The "Aloha" Odyssey...

I always wanted to try and capture a little of that blood rush of excitement and thrill that an Elvis Presley concert held for his awaiting, and adoring, audience of fans. His 1973 "Aloha from Hawaii via Satellite" event was a colossal achievement for both Elvis and modern technology in general - it was the first ever televised concert by a music recording artist and band on a global network scale. The actual telecast was transmitted live to over 35 countries in the early morning hours of January 14th, 1973. The final ratings all told added up to 1.5 Billion viewers. The concert itself was a musically dramatic spectacle for all involved in backing Elvis and helping him to make it a pinnacle of his many highlights. Some fans thought Elvis was considerably nervous during this concert and also feel that in a sense this "nervousness" hindered both his vocal and physical movements in certain aspects of the concert. But to others, it was an understandable nervousness which was only a slight flaw in an overall polished performance of gargantuan values. Almost 2 days prior to the actual telecast, Elvis and his band performed a so-called rehearsal concert and some fans state that he was much more relaxed during this particular show (which had fewer numbers on the setlist) than the actual telecast on the 14th. The following are 2 poems which try to illustrate the drama and excitement generated from each show via two specific song performances...