24th May 1956, Thursday
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Private Presley
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Re: 24th May 1956, Thursday
ROLLS WHEN THEY ROCK
ELVIS PRESLEY FLEES TO CAR AFTER 20 MINUTES ON STAGE
Surge of Teen-Agers Convinces Guitarist It Isn't Safe to Stay and Finish His Song.
By Bill Moore (A Member of the Star's Staff)
Elvis Presley, the males and modern version of what some gay old blades may remember as the sideshow dancer, lasted just 20 minutes on the stage of the Municipal Auditorium Arena last night before the mob started after him.
Elvis fought his way clear of the hysterical swarm of teen-age girls that broke through he police lines, then he jumped into a motor car parked in the corridor backstage and was off like a frightened gazelle. He left in the middle of a note - if the act he had been performing could be called singing.
Heartbreak at Exit.
The girls rushed the back exit, milled around in the corridor and were finally pushed back by police. But Elvis was gone. There wasn't much left to do but to move out the crowd.
Elvis, who is 21, is billed as the nation's only atomic-powered singer. Some of the adults in the audience of 2500 commented that if this is the use to be made of atomic power, the idea of splitting the atom was the saddest mistake the world has made.
Between gyrations, Elvis jigs across the stage dragging the microphone after him leaning at almost horizontal angles. He whangs the daylights out of a guitar. He shouts and moans. But the Presley voice - and there may be some who will still insist he has one - is lost on the screams of the girl enthusiasts.
A Few Boys in Crowd.
Elvis took the stage at 9:30 o'clock, wearing a fox-hunt scarlet coat and black pants. Several hundred girls, apparently ranging in age from 12 to 17 for the most part, left their seats and made the big rush forward. There were a few teen-age boys in the crowd which barged up to be within almost touching distance, but it was the girls who touched off the sustained pandemonium that followed. One girl got through before Elvis had twanged his first note on the guitar. Sobbing and shrieking she was led off the stage by a patrolman. Then Elvis went into his act. The noise hit a higher pitch. His gyrations got looser and faster.
Problem for Police.
Police gathered on the stage. Others strode at a sort of a dog trot around the sides, attempting to herd the girls back - gently but just sort of firmly. But police have a rough time of it when the opposition is composed of young young girls caught up in such an emotional dither. The police had a choice of getting rough or just letting things take their course. They chose not to get rough.
Elvis got through four or five songs before the roof finally fell in. A girl got past the police, bounced up on the stage, and hugged and kissed her panting crocodile. A policeman got her off again, but the signal for the avalanche was on.
As the cool cats would say, they were determined to get really with him. They poured over the front and over the sides of the stage. They surrounded their almost prostrated hero, reaching for buttons, a piece of his shirt, a lock of his ducktail or anything else they could grab. The Presley gyrations stopped suddenly. He was immobilized.
Cats at His Heels.
Then he broke out and fled, a couple of steps ahead of his pursuers. Hours later some of the girls were reported groping aimlessly through the lobbies of the downtown hotels, calling for Elvis. It is reported that the next Presley stop is Detroit. An inspector for the welfare department said when it was all over that he hoped the entertainer would keep going until he reached a point from which his voice, if heard at all, will be the faintest of echoes - some spot, say, like Outer Mongolia.
The crowd was described by Harry Peebles, operator of a booking agency at Wichita, as one of the smallest Elvis ever has drawn. Peebles said too many students were home boning up for high school final examinations.
Calm Before Storm.
The performance started at 8:10 o'clock and before the Presley appearance on the stage it was confined to clean type of singing and comedy. The other members of his troupe played and sang everything form swing stuff to Dixieland. There was a 6-piece band, a girl singer, a comedian, a lyric tenor, and a men's quartet. Their part of the show was entertainment. It was received with enthusiasm, but the enthusiasm was within bounds.
An adult who has an important role in show business here lingered in the auditorium after the tumult and shouting had died away. He was asked for his reaction to the Presley performance. He did not speak. He merely pressed two fingers to his nose.
Kansas City Star - May 24, 1956 courtesy Kansas City Public Library
From Kansas City, the band headed northeast for appearances at Detroit's Fox theater the next day.
http://scottymoore.net/kansascity.html
ELVIS PRESLEY FLEES TO CAR AFTER 20 MINUTES ON STAGE
Surge of Teen-Agers Convinces Guitarist It Isn't Safe to Stay and Finish His Song.
By Bill Moore (A Member of the Star's Staff)
Elvis Presley, the males and modern version of what some gay old blades may remember as the sideshow dancer, lasted just 20 minutes on the stage of the Municipal Auditorium Arena last night before the mob started after him.
Elvis fought his way clear of the hysterical swarm of teen-age girls that broke through he police lines, then he jumped into a motor car parked in the corridor backstage and was off like a frightened gazelle. He left in the middle of a note - if the act he had been performing could be called singing.
Heartbreak at Exit.
The girls rushed the back exit, milled around in the corridor and were finally pushed back by police. But Elvis was gone. There wasn't much left to do but to move out the crowd.
Elvis, who is 21, is billed as the nation's only atomic-powered singer. Some of the adults in the audience of 2500 commented that if this is the use to be made of atomic power, the idea of splitting the atom was the saddest mistake the world has made.
Between gyrations, Elvis jigs across the stage dragging the microphone after him leaning at almost horizontal angles. He whangs the daylights out of a guitar. He shouts and moans. But the Presley voice - and there may be some who will still insist he has one - is lost on the screams of the girl enthusiasts.
A Few Boys in Crowd.
Elvis took the stage at 9:30 o'clock, wearing a fox-hunt scarlet coat and black pants. Several hundred girls, apparently ranging in age from 12 to 17 for the most part, left their seats and made the big rush forward. There were a few teen-age boys in the crowd which barged up to be within almost touching distance, but it was the girls who touched off the sustained pandemonium that followed. One girl got through before Elvis had twanged his first note on the guitar. Sobbing and shrieking she was led off the stage by a patrolman. Then Elvis went into his act. The noise hit a higher pitch. His gyrations got looser and faster.
Problem for Police.
Police gathered on the stage. Others strode at a sort of a dog trot around the sides, attempting to herd the girls back - gently but just sort of firmly. But police have a rough time of it when the opposition is composed of young young girls caught up in such an emotional dither. The police had a choice of getting rough or just letting things take their course. They chose not to get rough.
Elvis got through four or five songs before the roof finally fell in. A girl got past the police, bounced up on the stage, and hugged and kissed her panting crocodile. A policeman got her off again, but the signal for the avalanche was on.
As the cool cats would say, they were determined to get really with him. They poured over the front and over the sides of the stage. They surrounded their almost prostrated hero, reaching for buttons, a piece of his shirt, a lock of his ducktail or anything else they could grab. The Presley gyrations stopped suddenly. He was immobilized.
Cats at His Heels.
Then he broke out and fled, a couple of steps ahead of his pursuers. Hours later some of the girls were reported groping aimlessly through the lobbies of the downtown hotels, calling for Elvis. It is reported that the next Presley stop is Detroit. An inspector for the welfare department said when it was all over that he hoped the entertainer would keep going until he reached a point from which his voice, if heard at all, will be the faintest of echoes - some spot, say, like Outer Mongolia.
The crowd was described by Harry Peebles, operator of a booking agency at Wichita, as one of the smallest Elvis ever has drawn. Peebles said too many students were home boning up for high school final examinations.
Calm Before Storm.
The performance started at 8:10 o'clock and before the Presley appearance on the stage it was confined to clean type of singing and comedy. The other members of his troupe played and sang everything form swing stuff to Dixieland. There was a 6-piece band, a girl singer, a comedian, a lyric tenor, and a men's quartet. Their part of the show was entertainment. It was received with enthusiasm, but the enthusiasm was within bounds.
An adult who has an important role in show business here lingered in the auditorium after the tumult and shouting had died away. He was asked for his reaction to the Presley performance. He did not speak. He merely pressed two fingers to his nose.
Kansas City Star - May 24, 1956 courtesy Kansas City Public Library
From Kansas City, the band headed northeast for appearances at Detroit's Fox theater the next day.
http://scottymoore.net/kansascity.html
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