ELP Digest Friday, 12 Feb 1993 Volume 3 : Issue 4 The "No beginning to My Death" Edition Today's Topics: SPOILERS [ Read no further if you don't want to hear details about the shows during the current tour ] ELP 1/29 concert - SPOILER - Comments Re: ELP 1/29 concert - SPOILER - Comments ELP Providence 1/30/93 Spoiler Radio City 2/4 ELP Show at The Orpheum Theater (Boston, MA): Jan. 29, 1993 Digest, mailing address, and administrative stuff to: J.Arnold@bull.com\ = for now, these are the same ELP-related info that you / want to put in the digest to: J.Arnold@bull.com Note: The opinions, information, etc. contained in this digest are those of the original message sender listed in each message below. They are not necessarily those of the mailing list/digest administrator or those of any institution through whose computers/networks this mail flows. Unless otherwise noted, the individual authors of each entry in the Digest are the copyright holders of that entry. Please respect that copyright and act accordingly. I especially ask that you not redistribute the ELP Digest in whole or in part with acknowledging the original source of the digest and each author. Thanks! ------------------------------------------------------------ SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS Read no further if you don't want to read about SPOILERS SPOILERS details of the most current tour. SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS Date: Sat, 30 Jan 93 18:09:03 EST From: Brian=Podesta%COMPUTER%UMASS@BANYAN.UMMED.EDU Subject: ELP 1/29 concert - SPOILER - Comments [ ... ] My opinions/comments of the 1/29/93 BOSTON show: What an interesting song selection. I knew this night was going to be interesting, when Greg Lake was positioned in the center of the stage, with Keith to his customary right, and Carl, what's this? Carl on his Left??? Before I had time to adjust, another shocker: TARKUS as the opening song!! It was easy to sit and compare to the Great Woods (MANSFIELD MA) show on 7/29/92. I found many songs, particulary PIRATES and PICTURES to be extremely tight, with additional quick stops/starts at certain points during the tunes. (For future shows, check out Carl and Keith stare eyes at each other just as they lead in after Greg finishes the lyrics "...As the wind leaves their footprints, they were far, far, away...." during PIRATES. (Such comraderie). The tune selection, as I mentioned, was astounding: C'EST LA VIE ?? HONKY TONK TRAIN BLUES ??? TOUCH AND GO !!!??? Man, I was expecting to hear something from LoveBeach after all this! The volume didn't appear to be loud (not as loud as Great Woods) - maybe due to the Orpheum Theatre - didn't want to crush the walls. It seemed as if ELP got the "kinks" out of there setup. The lighting was extraordinary (excellent during C'EST LA VIE). Timing between themselves seemed absolute and without fault. In summary, I felt this show was far superior to the summer show (was it the indoor climate, or the omission of KARN EVIL 9 2nd IMP Part 2?). I also checked out the brochure being passed around before the start of the show. ELP marketing and merchandising is in full swing, as they even have there own 900 number. (1-900-GET-2-ELP). Interesting stuff - autographed BSS Album Cover lithograph. - BLACK MOON laminated backstage passes. - Autographed Tambourine. - Autographed Harmonica by G.Lake - Autographed Tour Book. And, as the gullible fool that I am, I called the 900 number - my curiosity just couldn't take it. They apprently have a weekly recorded message from one of the band members (again, curiosity rose to the occasion - as did my phone bill), and I listened to Carl spoke of an incident while touring in the '70's: after the show (and before the encore), ELP was at the front of the stage acknowledging the crowd, when Carl stepped back a bit too far - the hydraulic piano stage was being lowered - Carl landed on the top of the piano, cracking a rib. He was helped of by a roadie, and completed the encore. However, he was brought to the Hospital after the show (obviously, the pain didn't relinquish), and had an overnight stay. He mentioned he would be awakened by "a rather large nurse", but stated "never took any pain medication that was provided" (what a man - a true inspirational Sado-Masochistic story). He was discharged the next day, and ELP never had to cancel any shows due to the incident. (My hero) (Readers, can you scent a hint of sarcasm?) Finally, I mentioned to my wife to be on the lookout for an unusual phone bill - I wanted to make sure she knew I wasn't calling some Sex 900 line. ------------------------------ To: Brian=Podesta%COMPUTER%UMASS@BANYAN.UMMED.EDU Subject: Re: ELP 1/29 concert - SPOILER - Comments Date: Mon, 01 Feb 93 09:39:57 EST From: arnold Brian: Like you, I was stunned at the song selection. There were many inspired choices and the show really seemed to hang together better than the summer show (when, after all, they'd only been on the road a week or so). It's hard to imagine an ELP show where the only album NOT included was Love Beach. That's pretty decent coverage for a 1:50 show. I think the order of the songs is built to accommodate breathers for Lake's voice. (I.e., I noticed that there aren't many long stretches of singing without an instrumental thrown in.) However, it works very well. Because of the "condensed" long stuff (e.g., Tarkus and Pictures) and the numerous shorter songs, one leaves the concert feeling like they've heard a lot more music than other ELP shows. Though it was almost eactly the same length, this weekend's show seemed more "filling" than the Great Woods show. - John - ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 31 Jan 93 13:10:51 EST From: Steve Kilpatrick Subject: ELP Providence 1/30/93 Spoiler To: j.arnold@bull.com I went to the ELP show last night (1/30) in Providence, and thought I'd share my experience. First, the hall. The show was in the Providence Performing Arts Center, which is an old theater which is also used for big band concerts, ballet, movie showings, and off-Broadway productions. It was beautiful, and reminded me of the photograph on the back cover of WBMFTTSTNE (yes, I have it on LP). Seemingly endless expanse up to the ceiling. It seats, I estimate, about 5000-6000 people. The hall was nearly full, so it was a perfect setting for the music and for interaction with the audience. Needless to say, the show was phenomenal. Emerson came into the crowd on the first number (the abridged Tarkus) with his ribbon synth (is that what it's called?). He finished the solo by rubbing it on his backside. He did quite a bit of talking to the audience, introducing Creole Dance by dedicating it to the composer of Toccata, though not naming him (Ginastera, right?). He played about 3 seconds of Toccata as a teaser. He also fooled Palmer with a false cue during Pictures. He really seemed to be enjoying himself. Lake was a bit more subdued. When he spoke it was usually to say, "Thank you very much indeed", which he seemed to say after every number. His voice was generally good, and rarely sounded strained. Palmer was something of a show-off, tossing (and missing) sticks a few times, doing the obligatory armpit-flash-hands-up drummer stance quite often. His solo during Pictures was interesting - a good 30 seconds of cymbals only, then bass drums only. He seemed to showcase each drum individually. I hoped for more real drums, as the electronic drums sounded out of place on the older numbers. The set list (in approximate order) was: Tarkus (abridged) Knife Edge Paper Blood Close To Home Creole Dance Still...You Turn Me On C'est La Vie Lucky Man Touch And Go (!!! A very different version) Black Moon Pirates Hoedown (!!!) Honky Tonk Train Blues (!!! again) Pictures At An Exhibition (abridged, with Palmer solo) Finale medley (Fanfare, America, Rondo) During the finale, Emerson couldn't tip the organ, so he jumped on the synth for the ominous classical riff (sorry, forgot the reference). After the show, I hung out behind the theater, hoping for a glimpse of the band. About 20 of us waited in the sub-freezing weather for about 45 minutes, watching the road crew load the trucks and swapping stories. I met a guy from New York who had come up for the show. It was his seventh show from this tour, and he's going to several more at Radio City and elsewhere. He had his 7- or 8-year-old son with him, and the tour manager was able to present him with two posters of the Albert Hall album cover, one of them signed by the band. Lake came out first, went directly to the bus, and opened the window for autographs. Later he came to the door and chatted for a while, especially with the kid (who may now be their tour mascot). Palmer came out next, then Emerson soon after. They each took a window while Lake stayed in the doorway of the bus. I was able to get autographs from all 3 on a sheet of paper, and an extra one from Keith on his photograph in the tour booklet. I talked to Greg Lake for a minute, and asked him if there was any chance of his getting back together with King Crimson. His entire response was, "Maybe!" After 10 minutes the bus pulled out. All in all, a great experience. I couldn't believe I got to hear Hoedown live. Pirates was another highlight. If you saw them on the first leg, see them again, the show is different...and still great. Steve Kilpatrick ------------------------------ Date: 04 Feb 1993 22:54:45 -0400 (EDT) From: SSM7051@ACFcluster.NYU.EDU Subject: Radio City 2/4 To: arnold@cyclades.ma30.bull.com I just got back from the show, wanted to write my review while my ears are still ringing and everything's fresh in my mind. This was my first ELP show (being 5 years old in 1977). In one word: un-fucking-believable. I'd been down on ELP as of late because I thought Black Moon and Royal Albert were subpar, and mybe it was time for them to retire gracefully. Uh-uh. Only disappointment was that the show that never ends was only two hours. And they played not a note of KarnEvil 9, not even the cheesy two minute version on Albert. The setlist: Tarkus (first 3) Knife-Edge Paper Blood Black Moon Close to Home Creole Dance Still... You Turn Me On >From the Beginning C'est La Vie Nutrocker/Honky Tonk Train Blues Touch and Go Pirates Hoedown Pictures at an Exhibition Lucky Man Fanfare/America/Rondo/organ murder They started with Tarkus, straight into KnifeEdge as on Royal Albert. Then During Iconoclast Keith put the keyboards onto automatic (for the part on Live that's very obviously sequenced) and picked up a rocket launcher, shot fire- works over the crowd, then went into the crowd. BTW, I forgot to mention, I was in the front row. (slight oversight!) Keith was five feet away from me and shaking hands but there were ushers in my way. Damn. After KE Keith introduced "Muddy" Lake and they tore through the two songs from Black Moon. Sometime after this (I didn't notice exactly when) the back curtain parted and the evening's backdrop appeared, several Roman pilars stretching the length of the stage, and lights were projected through it to make it look like they were playing on the steps of the Parthenon at various times of the day. (To go back a little: during Knife-Edge Carl missed on one of the cymbal beats and gave the crowd a big sheepish grin without missing a stride and picked back up. This was just one example, hopefully others of which I'll get too: Messrs E L and P were having FUN, and the chemistry is still there) Greg and Carl left the stage, and Keith started to introduce Creole Dance, the standard "you may remember Toccatta from BSS". He also included "goes some- thing like this" and played a few quick bars of Toccatta, then mentioned Ginastera and launched into the song, his hands moved incredibly fast. Sorry, forgot that he did Close to Home first. Keith finished, then Greg came on, did Still... with a very different intro than usual, then From the Beginning and C'est La Vie, which I didn't expect. Greg did the first half of it solo, then Kieth came out mid-song w/ accordian and finished on keyboards. Full band back, did the first minute of so of Nutrocker, possibly in response to a sign in the front a section to my right requesting it. Then Honky Tonk Train Blues. All with Greg seated on the drum platform playing bass, maybe his solo stint tired him out. Surprisingly they played Touch and Go, and Carl really attacked the cymbals, maybe to prove that he could do it better than Cozy Powell. Then Pirates. At various times the skull and crossbones, pirate ships and island were projected between the pillars. Pirates really rocked, though Carl had to play a few seconds of just drums so Greg could get a drink. Hoedown came after Pirates. Then, probably the highlight of the show: about 20 minutes of Pictures, inclu- ding Carl's 8 minute drum solo. Keith's organ sounded fantastic for Promenade and stained glass windows were projected against the backdrop. There was some incredible interplay between Keith and Carl in (I think) The Sage, at one point Keith jumped up like he was going to hit the keyboards but you heard Carl instead with another outstanding drum fill, then they traded organ riffs and machine gun percussion. I had been very critical of Palmer's drum sound on BM and Live. He still had too much reverb, but he was incredible tonight, especially his drum solo. He brought the crowd to its feet several times. Two memorable parts: he has this electric tambourine that sound like crashing cymbals. He played with his feet on two bass drums and used the tambourine, freeing a hand to gesture and point at the audience and generally drive them wild. Then, he brought out the sticks for his gongs and played a gong solo, with only strobe lights and lighting projected behind him. Outstanding. After Pictures the band took their encore. Unfortunately their was a sunken control booth between me and the stage, I couldn't shake anyone's hand, but Greg made eye contact with me and nodded. Were I female I'd still be screaming. Costume change (very quick), then Lucky Man. After that, they rolled out The Organ. Keith strapped on his knife belt. Let the fun start. They played a strightforward Fanfare, definitely much better and more ener- getic than on Albert. Much livelier rhythm section. Then Keith did a litte of America. Sorry, another mistake, they took more bows after Lucky Man, damn, now I can't remember when they brought out the organ. Oh well. Must be the guy behind me smokin' a joint. Anyway, after America Keith went over to the organ, just off stage right, and dragged it (it was turned on, a lovely sound, thank you) to center stage and started playing Rondo. He stabbed it, ripped off a key and stuck it in his mouth and spit it out, climbed on it, kicked it, and finally tackled it, pulled it on top of him and played upside down. After five or so minutes of torture (he also threw his knives at the Marshalls, hitting with the hilt only) he returned to the regular keyboards and climbed on the piano, played an incredible Bach's Toccatta and Fugue in D minor on the keyboard on top of the piano while standing on the top of it and playing upside down. Then everyone abused their instruments for all they were worth and finished. One guy charged the stage during final bows and was literally thrown off by 5 guards. Overall: the night cost me $40 for the front row seat (guys next to me got scalpled for $140, the advantage of being in line two hours before tickets go on sale.), $15 for program, $23 for a legal Tarkus/92-93 tour shirt and $10 for a shirt outside. ($88 for all you art students out there.) So when's the next tour start?? Sorry for going on too long but hope you enjoyed the review, Seth Minsk ------------------------------ To: arnold Subject: ELP Show at The Orpheum Theater (Boston, MA): Jan. 29, 1993 Date: Fri, 12 Feb 93 16:09:01 EST From: arnold Hi everybody... I'm pretty busy at work (and home!) right now but wanted to enter a quick review of the ELP show I saw in Boston. Overall comments ================ Even though I wasn't in the 3rd row like I was at Great Woods last summer, I think I enjoyed this show more. The band seemed more relaxed and more used to playing together again. (Remember, Great Woods was in the 1st 2 weeks of the Black Moon tour.) I also like the new set list better (see below). There were more short songs and the pacing of alternating "songs" with instrumentals worked well. I'm assuming that this was done to give Greg's voice some rest during the show (since it is apparent that he couldn't sing for 2 hours straight any more) but musically it works out great. I left the Orpheum show feeling like I'd seen more than I had at Great Woods even though the shows were almost exactly the same length. And, to top it off, they played something off every album they've done except Love Beach! 1. Tarkus (first bits) Same arrangement as "Albert Hall" CD. I really like it. Of course, I think "Stones of Years" is a very under-rated song. Starting the concert with the swelling intro of Tarkus really took me by surprise. 2. Knife Edge Same arrangement as "Albert Hall" CD. It was marred by a keyboard tuning problem. That, however, was compensated by watching how Keith adjusted to playing the parts on different keyboards and gesturing to the roadie without dropping a note. (And I hadn't seen an ELP tuning problem since "the old days" when they had to tune the GX-1 right before the show started.) (pause to fix the keyboard tuning problem!) 3. Paper Blood Still doing this with taped backup vocals. (Carl puts on headphones to play along with a sync track, I assume.) I really like this song live but, at ELP volumes, I have to wonder how much of a difference the backup vocals really make. 4. Black Moon I thought this was played too slowly. (But a friend with me didn't notice so maybe it was me.) Seemed to be slower than the album version. Well done but I thought it was a weak point of the show. 5. Close to Home Extremely well done. Marred only by the people who got up to go to the bathroom or get a beer or whatever (which has always been a problem with the "piano solo" part of ELP shows). 6. Creole Dance Really, really excellent. I never really believed Keith's intros when he would say that this would change a little bit every night. But I'd been listening to the "Albert Hall" CD a lot and noticed that it does seem to evolve over time. This version was the most energized and powerful of the 5-6 times I've seen this done live (going back to the ELPowell days). 7. Still... You Turn Me On Very nicely done. 8. C'est La Vie The first "surprise" of the night. I hadn't listened to this in a long time and was surprised at how well this was executed. Especially nice was having Keith wander on stage with his accordian for the solo near the end.. and then moving over the synths to fill in the strings after the solo. Great! 9. Lucky Man The bass part seems to be sequenced since there seemed to be times when Keith was not near keyboards nor foot pedals during some of the verses. I really like seeing this done as a "3 piece" since I'd sort of gotten tired of the "solo Greg" version done on every tour I'd seen (prior to the Black Moon tour). I am convinced, however, that Keith must have been cajoled into playing the "famous" synth part more like the record ONLY for the Albert Hall preformance. I swear Keith has taken more liberties with that solo in every other show I've heard about of this and the Black Moon tour. Great performance. 10. Honky Tonk Train Blues Probably my favorite part of the concert. Keith sits and the piano and cranks through this at the usual pace. Carl and Keith watch each other for the tempo changes. And Greg sits on the front of the drum riser and adds a bass part. About the most casual I've ever seen ELP in a show and I like it. This is the kind of thing I'd like to see on an ELP-ish version of "MTV Unplugged" (if MTV actually cared about bands like ELP, but I digress). 11. Touch and Go Yowza! ELPowell being played by ELPalmer. I guess the grudges have been worked out. This is quite a different arrangement than found on ELPowell and I liked it. One of the surprises of the evening. 12. Pirates I am a big fan of Pirates and I think their new rendition is better than the first non-orchestra renditions done during the Works V1 and V2 tours (though I miss the "over-the-top-ness" of having the cannons fire at opportune moments like they used to!). The synth sounds really fill in for the orchestral parts and this is, in my opinion, a tour de force, of getting 3 people to sound like 70 or 80. The biggest difference between this and the Black Moon rendition is that Greg seems to remember the words now. I think he got some of the words wrong on each of the 2 early stops I saw during the Black Moon tour. 13. Hoedown I was pleased to hear this back in the repertoire. It's not as blindingly fast as the "take no prisoners" speedfest found on the "Welcome Back My Friends..." album. I think that's good. The tempo here is nice and it provided a nice break between Pirates and Pictures. 14. Pictures at an Exhibition (short arrangement) (with drum solo) Pretty much the same arrangement as the Black Moon tour. The stained glass window slide show is to some "pompous" and/or "pretentious". I treat it as entertainment value. I doubt ELP takes this seriously. In fact, the funniest moment of the show wwas during the drum solo with some well-timed "bolts of lightning" being shown above the stage during suitable drum hits. I'd been bored of Carl's drum solo recently but literally started laughing with the sheer delight of the silliness of it all. (And I mean this is a good way. I think many critics underestimate the sense of humor ELP has and I believe that a lot of the theatrics are meant to be on the funny side as opposed to the "are we not superstars/posers" side.) Encore: Fanfare/America/Rondo Same as the "Albert Hall" version except Keith plays the Back thing backwards on a synth keyboard while kneeling on the top of his piano rather than the Hammond. Although some love the keyboard theatrics, I can't help but wonder whether Keith likes to do this everynight or if he thinks he has to? I could live without the organ stabbing but, unlike others, I've seen it so many times that I'm not the average ELP concert fan. I guess new fans could be disappointed if they didn't get to see it in person. Anyway, I loved the show. Hope you all get to see ELP if/when they get to your part of the world. - John - ------------------------------ End of ELP Digest [Volume 3 Issue 4] ************************************