Elvis and the Press: Houston Rodeo, March 3rd, 1974

For this latest instalment in our occasional series, Elvis and the Press, our leading contributor Gary Wells joins us to consider press reaction to Elvis' March 3rd, 1974, matinee performance at the Houston Astrodome as part of the Livestock Show and Rodeo, at which time he broke his own 1970 Rodeo attendance record.Jeff Millar, writing for the Houston Chronicle, applauded Elvis' effort, and observed, 'Presley now does a Las Vegas headliner act. It's a good one, but, heaven knows, the Dome's not the place to stage it'. The combined audience of over 88 000 for Elvis' two performances might have strongly disagreed. We review the show itself, thanks to a very fine quality soundboard recording, and learn about some of the technical and staging challenges behind it. We also examine some of Jeff Millar's observations about Elvis' career direction at the time, and question some of his wider commentary which, putting it politely, has not aged well.Special thanks to Francesc Lopez, whose pioneering Elvis information website, elvisconcerts.com, celebrates 30 years online this year (2026).We have more background to this episode, including tour stats, images and links to further reference, at our podcast website;https://dec4podcast.com/2026/05/29/elvis-and-the-press-houston-rodeo-march-3rd-1974/