”
Alas for hardcore devotees, Presley’s Indianapolis show would be his last. After plowing through a set that included both his ’50s hits and later songs, he reportedly signed off by telling the audience, “We’ll meet you again, God bless, adios.” He then flew home to Graceland, where he died not quite six weeks later, on August 16, 1977.
If watching EPiC makes you nostalgic, you can always visit the plaque commemorating The King’s last stand. Originally placed at Market Square Arena, it outlasted the July 8, 2001, destruction of that storied venue and now sits on the Indianapolis Cultural Trail near the corner of Alabama and Market streets.
