#TBT: Watch the ‘King’s’ Final Pittsburgh Concert

Elvis Presley rang in 1977 with a New Year’s Eve concert at the Civic Arena.

December 17, 2014

Richard Cook,

16,000 fans packed the arena 38 years ago this month to watch Elvis Presley perform in Pittsburgh for the last time. The 90-minute show featured many of Presley’s hits plus covers of other classic tunes of the time. This YouTube video of the concert is far from great quality but is fascinating to watch nonetheless.

Then-pop music critic Mike Kalina reviewed the show for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:

“Presley was much warmer than on his first visit here in mid-1973.…He also was in better voice on this Pittsburgh visit, singing surprisingly well and in a lower register that gave more impact to his phrasing. He even ventured into difficult musical areas, hitting notes that could cause a mild hernia. And after they drew a good crowd reaction, he offered them in a reprise that was tantamount to masochism.”

Kalina also noticed that the years, if not the mileage, were catching up with the King:

“Presley is not a young man anymore. His physique is starting to sag, his face is fleshy and pale, his eyes puffy, and when he tries to repeat moves he made on "The Ed Sullivan Show" two decades ago, the effect is self-parody.”

Presley was on stage when the New Year arrived:

“At the stroke of midnight, the house lights went up and Elvis led the crowd in "Auld Lang Syne." There were some brief huzzahs from the crowd but in a few minutes Presley was back singing. Overall, it was a fine show, though Presley seems to have lost some of that spark that turned his concerts of yesterday into events.”

It was Presley’s last appearance in Pittsburgh. He died eight months later at the age of 42.