Elvis Presley Scores In Macon Again

The Macon News
September 1, 1976

Elvis Presley, 41 years old and pounds heavier than when he first wooed the teenagers of the 1950s, played to a sell-out crowd at the Macon Coliseum Tuesday night. sparking the same kind of hysteria that marked his concerts of years past.

Bumping and grinding across the stage, he held the crowd of 10,088 ticket-buying fans , most less than half his age, with such old favorites as "C.C. Rider," "Love Letters," and "I'm So Hurt"

Saralyn Foster, 43, and her 23-year-old daughter Diane came from Atlanta to fill their front row seats. "I think it's the way he moved," Diane gushed over PResley's appeal. "When he gets to wiggling that leg - Oh, Lord!.

Her mother took another approach. "He's so sincere. He builds you up with every song."

Mrs. David Rodgers, 26, of Macon left her husband home and came to catch her first real view of Presley from a front row center seat.

"He sings good, and then he looks good," she listed her reasons for coming.

Security for the concert was tight, as it has been since the star landed at the airport at 1:30 am Tuesday. A couple of hundred diehard fans were waiting, but Presley was swept off in a Chrysler - a far cry from the Cadillac limousine that fans trailed to the Hilton last year - tho the hotel where he had reserved the top three floors.

Although the elevators at the Hilton were not rigged to stop below the top floors, guards were stationed there to prevent fans from intruding on the star.

Security at the Coliseum was even tighter. "This is the toughest outfit that comes to Macon," said Lt. Robert Utley, who assured the curious that nobody was to be allowed backstage.

Courtesy of Francesc Lopez