Elvis is … Back in Portland?

Portland has a long history with the King of Rock and Roll, so I really wasn't surprised to see an Elvis impersonator performing at Hadlock Field before the Sea Dogs game on Wednesday evening.

Dana Z, the impersonator performing with his band Memphis Miracles, was in full character the whole evening. He sang hit after hit for more than an hour to fairly large crowd of baseball fans waiting for the game to begin.

Back in the spring of 1977, when tickets for Elvis' performance at the Cumberland County Civic Center (now the Cross Insurance Arena), the hype of having the King here in our little city skyrocketed. The Portland Press Herald, back in 2010, wrote an article about the excitement, and then sadness that surrounded the trip to Portland that never happened for Elvis. He passed away at his home in Graceland on August 16, 1977, just one day before he was scheduled to perform at the CCCC. Many Mainers who were planning on attending his concert, have held on to their tickets, according to that Press Herald article in 2010.

Even though Elvis never made it to Maine back in 1977... people still enjoy those who embody his love of rock and roll and make it an art like Dana Z does.

Were you, or someone you know, going to the show back in 1977? Let us know on our Facebook and Twitter pages with #ElvisinMaine