Elvis Presley At Kiel Minus Body Theatrics
by Dick Richmond
St. Louis Post Dispatch
June 29, 1973

At 38 years old, Elvis Presley is relying more on his voice than on body theatrics. And that's OK because his voice, which has always been good, has lost nothing.

That is not to say that he stood like a stick in front of the sell-out crowd at Kiel Auditorium last night. He entertained with some head snapping, a considerable amount of gyrating and occasionalarm flapping. But when he sang, "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On." there just wasn't.

However, the women in the audience were gratefulfor any bump and grind her performed, because every abrupt movement caused girlish screams of delight.

And a whole lot of those girls were on the arthritic side of 30. They came in beaming with stacked hairdos, bra-less and wearing some spectacular outfits, which created instant popularity for them with the bugeyed men in the audience.

The crowd was by no means predominantly middle-aged. There were children, teen-agers who got excited over songs that Presley recorded before they were born, the under-30 crowd and some women who probably had to cash their Social Security checks for the price of a ticket.

Presley put on a good show for them, doing golden oldies like "Blue Suede Shoes" and "Hound Dog" at his mumbling best, then demonstrating that years of acting can improve the speech pattern.

His version of "What Now My Love" was clear and super. It was made sensational by a soprano by the name of Kathy Westmoreland, who added beautiful out-of-the-dusk vocal effects on a couple of numbers.

Probably the song that stirred the most crowd reaction was Mickey Newbury's "American Trilogy." On it, nothing was held back. The eight member choir and the orchestra each had their moments in the spotlight, and Presley reached for the ceiling with his voice.

Throughout the concert Presley tantalized the women by offering a small part of himself to a select few in the form of sweaty towels and handkerchiefs. The gifts were given to those who managed to break through the tight police security at the right instant.

That seemed to satisfy the souvenir hunters until the end of the concert when one supple damsel in hot pants made it up on stage for a kiss.

A kiss she got and then rock's first superstar went fleeing from the building.

Courtesy of Sebastiano Cecere