Jun 2, 20234 min read

Fort Worth, TX: Cowtown Coliseum

Address: 121 E Exchange Ave, Fort Worth, TX, 76164

Opened: 1908

Status: Open, also known as the North Side Coliseum

Elvis Dates:

May 29, 1955

January 20, 1956

April 20, 1956

I Visited On: February 26, 2023

My Experience

The Coliseum was easy to find because it is in the stockyards, which is a touristy part of town, and the doors were wide open and ready for touring. I haven’t lived in Fort Worth for some time, so I don’t know if this is something they do every day, or just on the weekends.

There is a lot of stuff to do in the stockyards, so, if you really want to get a feel for Fort Worth and its wonderful culture, I suggest you at least stay a few hours to see and do everything.

History of the site

The site opened in 1908, after only 88 working days, and is a recorded Texas Historic Landmark, recognized by the Texas Historical Commission. It became the home of the first indoor rodeo and is currently the home of the world’s only year-round rodeo.

Over its life, many commercials, music videos, and TV shows have been filmed here; and many famous people have performed at the coliseum, including Elvis Presley, General Pershing, Enrico Caruso, Bob Willis, Doris Day, Bob Hope, Hank Williams, and many more.

Local news about Elvis

A review in the Fort Worth Star Telegram about Elvis on April 20, 1956:

Hysteria Grips Soxers

Rock’n Roll Presley Evokes Raw Display

By Elston Brooks

In one of the rawest displays of emotion for an entertainer since Frank Sinatra swooned his first bobby-soxer in 1942, a crowd of some 7,000 persons cried, grimaced, and screamed for guitar-twanging Elvis Presley at North Side Coliseum Friday night.

In a word, it was utterly fantastic.

Mass hysteria completely gripped the crowd - mostly teenage girls - at two full house shows as it watched the drake-tailed young rock and roller who spiraled overnight from a $35 a week truck driver to a show business millionaire.

And all at 21.

The audience patiently sat through a pre-Presley offering by various artists, but by intermission one actually could feel the tension rising in the throng.

An animalistic roar split the coliseum as Presley sauntered on stage at last, guitar around his neck.

A cannon going off wouldn’t have been heard when the shrieks rose as Presley pitched into his first number, “Let’s Play House.”

“Elvis, I’m going to die” one girl shouted in ecstasy. She didn’t.

“Elvis, I’m going to faint” another threatened with closed eyes and clenched fists. She almost did.

PRESLEY CLOSED HIS EYES, and began the sensual, almost vulgar swaying of his body that has made him a nationwide celebrity.

In a reaction better explained by Freud than Variety or Billboard, the girls collapsed on one another, moaning from side to side with closed eyes.

They screamed. Tears ran down their faces. They swarmed towards the stage.

Twenty policemen, imported for the Friday night show, shook their heads in amazement and ushered them back to their seats.

Forty girls in Dallas chartered a bus to attend the show. Two proudly displayed scars on their arms where they had carved the word “Elvis” with pocket knives.

Georgiana Blaylock, 16, and Dolores Orms, 16, both of Thomas Jefferson High School in Dallas, said their mothers called them “idiots” for carving their arms.

“I’ve done it four times - the latest one today,” Georgiana said with a sigh.

“I’ve only done it twice,” pouted Dolores.

As Presley moaned and swayed through “Heartbreak Hotel,” “Blue Suede Shoes,” “Long Tall Sally,” “Only You,” “I Was The One, Honey,” and “I’ve Got A Woman,” there was even a 3-year old boy mimicking him from the first row.

Earl Lloyd Bright Jr., whose parents live at 609 Crosby, came to the show with a child’s guitar, and strummed and swayed along with the star.

The Brights’ other child, 20-month-old Laura, clapped her hands to the rock and roll music while sucking a bottle.

WE WISH TO GET ONE thing on the record this morning. Regardless of his act on the stage, Presley isn’t the Marlon Brando-James Dean type some have reported him to be.

He’s a polite, well-mannered young man who says “sir” to every question asked, and who is tremendously humble at his fabulous success.

He doesn’t wear motorcycle boots and black denim trousers. Instead, he was expensively attired in a lavender sports coat, black dress pants, a flashy sports shirt and black loafers. He wears his sideburns long and there’s a bit of a duck-tail to his hair, but apparently the kids like it that way.

Today, he’s the hottest new item in show business. His recordings of “Heartbreak Hotel” and “Blue Suede Shoes” are writing their own tickets on the Hit Parade. Next week, he opens in Las Vegas as $20,000 for 14 days. He’s just signed a seven year contract with Paramount Pictures.

His tour manager estimates this year he’ll clear $500,000.

“Two years ago,” Presley said in a backstage interview, “I was making $35 a week driving a truck in Memphis. Man, this is the greatest thing that ever happened to me. It’s a dream come true.”

He says he’s always “sung this way” since he first picked up a guitar at the age of 12. His break came two years ago when a company decided to press a record of his after hearing a home recording.

HIS LATEST TOUR HAS been a fabulous one. After the show in Corpus Christi, the coliseum manager banned rock and roll forever. The troupe blames this on “blue” material by two singers, not on Presley’s contortions.

“The roughest was in Jacksonville, Florida,” he said with a grimace. “The kids took my watch, ring, coat, shirts, and shoes. I got out with my pants, but the cuffs were gone.”

Presley, who doesn’t smoke or drink, says he does like to ride a motorcycle. And he has three Cadillacs. He drove one of them to the coliseum Friday night from the Westbrook Hotel where he is staying.

“I ran out of gas on N. Main and had to walk some,” he laughed. “Almost missed the show.”

Presley says one thing hurts him - rumors that are cropping up in show business.

“I hear that I’m about to die in six months. That I’ve been pushing dope. That I’ve been to Alcatraz. I don’t know how they start, but they’re not true. I’m certainly not singing this way because I’m going to die.”

As a matter of fact, Presley is really livin’.

Pictures of Elvis on May 29, 1955