It was June 20th of 1974 and Elvis Presley was coming to Vet's Auditorium in Des Moines, Iowa for a one night stand. I was working at Allied Mutual Insurance Company at the time right across the street south from Vets. In those days all you had to do was walk in and order a ticket with cash or a check. You could call in for an order but, there was no online buying or Ticket Master.
In this case, I had ordered two tickets ahead of time but, I didn't jump in early because I wasn't sure about going as at the time I was divorced and dateless. When the tickets arrived they were up in the nose-bleed section but, at least I was in the building.
Tracy Miiller, a high-school class-mate and friend, was going to be in town at the last minute and became my "date." The concert was on a Saturday and my sister, Doris, called me to see if I could get her tickets as she was a huge Elvis fan. Are you kidding me. It was sold out! I'll never know why she didn't jump on tickets a lot earlier. But, I told not to worry as if I couldn't locate any she could have mine as I had seen him in Vegas some time ago. Another story. Besides I should have been more thoughtful and called her when it was first announced.
Only one person I knew could pull off getting those tickets at the eleventh hour. It was Dave Hamilton, a friend, from Grinnell, Iowa. Dave had ecome a good friend from my days at Allied Mutual. He was an Agent and I was his Underwriter. One of the most interesting and influential men I've ever known in my life. Again, another story for another day. I picked up the phone and called Dave. Believe me, simply scalping the tickets would not have been this interesting.
He in turn called Ed Campbell who then was the State Democratic Chairman and also worked for Senator Culver from eastern Iowa. Ed called me later and indicated that he could NOT get tickets and was sorry. I didn't feel too bad as I I was willing to give my tickets to my sister. She was going to see the King.
Later that Friday afternoon Dave Hamilton called me to see if Ed had come through. I indicated that he had not but, it was OK. He told me to stay in my office and to not leave until he called me back. A short time later I had a call from Ed Campbell and said THE tickets could be picked up at will-call. Those two tickets were in the SIXTH row and my sister couldn't have been happier. Not sure if my brother-in-law, Clyde, enjoyed it as much but---.
Tracy and I enjoyed the King from the steep balcony a ways back. Best thing I've ever done for my big sister. Talk about better to give than to-- It also opened my eyes about Dave and what he could do behind the scenes. If I ever needed tickets to a soccer game in Brazil there would be only one man to call!
No comments:
Post a Comment