I am a huge fan of Elvis Presley's music, owning and very much enjoying 87 of Elvis' good to outstanding cds. However, I only once attended an Elvis' public concert. I attended Elvis Presley's extremely disappointing concert in Lincoln, Nebraska on June 18, 1977, one evening before he travelled to Omaha, Nebraska to perform and record many of the songs that are found on Elvis In Concert. Several nights later the remainder of Elvis In Concert was recorded in Rapid City, South Dakota. Elvis horrible drug addiction was affecting more than his concert performances. Six weeks later, Elvis Presley died in a bathroom at Graceland from a drug overdose. I was floating on air before I attended the June 18, 1977 Lincoln, Nebraska concert; I hoped to see and hear the incredible Elvis Presley in concert, a supposedly outstanding singer and performer who I then held in highest esteem! However, the real Elvis Presley that I witnessed in concert that June 18th evening was so incredibly fat and bloated, sweat so very much, looked a real mess, acted so completely stoned and wierd, slurred his speech and his singing, forgot what he was saying and what he was singing, missed so many notes, acted and appeared like he might pass out on stage at any moment, and sounded so terrible and so very poorly in concert that I cried in sadness, disbelief, and disillusionment while walking home that night! On that evening in summer, 1977, Elvis Presley's singing and performance was a true tragedy to witness. How could Elvis Presley, the man who had once recorded the best rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and slow romantic ballads in the history of popular music, and the man who had brought so much high voltage energy to his earlier public performances, ever let himself become so totally consumed and so completely overcome by prescription drug addiction that he completely destroyed himself, his precious life energy, and his formerly outstanding abilities to sing and to perform in public? It was for me, and continues to be for me today, very difficult to reconcile the very capable, immensely talented, and very likable Elvis, who I had come to know and love through his many outstanding recordings, his interviews and entertaining movies, and through his outstanding 1968 Comeback Special and Aloha From Hawaii concert, with the nearly helpless and truly pitiful Elvis that I witnessed in concert performance that sad and disillusioning summer evening of 1977. I have owned and listened to Elvis in Concert in the past, but have long ago sold Elvis In Concert. Elvis In Concert is not worth owning, it is a complete waste of your precious listening time. Elvis In Concert contains some of Elvis Presley's worst public performances. Elvis In Concert is as completely disappointing and disillusioning a listening experience as was the pitiful public performance that I long ago witnessed in Lincoln, Nebraska. Any reviewer who gave or does give Elvis In Concert a high rating is living in a make-believe world of pure fantasy, completely overcome by the powerful myth of Elvis Presley and/or pathetically trying to justify their misguided purchase, and certainly does not possess high musical standards. Elvis Presley's singing and performance heard on Elvis In Concert is so very poorly and so pitifully done that the only two reasons for anyone to own and listen to Elvis In Concert are 1) to experience for themselves all of the sadness, disappointment, and disillusionment that I did experience on June 18, 1977, while attending one of Elvis Presley's last five live concerts, the night before much of Elvis In Concert was recorded in Omaha, Nebraska, and 2) to better understand in the impaired and pitiful performance of Elvis Presley just how drug addiction and drug use escalation can completely destroy both the addict and his/her many abilities. I most strongly recommend that you do not purchase Elvis In Concert! There are so many truly outstanding Elvis Presley cds and cd sets to own and most highly enjoy. Why would anyone want to so truly waste their money by purchasing and listening to some of Elvis' very worst public performances? If you want to hear a dynamic Elvis perform live in outstanding public concerts, I most strongly recommend that you purchase and highly enjoy 1) Live Elvis Presley, 2) Memories: The '68 Comeback Special, 3) Elvis Aloha From Hawaii Via Satelite, 4) On Stage (February,1970), 5) Elvis Live, 6) Elvis In Person, and 7) Live In Las Vegas. Memories: The '68 Comeback Special remains Elvis Presley's finest public concert.

John

I was never a big Elvis Presley fan while I was growing up in the 50's; I just didn't like much of what he did, musically. In 1977, shortly after his passing, my wife bought the boxed set, "The Other Sides". These were the "B" sides of many of his hits - I was blown away by his mastery of some great songs that were not recorded just to sell to the "POP" crowd. I became a big fan overnight and now have most of what he recorded. This particular CD is very good, but he was obviously in declining health and it is not his greatest concert recording. That being said, I think I will sit back right now and watch his 1968 special, again.

I am a die hard Elvis fan & my opinion is that this should NOT be the 1st Elvis CD that one buys. I think only people who appreciate his ups & downs could understand this CD. He sounds amazing, even though some may say he doesn't. He was a performer right up until the very end, and in this CD I think I can feel his soul. This CD is a definite 'must' for any Elvis fan!

ELVIS IN CONCERT IS A GREAT C.D. AND IT IS A GREAT VALUE FOR THE MONEY AND IT HAS A GREAT SOUND QUALITY !

I listened to this concert constantly after it's release as a double LP in late 1977. Nowdays I almost never listen to it. After all, why would we want to hear a desperately ill man who has obviously seen his better days behind him? As Myrna Smith, one of his background vocalists, has said, "We were wearing blinders.," as a way to vindicate Elvis' substandard performance. To his credit, Elvis does seem to be trying really hard to put on a good show, and for a few brief moments he almost pulls it off. But his slurred speech and mumbled dialogue quickly reminds us that this is a man way beyond his prime. It doesn't even sound like the same man we heard on his '69 and '70 live albums. I read these five star reviews and wonder why anyone would want to listen to this instead of one of his earlier performances. Elvis died fifty-seven days after these performances were recorded, and as a historical document, they are invaluable. Beyond that, there is no way to escape the fact that this is a man whose flame was just about extinguished.

I dont care what the nay sayers will argue, this album is very very good, and why to this day they havent released the tv show version of this is just dumb.
Sure he was overweight, heck, the had health issues, but we get the King singing at the last stages of his life, why deny us of that!
He still belts out great verssions and adds a bluesy flair to many of the songs, the band lead by Glenn Burton and Ronnie Tutt were in top form. Produced very well and this CD adds tons of bonus songs, a must own!

As bloated and horrid as he may have looked in 1977, and how so obviously close to the end he was, Elvis just couldn't stop trying to please people as he had done since he burst onto the scene in the mid-1950s and helped revolutionize American popular music. And while I agree ELVIS IN CONCERT isn't really the best place to discover the King (the '68 Comeback, the '69 Memphis sessions, and the '73 ALOHA FROM HAWAII are better efforts), in order to understand him at his most complete, it is a painfully essential document of those last days of touring in June 1977.

I had an inkling, before listening to the album, of what I was in for, as portions of that infamous 1977 CBS-TV special had been inserted into the 2005 TV documentary ELVIS BY THE PRESLEYS, of the King in performance, dripping sweat, perspiring, his voice showing the strain, and still giving every last thing he had in him. Understandably, a great deal of his fans, to say nothing of those in the King's inner circle, hate being reminded of that hideous special because of what it showed. I agree; it was painful just to watch those few snippets in that '05 special. And yet, we see arguably the single most influential figure in American popular music history pouring everything left inside him for the service of a song. This is most poignantly reflected in how he handles the Paul Anka standard "My Way", which became as squarely identified with him as it had always been with his one-time nemesis, Frank Sinatra.

If nothing else, ELVIS IN CONCERT reveals that the man everyone thought immortal was in fact every bit as human as the rest of us, and prone to the kinds of demons that a lot of us are prone to everyday. In his case, of course, he had even worse ones: bad diets; abuse of prescription pills; and, maybe worst of all, a manager that seemingly saw the King as nothing but a cash cow, if turning him into a Vegas lounge lizard and keeping him on the road almost non-stop for the final eight years of his life were any indication. And if he had only been given time to conquer those demons in the manner by which he had revived his career in 1968 and 1969, he very well might have staged another revival. Sadly, of course, that time never came for him.

Thus, ELVIS IN CONCERT, which peaked at #5 on the Billboard Top 200 album chart in December 1977, four months after that tragic day in Memphis, is that final curtain that Elvis sang of facing in "My Way"--a requiem of sorts. And still, the spirit lives on, which is how the King should always be remembered.

Forget about critcs. This is an Elvis original and official testament. If you like... good , if not...., try another thing.... I like it and it makes me happy!!! Cheers!!

As a historical document I suppose the album has merit, but was what a shame this was released. It serves more to show the decline of Elvis more than anything. He should have been in the hospital rather than on stage. It is still enjoyable on some level- I mean this is Elvis we're talking about.

I loved this CD the performance i thought was very good in spite of his bad health his voice never failed him and that was a gift from God and Elvis knew it. That is why he always gave his all to please his fans no matter how bad he felt. This is what sets Elvis apart from all the other musicians in the world he cared and he never forgot where he came from and especially his fans he gave his all that's why i recommend this CD to every Elvis fan who doesn't own it.

Anne