Q: One more question about the old City Auditorium. How many times did Elvis perform there? What were the dates of his concerts in Atlanta?
—Don White, Atlanta
A: Elvis Presley didn't mean to be cruel to his Atlanta fans, but he never performed at the City Auditorium.
Instead, he played four other Atlanta venues before he died 39 years ago today, according to Alan Hanson who writes about all things Elvis at elvis-history-blog.com.
The City Auditorium — its official name was Atlanta Municipal Auditorium — was one of Atlanta’s top spots for a variety of events for more than 70 years. It played host to everything from fiddling competitions to the “Gone With the Wind” premiere ball in 1939.
So much happened in that old building and so many musicians performed there — I wrote about the auditorium on June 21, which prompted this question — it seems natural to think Elvis would have swiveled and shimmied there.
Since suspicious minds want to know, here’s a list of Elvis’ Atlanta concerts, thanks to Hanson.
- Sports Arena, Dec. 2, 1955 (The Sports Arena was an old venue at 310 Chester Ave. Fewer than 1,000 people saw the 20-year-old that night, the AJC reported.)
- Fox Theater, March 14-15, 1956 (three shows a day)
- Paramount Theater, June 22-24, 1956 (10 shows)
- Omni, June 21, 1973
- Omni, June 29-30, 1973 (three shows)
- Omni, July 3, 1973
- Omni, April 30-May 2, 1975 (three shows)
- Omni, June 4-6, 1976 (four shows)
- Omni, Dec. 30, 1976
There’s a reason for the 17-year gap in Elvis’ Atlanta performances.
He was busy shooting movies in 1957, so he played only 18 cities that year. His Army stint then took Elvis away from touring until 1960.
“After that, there was no touring for the rest of the decade, while Elvis made two or three movies each year,” Hanson wrote. “His manager, Colonel Tom Parker, believed that if Elvis did stage shows, it would hurt the box office take for his movies.”
He returned to the road in 1969 and eventually to Atlanta in 1973. By that time, the City Auditorium was nearing its expiration date and the larger, modern Omni had opened in 1972.
“It just took him awhile to get around to Atlanta,” Hanson wrote. “As you can see, though, once he started playing Atlanta, he came back often.”
