Sheffield retro: How a famous Sheffield nightclub made a bid to book Elvis Presley – and it very nearly worked

And forget London – it was the Sheffield that had its sights firmly set on landing the ultimate gig by the one and only Elvis Presley. Their palatial Fiesta venue – then the biggest nightclub in the whole of Europe – was fielding regular calls from the musician’s mercurial manager Colonel Tom Parker as they started to thrash out terms.

The Fiesta certainly weren’t shy in publicising their efforts to woo ‘the king’ to Arundel Gate in Sheffield. Things first came to a head in late 1972 when the New Musical Express ran a front page story to say: “After years of speculation Elvis Presley and Colonel Tom Parker [his manager] have finally said NO to a British tour of concerts. Reason given is that no suitable British venue exists at the present time.

“In talks with British fan club organiser Todd Slaughter, the Colonel has ruled out what he calls “ball parks” – an apparent reference to Wembley – and instead wants a supper club showcase for Elvis with seating for upwards of 1,000 diners.

Fiesta owners, Keith and Jim Lipthorpe, didn’t need asking twice and it wasn’t long before a new article appeared in the New Musical Express– this time entitled “Sheffield challenge to Presley rebuff”. It went on to say: “Two years ago we would have agreed with Col. Tom Parker’s statement that Britain did not have a suitable venue for a star of your calibre. But that was before the Fiesta was built. Now Britain has such a venue.”

Unfortunately, by the time of the King’s death in 1977, he’d still only visited the UK once. It was hardly the most ground-breaking event; it was March 1960 and he was changing planes on his return from military service in Germany. It’s unlikely there was a venue more suited to Elvis Presley at the time than the Fiesta in Sheffield.

But Keith Lipthorpe soon realised, if they had achieved the seemingly unachievable and landed the gig that would have truly gone down in history, it would have probably taken the whole club down with it. When the Colonel said the venue would need the installation of another 20 telephones tantamount to having to reconfigure the whole building in a world before mobile phones) and Elvis would need 16 doormen just for himself he started to wonder what kind of Atlantic-hopping cat and mouse game he’d got himself into. Keith Lipthorpe said: “I soon realised it was becoming hopeless.” Elvis Presley only ever performed three times outside the USA.

*Content supplied by Neil Anderson. Taken from ‘No Siesta ‘Til Club Fiesta’ – available from www.dirtystopouts.com