… was famously uttered this day (11/5) in 1971 at the Met Sports Center in Bloomington (where IKEA is now located) following Elvis Presley’s kick-off concert to a 15-city North American tour. Al Dvorin made the announcement (”Elvis has left the building. Thank you and good night.”) in an effort to quiet the fans who continued to call for an encore.
The phrase actually goes all the way back to 1955 with Elvis’ final appearance on The Louisiana Hayride radio show. The Met concert wasn’t his only Minnesota appearance, either. Elvis also performed a matinee show at the St. Paul Auditorium in May, 1956, before that evening’s performance in Minneapolis.
7 Reader Comments
1:27 pm
Ah, yes, wasn’t this the era where he started shows with “Also Sprach Zarathustra”? My favorite. Hockey and Elvis.
This also reminds me how the Clash never actually played Minneapolis. The four or five times they played was at the St. Paul Civic Center. Was that the same as the St. Paul Auditorium?
1:33 pm
Hmm… I saw the Clash play here sometime around 1985. Don’t remember the details, but I’m pretty sure it was in Minneapolis. Maybe not. Regardless, best concert I had ever been to at the time. Almost died getting squashed up against the stage, and left with my jacket covered in blood — not mine!
1:57 pm
The King’s final performance was in Market Square Arena in Indianapolis. Soon afterwards, he “left the building,” so to speak.
2:42 pm
According to this link, the St. Paul Auditorium was where the Fighting Saints played their first WHA season 1972. After the Civic Center was built in the mid-’70s, the Auditorium was renamed the Roy Wilkins Auditorium.
2:46 pm
Noodleman, you are the Elvis of MNSpeak: the king.
3:09 pm
Thankyouverymuch.
Not sure about the construction date of the Civic Center, though. Another source said the auditorium was not actually renamed Roy Wilkins until 1985. By then, I know I’d already been to the Civic Center a few times but the Fighting Saints did move to the Civic Center sometime in the ’70s. Maybe George Latimer remembers?
3:33 pm
Elvis played a pair of shows in Oct. 1974 at the Civic Center, played Duluth and Minneapolis in 1976, and Duluth and St. Paul in 1977. The only reason I know is my mother attended the 1977 St. Paul show 3 1/2 months before he died.
http://tinyurl.com/yfcx72f