From: garritan@UTKVX.UTCC.UTK.EDU (Tom Garritano)

Bruce:

Here's just a brief note of commiseration regarding your Chastain/Atlanta
experience.  You had the crowd pegged, that's all I can say.  Having not
been to an EC show in 7 years, I went expecting to feel old and out of
place among thousands of hip, young scene-makers.  So I should perhaps be
grateful to all the unhip, not-so-young scene-makers at Chastain, since
they somehow made even me look almost cool by comparison.  But I can't be
at all thankful, as their ceaseless, chattering inattentiveness made it so
tough to focus on what Elvis and the boys were doing onstage.

The three people I sat next to in orchestra section G had bought their
tickets that day from the same guy who sold me mine.  They looked stunned
when I told them I'd driven 3.5 hours from Knoxville to see the show.
(Wonder what they'd think about my brother and I having taken a Greyhound
for 10 hours from Chicago to Nashville when we saw the Almost Blue show at
the Opry.)  I knew then it would be a long evening if spent sitting by
them.  Sure enough, they shouted to each other throughout every song, as if
there were a just very loud jukebox blaring.  These people had spent $140
bucks between them to do what they could have done in a bar or at home.

Things finally came alive for me when EC gestured for the obligatory stage
rush during "Detectives."  Although the pit perimeter security didn't ease
up at all, I did manage to sneak under a restraining bar and onto the main
floor.  Proximity to Elvis didn't matter so much as being among people who
had come to see the show.  From there I ended up being swept away by songs
like "Favorite Hour" and "All the Rage," which as you said, would have been
overwhelmed by the yammering that went on throughout most of the park.

The word "professionalism" is often used pejoratively, but to my mind Elvis
exhibits the best sort of trouper mentality.  Greil Marcus once noted his
inspired performance on the George Jones HBO special years ago, on a night
when George repeatedly flubbed lyrics while Elvis himself played
brilliantly through a severe case of mumps.  In Atlanta, I could not detect
the slightest diminishment of enthusiasm by Elvis and the band, although
they must have been aware of some indifference by the audience.  This was
the only BY tour show I saw, so of course I've no idea how they performed
elsewhere.  But he sure fooled me if that was going through the motions.

I'm glad you posted that message, because the crowd there left me feeling
sort of disillusioned about the state of Elvis's audience and rock n roll
in general.  Now I'm hoping it was just an aberration.  As for your missing
his visit to the record store, you're handling it much better than I would
have!

Tom