The 22-Year Friendship

Ch. 2: The Concert

It was May 13th, 1955, the day of the concert. My body was feeling sore after I had a long dress rehearsal for the upcoming dance show. I prayed that I would have enough energy to attend the concert later.

Two hours before the concert was about to start, I got myself ready and headed to the hotel Kathleen was staying at. I wore a brand new light blue dress with white flats. I simply combed my hair, powdered my face, and added light mascara.

When I arrived at Kathleen's hotel room, she opened the door. I was surprised to see her and Evelyn in a hurry to look their best. After their chaotic episode, we got in the car and headed to the concert.

We arrived at the venue where Elvis would be performing and bought our tickets. Kathleen's manager went inside to talk to Elvis' manager, Bob Neal, and we decided to look around the venue. We met our first Elvis fans who were siblings named Oswald and Sadie. We talked for a while, and he told us he wished he was Elvis so a bunch of girls would go nuts over him. We invited him and his sister to our dance show, and said goodbye.

We found out that Kathleen's manager got us front row seats and an opportunity to meet Elvis after the show. The girls almost fainted! The concert began, and we noticed there must of been a thousand people at the venue! The screams of swooning girls erupted the room. I had all of my attention on the crowd, and when I finally looked at the stage, there was a handsome, young, man waiting to play his guitar. It was Elvis.

He greeted the crowd, then began singing "That's All Right Mama." He made the girls go crazy with everything he did, and I found it likable. At the end of the concert, he jokingly told the audience that he would see them backstage, and that caused a riot. By then, Kathleen, Evelyn, and I regretted sitting in the front. We were almost trampled!

After the concert, we waited fifteen minutes or so for the crowd to clear out. Then, Kathleen's manager took us backstage. The first person we met was Elvis's manager, Bob Neal. He thanked us for coming to the show and for our plan to advertise Elvis at our dance show. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Elvis walking towards us.

Elvis asks, "Who are these four, lovely ladies, Mr. Neal?"

Mr. Neal introduced Kathleen's manager, then introduced us as the talented dancers who are putting on a show tomorrow. Elvis smiled, and asked for our names. I waited for either Kathleen or Evelyn to introduce us all, but they were speechless.

I said, "Hi Elvis. I'm Lillian Preston, and these two girls are Kathleen and Evelyn. Nice to meet you."

Elvis and I talked for an hour, while Kathleen and Evelyn listened and stared at us. Not one word or sound came out of their mouths. We talked about our families, and we could relate to so many different things. He talked about his stillborn twin and his amazing mother, and I briefly talked about my mother, dance, and the possibility that I would be moving to Memphis next year. He told me he was planning to attend our dance show, and I told him to keep it a secret so the girls wouldn't faint during the show. He laughed!

When it was time to go, we said goodbye to Elvis. Before I got out the door, he called my name and said, "Keep in touch."