Westgate Las Vegas Recreating 1969 Elvis Concert on Anniversary

Posted on: April 25, 2025, 12:28h. 

Last updated on: April 25, 2025, 02:23h.

Corey Levitan Read More
Expertise: Commercial Gaming, Entertainment, Expert Insight, Las Vegas, Restaurants, Las Vegas Myths.
  • One of Las Vegas’ premier Elvis impersonators will take the stage at the Westgate for one night only in July
  • The show will take place in the International Theater — the room that Elvis himself played for seven years
  • The July 31 show marks the 56th anniversary of Elvis’ first performance at what was then the International Hotel

Elvis won’t re-enter the building at the Westgate, but Travis Powell is better than nothing.

Travis Powell performs with “Legends in Concert” in a still from an undated video clip. (Image: legendsinconcert.com)

The Elvis impersonator will star in “1969 Live Concert: The King Returns,” an Elvis tribute show set for one night only — July 31 at International Theater.

Elvis plays the first of his 636 sold-out appearances at the International Hotel on July 31, 1969. (Image: Bob Klein/Elvis Presley Enterprises)

The International Theater is the actual room where the actual Elvis kicked off a seven-year residency at what was then the International Hotel.

July 31 was also the actual day. (The show will mark its 56th anniversary.)

Powell previously embodied the King at “Legends in Concert,” the Las Vegas show that got imploded along with its host hotel, the Tropicana, last year. According to its website, the North Carolina native’s grandmother made him an Elvis jumpsuit when he was five, and he’s been all shook up ever since.

Powell’s setlist will include crowd-pleasers “Suspicious Minds,” “Love Me Tender,” “Jailhouse Rock,” “Heartbreak Hotel,” “Can’t Help Falling in Love,” “Blue Suede Shoes,” “All Shook Up,” “In the Ghetto,” “Memories” and “Are You Lonesome Tonight?”

As photographed from behind the stage at the International Hotel sometime in the mid-‘70s, the real Elvis (third from left) kind of looked like his own impersonator anyway. (Image: Westgate)

No mention is made in the press release of “Viva Las Vegas,” the Elvis song most closely associated with Sin City. But that may be because, oddly, the real McCoy never performed it live.

Presley performed for seven years at what is now the Westgate, logging 636 consecutive sellout shows — not 837, as is incorrectly inscribed on the plaque beneath his statue in the Westgate lobby. Barry Manilow broke his record at the hotel in September 2023.

Contrary to a popular myth, Elvis didn’t open the International. That was Barbra Streisand. However, even most fans don’t know the real reason Elvis didn’t open it. (Click here to find out.)

In honor of the time warp, according to the press release announcing the event, ticket prices will return — also for one night only — to 1969 levels, ranging from $10 for the rear orchestra to $45 for booth seating.

When adjusted for inflation, they’re actually much lower than that. In 1969, tickets cost $17.50, about $150 today, and came with your choice of steak or lobster (at least at the 8:15 p.m. show).

For tickets, click here. It’s now or never.