ELP Digest Sunday, 17 August 1997 Volume 7 : Issue 16 The "Who'll Drink A Toast To Me" Edition Today's Topics: ELP in St. Louis (Sept 21). State Theater,New Brunswick,N.J. 9-8-97 ELP on King Biscuit New ELP date in Buenos Aires Honoring Allison Steele, the Night Bird, at ELP's NYC concert New albums!!!!!!! ELP on german TV ELP on TV ELP on Satellite TV Karn Evil 9 to be played by a marching band... Re: ELP Digest V7 #11/Per Lindh Project *** Some long-awaited concert reviews *** ELP concert july 13th Dresden germany The Brits invade Hamburg the Munich show ELP in Germany ELP at Fulda Tour reflections from a UK traveller Additions to "ELP-Concert in Dortmund - 05.07.97" ELP "Out in the Green" Dortmund ELP concert in Nuremberg Prelude ======= Hi. I'm just back from vacation and am rushing this issue out since there's some news that needs to get out soon. I hope I haven't made too many mistakes in my haste to get this to you! Apparently, an ELP show taped earlier this tour will be on European satellite TV in the next few days! Also, a reader reports that another show has been added in Buenos Aries later this week. Although mentioned in passing in this issue, I should mention that ELP's OFFICIAL web site is now up and running at http://www.dynrec.com/elp But don't stop visiting the ELP Digest web site at http://bliss.berkeley.edu/elp. I'm working hard to make sure it complements the official site and remains the "web home" for ELP fans. Let's do everything we can to make them BOTH successful web sites! Finally, I just heard tonight from some ELP Digest readers that ELP's Mexico shows have been re-scheduled to October. I don't know the reasons but the new schedule can be ofund at either of the web sites mentioned above. Till next time, - John - ------------------------------------------------------------ From: Tedo@aol.com Date: 8/17/97 9:04 PM To: elp-digest@reluctant.com Subject: ELP in St. Louis (Sept 21). Hello fellow ELP fans. I'll be going to the ELP show at the Fox theatre on Sept. 21. I understand this is an excellent venue. As a long time ELP fan I always enjoy meeting other fans, we are a diverse lot in many respects. Aren't we? Anyone interested in getting together, and talk ELP before the show, please E-mail me(TEDO@AOL.COM) I'll be driving in from Kansas City, have car, will transport...(for you out of towners, etc...) The new ELP WEB site is great! New wav files and such...check it out...very happy ELP and ELP DIGEST are all connected, so easily. Great use of the WEB. John...any difficulities or problems with ELP "official" site and all the links back and forth? Good luck to all... Onward to "...the show that never ends..." [ Editor's Note: This gives me an opprotunity to mention a few things. First of all, as TedO points out, I'd like to bring to your attention that the OFFICIAL ELP WEB SITE is now up and running. It's at http://www.dynrec.com/elp and is, of course, fully accessible from "my" ELP web site at http://bliss.berkeley.edu/elp Which brings up the relationship between the two web sites. First, I can assure you that I have talked to ELP's management throughout their process of setting up an official site and we're all trying to work hard to make sure the two sites are complementary, not too competitive. To keep the terminology less confusing, I'm now referring to my site as "the ELP Digest web site" since, over time, I am am assuming that "the ELP web site" will mean the official site. I fully expect to continue the create these ELP Digest and to maintain the "ELP Digest web site" as the web's original ELP web site and the home for ELP fans to develop a web "community". But, at the same time, official ELP news and information will become easier to obtain from the new, official site. And an official site should make it easier for there to be on-line ELP merchandise, feedback to ELP, etc. It should be great having both an official source for news and products as well as a place for fans to communicate with each other. I'm glad to be a part of it and am grateful to all of the ELP Digest readers and to ELP's management for taking the ELP Digest seriously and keeping the music coming to us: the ELP fans all over the world. - John - ] ------------------------------ From: KSIMAVA@aol.com Date: 8/17/97 9:04 PM To: elp-digest@reluctant.com Subject: State Theater,New Brunswick,N.J. 9-8-97 Hello John.Enjoy the digest,keep up the great work.Will be attending this ELP concert and thought I would try and arrange a pre-concert get together for ELP fans.The place is Tumulty's Pub,361 George St.Good place for food and a drink,and close to theater.Concert is a monday and work day for most of us,so I thought 6:00P.M. would be a good time to start.State Theater is on Livingston Ave,George St. is closest adjoining street to theater,go left on George St,Tumulty's Pub is on right side of street one block from theater.Hope to see you there. Mike Burke. ------------------------------ From: Otherroad@aol.com Date: 8/17/97 9:04 PM To: ELP-digest@reluctant.com Subject: ELP on King Biscuit Since I mentioned ELP on King Biscuit, I've been getting lots of inquiries about it. So far the only extra bit of information I can give you is that the selections were taken from the 1974 and 1977 world tours. You can order this from my King Biscuit page at Gary ------------------------------ Date: 8/11/97 3:24 PM From: Daniel_Gomez_Casanouve To: elp-digest@reluctant.com Subject: New ELP date in Buenos Aires Hi John, how are you. I hope you are fine. I would like to inform all fans interested that there has been confirmed another ELP concert in Buenos Aires on August 21 (Thursday, at 9:00 PM) at the same theatre (Gran Rex). Also, tickets are already available (I've got mines). Many regards. Yours. Daniel at vanguard@startel.com.ar ------------------------------ Date: 8/10/97 11:35 PM Subject: Honoring Allison Steele, the Night Bird, at ELP's NYC concert From: Steve Brant To: "John Arnold" Growing up in NYC in the '70's, Allison Steele of WNEW-FM radio started her show almost every night with a song by ELP. . .frequently The Barbarian or Tank from their first album. She became so synonimous with ELP's music in NYC that, when they played Madison Square Garden with their orchestra in 1977, she appeared on stage at the beginning of their show to introduce them to the audience. Allison Steele died last year of cancer, and I think it would be wonderful if ELP honored her memory by dedicating their show to her - maybe even playing one of the songs that she used to open her show. Does anyone know how to get this request to ELP? Steve Brant [ Editor's Note: Well, I hope they read about it here. It sounds like a great idea and a fitting tribute! - John - ] ------------------------------ Date: 8/7/97 10:11 AM From: To: elp-digest@reluctant.com Subject: New albums!!!!!!! This may be old news when this appears in the Digest, however, its a pleasure to report that the new official - and let me add, VERY impressive - ELP home page informs about two forthcoming releases (I've reported on the KBFH CD-Rom earlier): > COMING SOON: > ELP In Concert On The King Biscuit Flower Hour ( King Biscuit Flower Hour Records / > BMG 1997 ) > ELP Live At The Isle Of Wight 1970 ( Manticore Records 1997 ) Yours Bjorn Are Bjorn-Are.Davidsen@s.nett.telenor.no ------------------------------------------------------------------- The Weaver in the Web that he made - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Our minds were moving parallell Because they never met ------------------------------ Date: 8/6/97 3:35 PM From: Uwe Hoepfner Subject: ELP on german TV To: ELP Digest Hello fans, i got an e-mail today from Rudolf Gabler rug@usm.uni-muenchen.de who says that ELP will be on german TV, exactly on Bayern 3 on August 19th 97 at 00.45. according to the Tollwood web-site mentioned in this context in an earlier digest (13 or 14 this year) , i can't check it out, because some Java stuff on the new ELP-website killed my Netscape Communicator. So my message that there will be no ELP on german TV, was very fast and very wrong (I hope). Sorry With regards from "Unter den Linden..." Uwe Hoepfner I believe it when i see it! ------------------------------ Date: 8/6/97 2:38 PM From: THOMAS NALDI To: elp-digest@reluctant.com Subject: ELP on TV --- Erhalten von CHD.CHDTHNA +41 1 8700100 97-08-06 14:38 -> IN=elp-digest(a)reluctant.com I followed Uwe's demand from the latest digest and e-mailed the Bayerische Rundfunk asking for the broadcasting of the whole Munich ELP concert. And I've got the answer now!!! The whole concert will be broadcasted the 19th August at 00:45 CET Bayerische Rundfunk Channel is also on Astra Satellite, therefore a Pan-European Event for all those who haven't got the chance to see marvellous ELP live this time again! (I did!) Tommy (Tomita) ------------------------------ From: cook@ferndown.ate.slb.com (Paul Cook) Date: 8/6/97 12:17 PM To: elp-digest@reluctant.com Subject: ELP on Satellite TV Hi All, Just in case there was any doubt I have had confirmation that BR will be showing 45 minutes of the ELP show at the Tollwood Festival on August 19/20 at 0045 (German time). Videos ready..... >we will broadcast a longer version (45') of the ELP concert on August 19/20 >at 00.45 a.m. Hope you enjoy the show! > >mit freundlichen Gruessen > >Guenter Rank >[BR-ONLINE] > >WWW: http://www.br-online.de >E-MAIL: info@br-online.de ------------------------------ From: "Antonio Augusto Gorni" To: "John Arnold" Subject: Karn Evil 9 to be played by a marching band... Date: 6/12/97 10:33 PM John: My permanent ELP-Internet search found this following pearl: -------------- begin ---------------- Subject: Re: What is everybody doing next season? From: ltnmundy@aol.com (Ltn Mundy) Date: Wed, 11 Jun 1997 12:06:02 -0700 Newsgroups: rec.arts.marching.band.high-school Well, Lake Mary High School, from Lake Mary, Florida is doing "Karn Evil 9" by Emerson, Lake and Palmer as the opener. The drum solo will be "Hoedown" from Rodeo by Copeland. Other songs are yet to be anounced. I'm sure some of you are sitting in front of your computers giving yourselves anuerisms trying to figure out what sort of theme could contain these two songs. Well...relax. There is no theme, we believe in playing a variety of entertaining and challenging music without worrying about whether the titles relate. Alan [end of message ... text also available at ] ---------------------end ------------------ An high school marching band playing Karn Evil 9?! This really would be funny... All the best, Antonio ------------------------------------------------------------------ Antonio Augusto Gorni, Materials Engineer, M. Eng. COSIPA Steelworks | Industrial Engineering School (FEI) E-Mail: agorni@dialdata.com.br | Fax: +55-13-362-3608 Home-Page: http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/5978 Sao Vicente, SP Brazil The Weaver in the Web that He Made! (Emerson, Lake & Palmer: Tarkus) ------------------------------ Date: 6/12/97 4:41 PM From: eveng@sn.no To: elp-digest@reluctant.com Subject: Re: ELP Digest V7 #11/Per Lindh Project Greetings fellow ELP crusaders! I got inspired by the wise words of our Swedish (I believe) friend, Mats Landstrom in the #11 issue of the Digest. I can only second it. Per Lindh Project (PLP)is probably the biggest "progressive thing" that has happened since the 3 Wisemen (read ELP). It is definitely the best that ever came out of Sweden in terms of music, regardless of genre. "GOTHIC IMPRESSIONS" is quite simply excellent, but do check out "BILBO" and the "mini CD" RONDO....from wherever they came up with that title??? Anyway Per; see you in Munich Also I wanna thank all of you who responded to my idea of a get together in Munich/Tollowood in the Digest #10. UWE H., AKIKO, STEPHAN W., and the rest of you: See you, and keep on sending that email! regards, Even Gaarder/Norway ------------------------------ Date: 7/15/97 6:31 AM From: Uwe Hoepfner Subject: ELP concert july 13th Dresden germany To: John Arnold Hello to you, Mr. Arnold and all fans, if you want it to know or not, i`ll like to give you my impressions about ELP s last concert in germany in Dresden, Juli 13th. I write this down after a 2 hour drive home after the show, its now2 in the morning, and i'm still excited. It happend on (at?) the shores of the river Elbe, with old downtown Dresden as a background, summer, sun, dry and warm. The location was the stage for the open air theatre shows and things like that. Like the concert in Munich June 24th (maybe you remember my e-mail about that concert, i showed up early, just to have a glimpse around the corner. This gave me the chance to meet several fans and listen to the stories the have to tell about their past related to ELP. It seems to be, that some parents got their childs hooked on ELP, because I saw many families attending THE SHOW (hope for the future!!). We waited for the arrival of our three heroes, but they were very late, and the bus rushed straight to the stage, no one to see or talk to. Before that, i took the chance to talk to Will Alexander, who was very friendly and polite and answered my questions. He said, that the tour ran very fine so far, but they were looking for the three days delay until the shows in Italy. I asked him, why they only play 1 and a half hour, and the reason ist obvious: its because of Keith's arm ( they wanted to make sure, that he survives all shows), and its because of Greg's voice (same reason as for keith Emerson). I couldn't hold myself and asked about a new record, but they are still thinking about it (nothing less, nothing more) But, i do not know if this is new, they want to ressurect the MANTICORE-label (sound promising). I am very thankful to Mr. Alexander to talk to only afan, hope he became not the wrong picture about us fans Hey Mr. Alexander, keep up the good work and sprits high, Mr. Emerson needs you and we do, too! Thanks!!! on to THE SHOW: The soundcheck was a short one, seems just for testing, seems that the machine is running now. We got in at seven pm, and again, like Munich, i headed for the stage and got again a place direct in front of the stage, this time more between Emerson and Lake (juhu!!). This time, i think, there were 5000 people (you, who saw this show too, please correct me!). The setup didnt't change since Munich. So, at 9 pm: WELCOME BACK MY FRIENDS TO THE SHOW THAT NEVER ENDS; LADIES AND GENTLEMEN: EMERSON LAKE & PALMER the SHOW began. The list of songs didn't include any surprises, it was the same as the other shows. But, the rest really surprised me. I thought, the show in Munich had been a very, very good one, but this one was exceptional. They emphasised the slow and not so loud parts more, bringing much more contrast into the show. Keith Emerson played fast and faster, HOEDOWN was really great, and TAKE A PEBBLE contained a PIANO IMPROVISATINS part. like that on the WELCOME BACK...-Album. The perfomance was closer to that one then ever. KE solo part (CREOLE DANCE) was longer and more interesting, which had some effects on him, because he shaked his harmed arm, but this didn't had an effect on his play further on. Some fans are shaking their head about that WORKS II, but TIGER IN A SPOTLIGHT live is a hammer. Greg Lakes voice is in rather good shape, i heard no problems, even when he reached the high notes (KNIFE EDGE was really good!). You can hear, that he is back again, when it comes to THE GREAT GATES OF KIEW, clear strong powerful. His acoustic parts on FROM THE BEGINNING had a different improvised intro and were fine and melodious (?). LUCKY MAN was a highlight, Greg Lake asked us to sing along with him, and 5000 did, half in the wrong key (including me i think), half in the right one, it was simply great. During the hole show it seemed, that the boys up there had real fun and were impressed by the cheering crowd. KE smiled from the beginning, the talked much during the show and laughed (?), and several time they couldn't go on because othe applause and the cheering, an outstanding audience it was. Many thanks to all the east german fans who till 1990 never had the chance to see something like that, and ELP paid back with an exceptional show. It was a wise decision to show up in Halle and Dresden. Up to THE GREAT GATES... there were no real surprises, except of the outstanding form, the three showed and the slight changes in some songs as mentioned above. Then came the encore, FANFARE and RONDO as usual, but the perfomance...!!! KE did his thing with the old Hammond and the knives upside down, RONDO and that BURANA (?) thing by Orph. He then jumped onto the piano and played there lying and playing upside down, this man can play!!!. Carl Palmer did his solo communicating with the audience, all that handclapping, john etc. As one of the contributers to your mailservice said, this man must be bionic. After that i hoped but didn't expect another one (remeber W.A.'s words above), but they appeared again and... 21st CENTURY SCHIZOID MAN was done, didn't hoped to see and hear this one ever with Greg Lake singing. And then, for me a dream come true... AMERICA live and i was there, that made me shiver. The audience was cheering and handclapping etc. after that, the three smiled and the boy of a friend of mine reached his box of his RETURN TO THE MANTICORE set over, as Greg Lake was near him, and he signed. That 12 year old boy was proud! And thus endeth THE SHOW this year in Germany. So far they can be proud of what thea have done, with perfomances like that the fans will surely stay to them, and others get interested. The fans in America (South and North) will have a hard time waiting for this. LETS DRINK A TOAST TO THEM, thanks for wonderful music and show! Keep up the good work Uwe Hoepfner "But in the end, all that is left, is the regiment, and what it means, to be an officer and a gentleman" Memoirs of an officer and a gentlemen, Emerson Lake & Palmer, Love Beach, 1978 ------------------------------ Date: 7/14/97 5:58 PM To: elp-digest@reluctant.com From: Jane Armstrong Subject: The Brits invade Hamburg Having returned last night from Hamburg after a wonderful weekend, I am trying to get my thoughts down whilst I am still on a high. British Airways chose this week of all weeks to go on strike, so I ended up travelling alone on a very late plane (everyone else managed somehow to get on an earlier one, I was just unlucky). I arrived at the hotel at 6 pm, just in time to dump my stuff and dash off to the Reeperbahn to collect my tickets. Once I found the Grosse Freiheit it was not hard to find the venue, as the street was full of British ELP fans. It was great to meet all the people I have been chatting to on the internet these past few weeks or had read about in the Impressions magazine. Originally the tickets were to be collected at the hotel, but this was changed at the last minute and the tickets were being held at the box office. I had already been told this over the phone, but some of those who arrived earlier didn't know, and had been in a panic upon arriving at the hotel. Eventually the organisers, Event Travel, faxed over letters for us to give to the box office. Even so, we were all holding our breath until we finally (after queuing at the wrong kiosk) got the blue and white tickets in our sweaty little palms! As we went in Security found my little camera and confiscated it. And as the evening went on I was gutted because I could have taken the photos of a lifetime! Still my fault for not thinking to hide it better! The venue was so small I was quite shocked! Those of you who know the former Town and Country club in London can imagine the size - it was slightly smaller than that and only just a little larger than my local Bracknell theatre. Naturally we Brits, being reserved and polite..... I don't think...., rushed to the front and clung on to our positions on the edge of the stage. There was no security between us and our heroes. I was just feet away from Keith's keyboards. Somebody pinch me, I must be dreaming! I still couldn't believe ELP were going to be playing here. I first saw them in Rotterdam in 1974. The venue was an Olympic sized sports stadium and I was right at the back. ELP were just specks from where I was sitting. After 35 minutes of a particularly dire German band, the stage was struck and the sheets taken off Carl's drum kit and Keith's keyboards. There was no room to take the other bands gear off back stage, so we had to temporarily move back whilst it was rolled down throughthe audience. The stage was not very deep so Carl was set up in line with Keith, with Greg playing in the middle. There was not even enough space for Greg's carpet! I won't go into the setlist, as this was as described in previous Digests. Once again there were sound problems to start off with. The keyboards were turned down too low, and it wasn't until half way through 'Tiger in a Spotlight' that we could hear them. There was also a lot of feedback at one point (I think it was in Take A Pebble - Greg did not look happy!) but once it was sorted the sound was great in spite of being almost on the stage. The nicest part for me was the fact that there was lots of eye contact and acknowledgement from the band. They realised that there was a large British contingent there, and Keith mentioned the fact. They seemed in a good mood, and Greg hugged Keith's leg as he stood on the grand piano (I'm not at all technical - it was really a synth or some sort shaped like a piano and has been discussed in a previous Digest) and Carl threw water over at Keith. It was an incredibly hot evening (in more ways than one!) and at the end Keith pulled an exhausted face and collapsed slowly down the side of the piano, sweat pouring off him! Keith started off wearing a really lovely swede waistcoat which I would have liked for myself (that's a vest for all you American fans) but soon took it off, and ended up with his shirt absolutely plastered to his body. He had swede and denim jeans on too and they must have been ruined as he had to keep wiping his hands. Between encores Will Alexander came on and wiped the keyboards down with a thick towel. Carl too was bathed in sweat, especially after his drum solo. I did notice that Keith still seems to have a little trouble with his right hand, and kept flexing it between numbers and after solos. He also seemed to playing with a different style - sometimes favouring his little finger, and holding it awkwardly. At the end of the gig we went to wait by the back door, and eventually a taxi pulled up and Carl came out. He seemed really pleased to see us, especially when we told him about the problems we had getting there. He joked about how young he was in a photo in the Return of the Manticore booklet, and I commented that we all were at that time, but that we'd all grown up with him. He posed for photos and signed autographs, and then went off to the hotel waving goodbye as we all thanked him for the show and he thanked us for coming over. He was a truly charming man. A bit later Greg came out and also seemed pleased to see us. He too was quite happy to sign autographs and posed with his arm round me as someone took a photo with my re-claimed camera and when it seemed to jam, insisted that another was taken. We waited for a bit longer but were told that Keith had gone out another way (we later learned that he had gone for a meal with the Impressions crew. I was green with envy!). Many of us were in the same hotel so we went back to the bar for a drink. By now it was getting on for 2 am and still so hot we ended up with soft drinks to replenish the fluid we had lost during the gig. I've been on many of these concert trips and this is the first one I've been to and stayed sober! However, we were all so high on the concert that we didn't need artificial stimulants. We all got on really well and 11 of us went on a tour of Hamburg the next day on an open topped bus and spent the time spotting ELP t-shirts. The Brits had really invaded Hamburg - wherever we went we spotted another British ELP fan! It was just the right thing to do - no effort was required. We all had lunch together until it was time for us to sadly go our separate ways. It was a wonderful experience - crowds of 30- and 40-somethings just letting their hair down and having a good time. 30 or so strangers drawn together by a common love and leaving as friends. No awkward silences - we had so much to talk about. Those of us at the Hotel Mercur posed for on a the steps for group photos, a great souvenier of a wonderful weekend. How can we follow that? It was one of the best weekends of my life. Jane Armstrong Bracknell England ------------------------------ Date: 7/14/97 8:51 AM From: ANDRO To: ELP-DIGEST@RELUCTANT.COM Subject: the Munich show Hi ELP fans! I somehow represent a small group of ELP fans from Slovenia. We were on the Munich concert 24.6. We came by a small bus and we travelled for 500 km to see if our heroes can still do it. We are mostly 30 years old (myself, and fan for 14 years) or older, but on the way we behaved like a bunch of small children going to Disneyland ;) . I would like not to bother you with reports and so (our german friends did this the best), but we do have ONE GREAT WISH: As we (on the Munich concert) all noticed, the concert was filmed and it will be broadcasted. So our wish is if someone who can watch Bayern 3 channel could tape that show and then somehow send it to us. We are willing to pay, or to send you blank VHS tape or you (nice german people) please tell us what to do. We were in the first rows on the Emerson side and half of the concert we were able to look only a camera man, so it would be a very special thing for us to watch this concert once again at home. Hope that some of ELP-digest readers will read this and mail me back to the show that never ends... In the name of un-official Slovenia ELP fan club, andrej (andrej.stolfa@nuk.uni-lj.si) ------------------------------ From: Gerald_Dietze@s4.maus.de (Gerald Dietze) To: arnold@reluctant.com Subject: ELP in Germany Date: 7/13/97 11:44 PM Dear John! Here I have got a review from two ELP shows that I could listen to. Maybe I can contribute you with some actual live shots in the next weeks. I gave them already to ELP but I don't know if they are interested to use them for their work. Keep in touch, best regards, Gerald --------------------------------------------------------------------- I had the opportunity to see ELP twice a week but unfortunately just for one week. :-) The first show was on 1st of July at Nuremberg, Serenadenhof. The second one was a concert at the "Daytona Europe at Lahr" on 6th of July. At Nuremberg, the Serenadenhof looked like a site that ELP would have played in the seventies in: A big round wall in neo-classical look. At the second view I recognized that the real Serenadenhof was just a small part of that big ring. The show started at 7.30 pm with a progressive rock foregroup in the style of Marillion. Nice to listen to, but no famous songs. At 8.15 pm the open-air place was filled with the audience of (just) about 1400 fans and ELP entered the stage to start up a great show. I don't have got a setlist in order, but among the played pieces was "Touch And Go", "Toccata", "Welcome Back...", "Eruption", "Stones Of Years", "Iconoclast", "Tiger In A Spotlight", "From The Beginning", "Bitches Crystal", "Hoedown", of course the "Fanfare...", "Rondo" and also some others... but not one song of "In The Hot Seat". They played about 1h45m with top sound and theirselves really having fun, although Greg Lake had to fight with an ear inflammation some days before. Compared with the 1993 "ELP Live At The Royal Albert Hall" recording this show was much better for differnet reasons. In the first place, Greg Lake's voice improved since then. It's no wonder because I heard that he stopped smoking, meanwhile. Another pro was the improved drum set of Carl Palmer. No electronic nonsense like 1993. The drum solo showed that Palmer can still be regarded as one of world's best drummers: Dynamic, various and also fast drumming. Keith Emerson seems not to have big problems with his hands these days, he rather played marvellous especially compared with the disappointing playing on the "Hot Seat" album. I was happy that I could meet ELP after the show and we had some short small-talk. Regarding a new album, they told me that nothing can be said, yet but they will discuss this at the end of the year. The show at Lahr was at a biker meeting with many top-bands playing the same day. Running order: John Kay and Steppenwolf, Bruce Dickinson (ex Iron Maiden), ELP, Marla Glen, Deep Purple. All of them played about 1 hour, except Deep Purple with 1h30m. About 15000 were listening to ELP who had cut down their set to a program of about one hour including "Hoedown", "Touch And Go", "Welcome Back..." and some more. Unfortunately after "Lucky man" the good old Moog made some problems and Greg and Carl disappeared from stage. Keith and Keyboard technician Will worked on the problem and could solve it about ten minutes later. The following "Fanfare..." part with Rondo was better than the one at Nuremberg: Keith didn't just burry himself by the old organ, he also climbed the piano and his master keyboard to play Bach's Toccata from the wrong side. --- **** Gerald Dietze http://www.uni-hohenheim.de/~gdietze/ **** ------------------------------ From: Stantiford Patrick SSgt 786CS/SCBD To: Subject: ELP at Fulda Date: 7/13/97 12:27 AM Hello John. Last night I had the pleasure of the ELP concert at the Museumshof in Fulda Germany. It's hard to believe that it's been almost 25 years since I first seen them, and almost 20 years since I last seen them! Indeed, I have waited very long for this concert! Last night's concert was held in a very interesting place - the courtyard of a museum. The place was quite small, less than 1/3rd the size of a football field. The first times I saw them in1973/74, the venues were large arenas holding tens of thousands; this place would be lucky to hold 1,500. It was all that I could hope for! They played all the old songs that we have come to love. Since this venue was not designed for amplified concerts, the sound wasn't as great as it could have been, but wasn't bad. Musically. they were right on the mark, although some songs were a little slower that I would have expected. They played for a bit over an hour, before they left the stage, to be called back for the first of two encores. Another hour elapsed before the end of the second encore. I hoped for a third, but sadly, the concert was over. Here's a list of songs, but probably not in the order they played them: Karn Evil 9 1st impression Part 1 Tiger In A Spotlight Hoedown Knife Edge From The Beginning Bitches Crystal Touch And Go Lucky Man Creole Dance Honky Tonk Train Blues Take A Pebble Tarkus, breaking into The Great Gates Of Kiev Encore #1: Fanfare For The Common Man/ Rondo with Drum Solo Encore #2: 21st Century Schitzoid Man breaking into The Nice's "America" Well there you have it. As for me, I hope it's a lot less than 20 years until my next time! Cheers, Patrick Stantiford ------------------------------ From: Bryan Roberts To: "'elp'" Subject: Tour reflections from a UK traveller Date: 7/9/97 10:50 AM Being totally dissapointed with the fact that no UK dates were planned for this tour I took it upon myself to travel from London to the Amsterdam Paradiso concert last week. I can only echo the sentiments of other UK fans regarding the omission of the UK so enough said on that score... Onto more positive notes, the gig at the Paradiso was a great journey into nostalgia that was also tinged with a rather sad realisation that my teenage heroes and their music may be approaching their 'sell by' date. Save for some moments of real musical brilliance (Bitches Crystal sounded like the ELP of the past - sophisticated arrangement, brilliant drumming, power and pace) the actual tempo of most of the songs appeared to have slowed down and were played at a crawling rather than stomping pace. The Tarkus rendition was painfully slow and seemed to be played at about two-thirds the pace of the Albert Hall concert a few years ago. My belief is that that ELP desperately need to bring our some new material to add some freshness to their sets. In addition, ELP has a BIG sound that is best suited to big venues - at the 1000 seater Paradiso, the sight of Keith Emerson struggling to swivel his hammond in a stage space where you couldn't really swing a cat was really quite sad. The sound also appeared to be compressed and poorly mixed - I couldn't hear much of Keith's playing but on the other hand the drums were overpowering. Greg himself did not look too happy at all, he is looking very big these days and seemed to be struggling with the heat - understandable. The best moment however, was Carl's short drum solo - his familiar finale seemingly faster than ever as he exploded into a frenzy of hammering noise. One question - Whatever happened to light shows??? The boys would do well to attend a Pink Floyd concert one of these days - ELP are better and more dynamic musicians than the Floyd but these days they appear to be let down by mediocre stage management and so-so lighting. It is as though their management does not believe that they can invest in anything more than a couple of coloured spot rigs and the odd super-trooper. I hope that the new material planned for next year will herald a new era for the boys and a rejuvination of the spectacular concerts we all loved in the past. We all know that they are still great musicians and arrangers who are at their best when on-stage - in spite of my reflections the Paradiso gig was immensely enjoyable and it was clear that I was watching a group who were somewhat stifled by the venue, the heat and the lack of new material. I wish them luck with the rest of the tour and hope that next year sees another tour - this time a headline, major venue tour with big sound and light shows! most definintely with a UK date or two.... Regards, Bryan Roberts, UK ------------------------------ Date: 7/7/97 9:06 PM From: Dirk Rottke To: "ELP-digest@reluctant.com" Subject: Additions to "ELP-Concert in Dortmund - 05.07.97" Hi John, The "SHOW THAT NEVER ENDS" in Dortmund presented a band in a fantastic mood with a lot of humor. Throughout the concert the audience could feel the fun of the three, they had in playing for the folks. Although there were some technical problems they did not lose their humor. They had to start "Knife Edge" twice. First time Greg's bass guitar failed and the band stopped playing after a few bars. While the technician was very busy to solve the problem, Greg grinned and explained to the audience: " This is pressure and this is stress. Not for me!", and he pointed on his technician "But for him!" With a new cable they started Knife Edge for the second time. Now the keyboards were completely silent. But Greg and Carl continued playing with a big smile. Also Keith laughed and it seemed, he wasn't angry. When the vocals started, the keyboards were repaired and they finished the number without problems. "Take A Pebble" was one of the highlights of the show. The improvisation in the center section was very "jazzy" and it was a nice surprise when Keith played a few bars of "So what!" by Miles Davis. Although the age of the band is nearly 150 years and the weight of the bass player is the same as the common weight of the two others, today the music of ELP sounds young and fresh. During the concert it made my 13 year old son say very often: "Oh, cool!" Best wishes Dirk Rottke ------------------------------ From: "N.WELMAN" To: arnold@reluctant.com Date: 7/7/97 12:01 PM Subject: ELP "Out in the Green" Dortmund Saturday, July 5th, ELP played the Out in the Green festival in Dortmund, Germany. They were the first band out, at 5 p.m. (Art Garfunkel and Barclay James Harvest followed) and performed with a lot of positive energy, laughter & fun. The set was the same as Kassel and Amsterdam, only WITHOUT the second encore (so, no Schizoid Man or America). Greg's bass didn't function during the first notes of Knife Edge, so they abandoned the first attempt, solved the problem, and then started Knife Edge again. During soundcheck, standing outside the festival grounds, I could hear the trio play excerpts of the Blues Variation. I suppose roughly 5000 or 6000 spectators attended the festival. When Keith did Rondo he walked over the keys of the grand piano and did another reverse-solo kneeling down on top of the piano and using the synth. A few Barclay James Harvest fans standing next to me were disgusted and fled. But we love it, don't we? Afterwards, Greg was dining with his family in a small restaurant behind the stage, but he and Keith & Carl signed autographs anyway. It was my last ELP-concert this tour and Keith said: "I'm going to miss you there in the first row." Isn't that nice of him to say? Some bad news: around 8 p.m. a few more ELP-fans arrived who were informed by the German festival organisation ELP would be the main act and wouldn't be on stage before 9 p.m. These guys were pissed off beyond recognition. Of course, the show had ended around 7 p.m. and by now the band was already in the bus to southern Germany. I suppose ELP could draw a far bigger audience if announcements were made properly, correctly and well in advance. It's a shame.-- Nick Welman Lecturer Business Communications Company Economics| Faculty of Economic Studies| | Fontys University | E-MAIL : N.Welman@fontys.nl P.O. Box 347 | Phone : +31 (40) 260 5182 5600 AH Eindhoven | Fax : +31 (40) 245 2872 The Netherlands | Home : +31 (40) 281 7899 ------------------------------ Date: 7/7/97 10:57 AM From: fne@pi2wsa.physik.uni-erlangen.de (Frank Neunreither) To: elp-digest@reluctant.com Subject: ELP concert in Nuremberg Hi everybody, I attended the ELP concert on July, 1st in Nurnberg, Serenadenhof and it was a great performance !! I don't want to go into details (read Bernd Prott's mail in digest.7.12 ), I just want to say that the concert was a very satisfying and heart-warming experience. Personally, it was not as exciting as in 1992 when I saw ELP in Heidelberg's Stadthalle (When I had feared I could be a bit disappointed by my favourite band -they had not been playing concerts together for many years- but it was e great comeback then), but it was a better concert. Why? ELP obviously decided to do right what they do best - play the 'old stuff' at a high energy and forget to run after new followers with -let's face it :- rather mediocre pop-oriented 'new stuff'. The sound was much better than in 1992 (at least the sound the three produced, the PA system seemed not to be the ultimate in clean crisp sound ...) and this is because 1. Keyboards: much less MIDI-stacked sounds (which nowadays every kid with a computer and a home keyboard can produce and start to bother you soon) and more biting organ. 2. Greg's voice was better than anything I heard from him since the comeback, smooth and powerful. 3. Carl's drums sounded natural again : all the tricky triggering of sampled sounds/E-drums etc. was reduced to a musical minimum (e.g. tubular bells in 'Pictures'). Personally I felt the drums were not loud enough in the mix, but maybe it was different in the center of the audience - I stood on the left to watch KE's keyboard playing. An unexpected pleasure was the -believe it or not- SECOND ENCORE !! It was "21st century schizoid man" (YES!) plus what can be regarded as the second half of the 'standard encore': "America", moving back into "Rondo". Great to see some (also very few) younger people in the audience, some young men (~20y) were jumping around to the music next to me. The critics in the local newspapers were quite friendly, one article (titled "Composed Self-Irony") even enthusiastic, ending with the words "Powerful performance of a supergroup!". This article also characterized the atmosphere very nicely: ELP take the music and the musical performance serious (definitely not 'bierernst'), but there is a sense of irony among the three towards their status as a supergroup from the early 70's, time-warped by some magic into the present. During Keith's "show" elements, and especially the upside-down-under-the-organ-d-minor-toccata, he gave the impression of "...I can't believe it I'm doing it again, but it's just fun, so let's go and give the folks what they want". Anyway, KE was obviously in good homour and in quite good shape (Before doing the piano solo he held and rubbed his right wrist, but after finishing it, he grinned and told the audience "This piece is hard work for the left (!) hand." --Which, of course, is true--) Personnally, I enjoyed very much, when ELP did the jazz interlude (It was the 'rhythm changes' from Gershwin's "I got rhythm"), but it was much too short. Are we going to hear more on new recordings ? All in all it was a night to remember ! Best regards Frank Neunreither ------------------------------ Digest subscrition, mailing address, and administrative stuff to: elp-digest-request@reluctant.com ELP-related info that you want to put in the digest to: elp-digest@reluctant.com Back issues are available from the ELP Digest web site: URL: http://bliss.berkeley.edu/elp/ Note: The opinions, information, etc. contained in this digest are those of the original message sender listed in each message. 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 without acknowledging the original source of the digest and each author. Thanks! ------------------------------ End of ELP Digest [Volume 7 Issue 16] *************************************