ALMOST HALF A century after the death of its subject, a brand new Elvis Presley film, EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert, debuts on February 20 in IMAX, followed by a wider national release on February 27. It is filmmaker Baz Luhrmann’s second King-centric movie, following his 2022 biographical pic, Elvis. This one features reams of never-seen-before footage, some of which was literally salted away in a Warner Bros. film archive located deep within a Kansas salt mine. Technicians spent two years pairing it up with audio of The King performing the various songs featured in the movie.
Of course, Elvis shares an enduring, if somewhat morbid, connection to the Hoosier state, having performed his last concert here at Market Square Arena. But that wasn’t his only Indiana appearance. Far from it. During his more than two-decade career, he did (so far as we can tell) some 25 shows in these parts.
The first took place at the dawn of his career, when he participated in what must have been a grueling four-day stand at the long-gone Lyric Theater from December 4–7, 1955, as part of the Hank Snow All-Star Jamboree. At the time, the man who would be King was just an undercard performer. The main attraction was country singer Hank Snow, followed by the Rainbow Ranch Boys, Rod Brassfield, Mother Maybelle, The Carter Sisters, and then Elvis, along with his backup band, The Blue Moon Boys…