Fans share their memories from the day Elvis played Tacoma in 1957

Fans remember the historic day of Sept. 1, 1957, when Elvis Presley played Tacoma. Some 6,000 people caught the King at the Lincoln Bowl, prior to an evening engagement at the old Sicks Stadium in Seattle. Here's some of what they remember:

Can't Help Falling In Love

Kent Morrill of Tacoma garage rock legends the Wailers: 'It was the beginning of the phenomenon of big concerts and all that kind of stuff. There was nothing before that. There were no bands to speak of. I think the Blue Notes were probably playing at that time. Gorgeous George wrestled once in a while. That was about it'.

Carol Norman, 61, of Tacoma: 'Elvis had been trying to come to Seattle and perform (in 1956), but the council had rejected him because they said the youth were gonna tear up the seats or whatever. So I wrote a letter to (Seattle Councilman David Levine) and he wrote me back. It was a very nice letter saying how when I grow up I could understand why they could not let an entertainer like Elvis perform in their facilities'.

Phylliss Rose, 67, of Tacoma: 'All the excitement reminded me of the first time I saw him on television on the Jimmy and Tommy Dorsey show. I asked all my friends if they had seen Elvis Presley, the singer, who was so handsome. They did not even know who I was talking about and said, 'What a weird name!'

Arlene Heldreth, 68, of Puyallup: '(Ed) Sullivan had him on, and they only filmed him from the waist up. We all giggled about that. I can remember lying on the floor in the living room watching that and my dad just howling. And my mother was just having a fit because I was watching him do these things. My mother was having a cow because I was going to go to this thing. And (to) my boyfriend at the time I said, 'You know, you gotta get those tickets or we won't be boyfriend-girlfriend any more'. He got the tickets wherever he got them'.

Sandy Rice, 67, of Puyallup: 'My girlfriends and I were so excited when we heard Elvis was coming to Tacoma. I was working at Puget Sound National Bank as a messenger earning $75 a month before taxes. So $5 to see Elvis represented quite a lot, but we would've paid almost anything to be able to see 'the King' in person'.

Kristi Pedersen Winters, 67, of Puyallup: 'My friends and I attended the concert on Sept. 1, 1957, but only after we promised her boyfriend (the one that got the tickets) that we wouldn't scream during the concert. Believe me, this was one of the hardest promises I had to keep'.

Jim Groves of Gig Harbor: 'We were true rock 'n' rollers back then; malt shops, pegged pants, wedged shoes, DA's and coolness. Elvis was a cool guy and put on a great show'.

All Shook Up

Janet Meyer, 66, of Leavenworth: 'We lived in Morton. So we left home at like 5:30 in the morning because we wanted to be first in line. The concert was at 2, we got there at 7, and we were not first in line. We were second'.

Morrill: 'I was in high school. We wouldn't go to see Elvis because all the girls were crazy over him and we were jealous. We went and we climbed up and used binoculars, and we watched the show from high above in the woods back there'.

David Hebert, 79, of Tacoma (then a partner in J&M Concessions): 'He was selling banners and pendants and pillows. If I remember right, to purchase every item he had was around $30, which was a lot of money in those days, 50 years ago. These kids came there from the berry fields of Puyallup, and they spent their raspberry and strawberry money'.

Walt Kaplin, 70, of Gig Harbor: 'I purchased a photo booklet of Elvis from a vendor. And as we were going into the stands I saw my uncle, Jim Steele, a police officer with the Tacoma Police Department.

'I asked him to have Elvis sign one of the photos in the booklet. My uncle went into the small building and within a minute came back out and waved me over to the door. I was admitted in to personally meet Elvis in private. I was alone with 'the King' for about five minutes, just the two of us. It was a wonderful experience. Elvis signed one of the photos in the booklet, which I still have to this very day'.

Hebert: 'There was probably eight or 10 other people in that locker room there, talking to him and things like that. He was sitting there on the bench, and he wasn't dressed out of the ordinary. He just had regular clothes on. People were talking to him about his life. So the question was brought up about, 'You think this is gonna keep up? Are you gonna get more famous?'

'This is really something, I tell you. We got kind of a laugh out of it. He took out his wallet and took out his membership in the Teamsters Union. And he said, 'You never know