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This rehearsal for Elvis Presley's historic January 1973 satellite broadcast, Aloha from Hawaii, provides a fascinating contrast to the better-known, often lionized TV concert. While minor technical glitches and a few between-songs remarks betray its run-through status, this performance trumps the broadcast in musical terms, its headliner more focused and vocally confident, his mood more relaxed and carefree alongside the next night's intermittent tensions. For loyal fans, it's a worthwhile companion; for more skeptical viewers, the rehearsal tapes underscore the mounting pressures, signaled the next night, that would soon pull the King inexorably from his throne. For video release, the program includes most of the pre-concert sequence seen on Aloha from Hawaii before cutting to the rehearsal footage. This is Elvis poised at a turning point, now far from the Memphis truck driver who metamorphosed into rock & roll icon 18 years earlier, sifting Vegas glitz and Hollywood drama into his show. The remarkable Presley stage band (boasting legendary guitarist James Burton) is reliably tight and powerful, and the song list is identical to the telecast, save for bonus tracks subsequently added to that program. --Sam Sutherland
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