Francesc Lopez is the founder and webmaster of the pioneering website, elvisconcerts.com. He very kindly agreed to a written interview about the incredible online project that he created during the very early days of the internet, and has been developing and improving constantly for nearly 30 years.

What sets this site apart as something unique and special, is that it is a repository for everything you need to know about Elvis’ life as a professional, touring entertainer from the 1950s to the 70s. There is also a comprehensive database with a convenient search function so that you can explore an extensive library of information by multiple criteria.

We find out about the technical challenges Francesc faced during the internet’s formative years, and explore in detail some of the features that make this site an essential, trusted source. We ask a couple of ‘fans’ questions as well, and at the end of the interview, expand on a couple of Francesc’s thoughts and recommendations, with some additional context, background and links.

Huge thanks to Francesc for taking the time to answer some questions, and for his tireless work in creating and maintaining one of the most informative, fact-based and accurate Elvis sites online.

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Francesc explained that he moved to California from Spain in May 1998, having worked in information technology for various companies since 1991. Aside from his work on Elvis, he is an avid follower of sport including soccer, American Football and basketball. As we’ll discover, Francesc’s passion for sporting stats and data would prove a useful grounding in the early days of elvisconcerts.com.

You mention on your site that you became an Elvis fan on hearing In the Ghetto on the radio back in 1990. What then prompted you to embark on the creation of elvisconcerts.com?

Several years went by before I thought about creating a website, so the first years were about collecting his music and reading the fanzine released by the club, Elvis in Spain. The creation of elvisconcerts.com came about because there was minimal information on the internet about Elvis’ concerts, and because I have an obsession about cataloguing ‘things’. During the 1990s, I was keeping track of basketball players playing in Europe; all their statistics, teams, you name it, I had it.

When the site went live in 1996, it was very early in the evolution of the internet as a public resource. Can you describe the general internet landscape at that time, and in terms of entertainment and music information, who, along with yourself, were the pioneers of the new medium?

There were a few websites dedicated to Elvis. From memory, we had, and we still have, For Elvis CD Collectors (FECC website) and Elvis in Japan. Other websites that I recall were Elvis in Virginia, and graceland.com that was not about Elvis but about a church. Later on, EPE (Elvis Presley Enterprises) decided that they had a right to that domain. Funnily enough, EPE never had an interest in getting elvispresley.com.

What were some of the content and programming limitations in terms of what the site could offer in the early days?

The early days were difficult because there were no hosting companies offering unlimited bandwidth or space; I remember having free space on Geocites, Tripod and Lycos, but the storage space was very minimal. That lasted until 2001, when hosting companies started to offer unlimited bandwidth and space for a yearly fee. With unlimited space, more ideas were possible to be added like audio concerts and the database.

The site is now a trusted reference for Elvis fans and scholars around the world, having been viewed many millions of times. How early did you realise that it was going to be such a huge success, and did you ever imagine that it would still be evolving more than a quarter of a century later?

Once I was able to create a searchable database, I thought that set us apart from other websites. To be able to search all the concerts by drop down menus is, in my opinion, very powerful.

You are constantly making adjustments, updating the presentation, and adding to the information available. How much time would you spend on research, and on actually working on the site, each week or each month?

When I change the design, the labour is very intense and I spend countless hours after work and during weekends. Regular updates do not add up to more than a few hours during weekends.

An important part of the website are the databases, which as you rightly said, really set elvisconcerts.com apart. User-friendly navigation tools allow visitors to search information about Elvis’ personal appearances from multiple criteria; with complete tour itineraries, setlists, attendances, venues, details on jumpsuits and belts, the availability of bootleg recordings or amateur vision, and even the stage uniforms for the band. The level of detail and accuracy is mind-blowing. How did you manage to compile and verify all this information, particularly in the early days?

I am very proud of that section because as you can see, it is the obsession of cataloguing every little detail that made me have the idea of having all that information in one place and ready to be searched by other fans. Some of the information comes from books, some from newspaper reviews, some from lengthy chats with fans trying to figure out details about concerts. We still have errors here and there, but I am always willing to fix them or to evaluate if changes need to be made.

Are there any features on the site that might not be obvious to the casual visitor, that you would like to recommend?

Under Special Themes, I have some sections regarding my trips visiting some cities where Elvis performed in the fifties and seventies.

Do you have any plans for new or enhanced features on the site that you would like to preview for us? Do you have any longer term plans for the site that you might like to share?

To be honest, it is getting difficult to keep up with some updates like the CD section. I am struggling to add all the new CD releases because some of them are just a copy and paste job that add nothing new to the ‘Elvis World’. How many CDs from January 26, 1970, do I need to mention?

And on that subject generally, you provide a comprehensive directory of available sound and vision, much of it unofficial, from Elvis’ live appearances. Now that pretty much all of the bootlegs are available online, and we can listen for ourselves and make up our own minds rather than going wholly by press reviews and biographies, do you think this has led, or is leading to, a positive change in how Elvis’ final years on the road are viewed?

I was not able to attend any live concert, but for the fans who were able to attend, I think the CDs don’t show how good and entertaining those concerts were, so I don’t think the fan opinion has changed much. But for some wearing coloured glasses, all his concerts were fantastic.

And a follow-up question, you provide transcripts of many of the press reviews, good and bad, from Elvis’ live shows. How do you feel Elvis was treated by the press at the time, particularly in his final two or three years?

I always thought that Elvis, or the Elvis organisation, alienated the reporters by not offering interviews or complimentary tickets. In addition, it had to be shocking to see Elvis in the later years if the only image you had is the Aloha from Hawaii concert. We are rather used to seeing his physical changes, but reporters at that time did not have much to work with.

It’s inconceivable now to imagine that so little of Elvis’ live work was documented on film professionally and in broadcast quality, but there were many shows that were recorded at the soundboard during the 1970s, which allow us to hear the shows largely unedited and in the live mix, as the audiences did. Do you happen to know any details of how the tapes found their way into the hands of bootleggers, who within the touring operation might have been the contact, or might have benefited?

I only have second-hand information on how those tapes got to bootleggers, so I prefer to enjoy the concerts and thank whoever made them available.

Speaking purely as a fan, do you have a particular favourite era in Elvis’ live career, and is there one performance, a tour, or a Vegas or Tahoe season, that really stands out for you and why?

I live an hour from Fresno, so I always searched about those concerts that were close to home. I do not have a particular favourite era, but I like more the tour concerts than Vegas or Tahoe.

Is there a particular song that you would have loved to hear live, that never made it to the setlist?

I like Mine and the obscure and sugary This is Our Dance, but they might not have worked in concert.

One of the especially interesting areas of elvisconcerts.com is the jumpsuit index, providing images and extensive information, year by year, on Elvis’ iconic 1970s stage jumpsuits. Do you have a favourite look, era or style?

I like the first jumpsuits until 1974, after that they got a little bit crazy.

Referring once again to the bootleg recordings, the free availability of these helps us to really know and understand Elvis, in a human sense and as a working entertainer, in the post Aloha years. Do you have any thoughts on how Elvis Presley Enterprises currently manages and markets Elvis’ image and artistic legacy?

I don’t expect much from EPE, so I don’t care much what they do or don’t do.

Do you have any Elvis writers, historians or commentators whom you particularly like and trust? Do you have any recommendations beyond your own site, for new or veteran fans, or students of Elvis history, in terms of books or other resources?

I love the work of Ernst Jorgensen, Brian Petersen and Lee Cotten.

You have a Facebook group where people can share images, vision and memories of Elvis’ live performances, with many thousands of members, and growing. Can anyone join, and how can people find you?

Everybody can join and there’s a link in our website.

Do you have any thoughts on the 1977 television special, Elvis in Concert, and EPE’s continued refusal to release it in any form, an increasingly ridiculous position given that it’s freely available, outtakes and all, online?

As mentioned, I don’t care what EPE decides to do. The footage is available so that’s good enough for me, even though it is a bit shocking to see.

Finally, I hold what I think is probably a minority view, in that the album of Aloha From Hawaii loses much of the excitement and vibe of the concert, without the visual spectacle. I think the best (official) record of the sheer fun and power of an Elvis live show in the mid to later 1970s is Recorded Live on Stage in Memphis, from 1974. Do you have any thoughts on this rapid sequence of live albums, Madison Square Garden, Hawaii, and Memphis?

They all have their importance and are fun to listen to. Aloha has a big reputation for a lot of fans, but I haven’t listened to that concert in years.

Francesc, thanks so much for taking the time to consider these questions, and thank you, and your contributors, for elvisconcerts.com. It is something that has totally enriched my own Elvis journey, as it has for so many others, and my own work on Elvis in the 70s would not have been possible without using information from the site, which I refer to constantly, and recommend it to everyone. Thank you for all your hard work, past, present and future.

Thank you.

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In Context

Another highly recommended feature on elvisconcerts.com that might not necessarily be obvious to the casual visitor is the additional information on individual shows available through the databases. Once you have selected the tour you wish to know more about from the ‘Engagement Reference’ dropdown list, or from whichever criteria is your starting point, you can click on ‘info’ to access much more information.

Francesc makes a great point about how the lack of press access on tour in the years following Aloha, may have influenced local media in how they reacted when Elvis came to town. Elvis was not totally blameless, of course, there were some off nights, but not to the extent that we are led to believe through press reviews and some biographies.

Although there were many reporters who allowed themselves to get caught up in the general excitement and wrote generous and positive reviews, right up to the very end, others seemed to allow a degree of resentment to influence their writing. In the later years in particular, some seemed to be influenced by previous negative reviews rather than forming their own opinion, and many were not specialist music writers. There was a frequent, and not always complimentary, focus upon the aggressive hawking of Elvis merchandise, and on the famous profitability of the touring operation, on Elvis’ fluctuating weight, as well as a little sneering at the fans. On one notable occasion, in St Paul, Minnesota, there was some doubt whether the sports writer assigned to the show was even there at all. (This is covered in our Elvis and the Press: St Paul Minnesota, April 1977 episode). On another occasion, in Johnson City, Tennessee, the reporter covering the concert was so snippy about the lack of complimentary tickets he wrote a detailed account of traffic conditions around the arena. In Syracuse, New York, in the summer of 1976, a reporter wrote a scathing review of Elvis’ performance in total contrast to the audience reaction. There was such a sustained backlash from fans, the reviewer was sent on vacation to a remote part of Wyoming, and the editor of the Syracuse Post-Standard had to appeal for calm.

The lack of press access was noted by the Baltimore Sun in May, 1977,

“…Of course, by this time Elvis is virtually impervious to all criticism. The media have to buy tickets if they want to review him or take his picture, he doesn’t need them (The Sun’s photographer, who didn’t have a ticket, was not allowed in the Civic Center.)…”

There are some notable exceptions: Mike Kalina (actually a food writer and critic) wrote a very thoughtful account in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, of Elvis’ show over New Year 1976-77, and specialist critic John Rockwell in the New York Times clearly gave a lot of thought to his review of Elvis’ matinee on July 19th, 1975, in Uniondale, New York. Find transcripts of a wide variety of press reaction in Francesc’s newspaper articles section.

According to more than one Elvis fan site, Brian Petersen, author of The Atomic Powered Singer, whom Francesc references as one of his recommended authors, passed away in December 2022. There is a little more on Brian Petersen thanks to The Elvis Forum.

In terms of Ernst Jorgensen, whom Francesc also recommends, his brief bibliography on Amazon doesn’t really do his work justice, so he is well worth Googling if you are not already familiar with his extensive work with Elvis’ catalogue, as well as a collaboration with arguably Elvis’ definitive biographer, Peter Guralnick. Link to an interview with Ernst Jorgensen thanks to the Elvis Information Network.

Exploring Francesc’s brilliant website is a great way to learn about Elvis’ incredible career as a working entertainer. There is so much to explore, we’ve only scraped the surface here. Happy searching!