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Editor: Perhaps as an apology for "Fleadhing" his Chicago fans in June, Elvis offers up two shows this time, including this special club date. Without a doubt, this was the toughest ticket to come by on this leg of the tour.
When word first started coming out about Elvis playing the Park West in Chicago, excitement doesn't begin to explain my feelings. Panic over getting tickets was more like it. All year long, every time I stepped into the Park West, one of my first comments was, "I'd love to see Elvis play here." I missed the 96 show in this venue so this time I wanted to be ready! The venue is as intimate as it gets — a crowd of 700, tables literally butted up against the stage and the stage maybe 3½ feet from the floor. Although the show did sell out, getting tickets didn't prove to be quite as difficult as I feared fortunately.
As it was a general admission show, I arrived at 1:30pm and was first in line. After a really fun (and cold!) time visiting with friends in line, we were let inside at about 6pm and I ended up within feet of EC's mic stand. I received my first taste of "Alibi Factory" as Elvis came out into darkness with the soon to be standard electric opener. Absolute chills. This song is still a favourite of mine. Elvis seemed to be very loose for the show and the crowd was appropriately respectful and participatory.
The setlist wasn't overly unique for the tour but it was my first show of this leg and it was thoroughly enjoyable. Spike being a favourite album of mine, it was great to get great versions of "Deep Dark Truthful Mirror" and "Veronica." I've even come to love "Pads, Paws and Claws" in its live acoustic format. I'd heard about the new techno arrangement for "Green Shirt" and it was as outstanding as I'd been told. And Steve seemed to be continually inventing sounds along the way with his "toys" as the tour progressed.
"I Want You" was especially phenomenal. It was wonderfully dead silent in the hall except for the annoying clinking of bottles by the wait staff. Stunning nonetheless. He could have done this one all night if you ask me! "Burnt Sugar Is So Bitter," the new song written with Carole King and debuted the night before showed up in the show as well. A harsh track and wonderfully effective. A couple other tracks that were real stand outs included "Beyond Belief" and "I Still Have That Other Girl."
After some encouragement by Elvis, we were standing by the last of the encores. The whole show was absolutely fantastic but the highlight had to be "Couldn't Call It Unexpected No. 4." It was as perfect as I've heard it. I looked around at the faces of my friends nearby with the reddish light radiating their smiles. It was an incredible treat to hear nothing but EC's unamplified voice a few feet in front of me and the squeak of his shoes as he walked from side to side of the stage singing this now signature closer. Thirty-four songs, two hours, 25 minutes and two broken guitar strings and it was over.
As soon as the show ended, I reached around and snatched up Elvis' setlist. A priceless souvenir. After the show, the usual meet and greet took place in front of the venue. The street is within 10 or 11 feet of the front door so it was getting mighty crowded in front by the time Elvis and Steve came out. Barriers were put up to try and give Elvis a bit of breathing space. Elvis and Steve were both completely gracious about posing for pictures, signing autographs and chatting.
I asked Elvis to pose for a picture with me and he sweetly grabbed hold of me and I ended up with the perfect shot [see page 2]. I also had a nice little chat with Steve and got a terrific picture with him as well, even after a few technical difficulties with my camera! One young woman approached Elvis in tears because she had been unable to buy tickets. I was terribly impressed that he asked her to write down her name so that he could get her seats for the Arie Crown show a few nights later. (And, in fact, I did see her and a friend in the orchestra pit at Arie Crown, far from tears this time.) He even suspended all other chatting and autographing until the woman had completed writing her information down.
All in all, a truly memorable day! At the end of the show, he had promised many different songs for the upcoming Arie Crown as well as "surprises." And a different show it would be. Star-spotting: Sammy Llanas (BoDeans).
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