garymd Posted April 6, 2010 Share Posted April 6, 2010 Amazing time last night with two thirds of my favorite three-man band. My brother-in-law took me to the show as a birthday gift. Ram's Head Live in Annapolis is a very intimate setting and we were about 10 feet from Keith Emerson. They spent almost as much time telling stories as they did playing. They even took questions from the audience. One guy asked if they had ever played "Benny And The Bouncer" live. They honestly couldn't remember and after a couple tries, they finally sync'd up, found the right key and gave it their best shot. Greg Lake couldn't remember half of the words but he hummed and laughed his was through those lyrics. It was just so amazing for those like me who know every note from every song they have ever released. They even threw in a couple early King Crimson songs. A good time was had by all! Apparently Carl Palmer is touring with Asia but they insist they will all be together soon for a reunion of some sort. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coytee Posted April 6, 2010 Share Posted April 6, 2010 That is very nice to hear! (both what you experienced and that they might have a reunion) [Y] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colterphoto1 Posted April 6, 2010 Share Posted April 6, 2010 Glad to hear you getting out and enjoying live music Gary! Will have to look this one up. I saw Carl Palmer at Indy's Music Mill a couple years back with his three piece band (guitar taking over the keys arrangements). About the same distance. We heard as much acoustic drums as through the PA. Incredible show. Michael Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
russ69 Posted April 6, 2010 Share Posted April 6, 2010 Gary, We need more details. How was the sound? Did he use a mini Moog, the big touring Moog or something else? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garymd Posted April 6, 2010 Author Share Posted April 6, 2010 The sound was amazing. He had his original touring moog. Lake was coming off a throat infection and sounded a little harsh but much better than I expected. They opened with a story then went into From The Beginning. Sounded fabulous. More stories.......Take A Pebble. Keith talked about strumming the piano strings in the original version but since he had no grand piano on stage, he just played a nice intro. I always thought it sounded like an autoharp. More stories. Meeting Leonard Bernstein. Keith joking about Bernstein always having 2 young men by his side while Greg insisting he had NOTHING to do with that particular story except that Bernstein liked Keith's leather pants. Many laughs. Greg talked about getting his first guitar when he was 12. He also wrote Lucky Man that same year at 12. They were a few minutes short on tracks when recording their 1st album so Greg said he had a short song he wrote when he was 12. Keith said, yeah right, and walked away. He came back and his new moog had just arrived. He was testing its range while they secretly recorded him. Turns out that particular range fit in perfectly at the end of Lucky Man which is how that synthesizer ending came about. Like I said in a prior post, they asked if anyone in the audience had questions. I thought that was incredibly generous of them. Seemed they enjoyed telling stories every bit as much as playing music. For me, it was a once in a lifetime experience. It's not every day two of your favorite musicians are 10 feet away telling stories, playing incredible music and answering your questions. BTW - When Greg hit those deep bass notes, I thought the place was going to fall apart. The entire building was rattling! After he hit the first one, a huge smile lit up his face and he said, "Yeah baby," kind of Austin Powers-like. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cornman Posted April 6, 2010 Share Posted April 6, 2010 Gary you are really digging up my old memories. "In the court of the King" Wow.. I live in the live music capitol & have not been to a live show in year. Bravo to you sir. I just find it so comforting to listen to reproduced music in the comfort of my own home & of course the quest for the best possible gear makes this crazy hobby so relative for a home body like me. But like you said some of those concerts are one of a kind in life experiences. "talk to the wind" Cornman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Islander Posted April 6, 2010 Share Posted April 6, 2010 Wow! Thanks for sharing! It's great when performers are interacting with the audience. I saw Tom Robinson in a small club in Toronto about ten years ago and with his storytelling, it was almost like we were in a big living room enjoying a friend performing. It totally beats stadium concerts when you can have an experience like that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
russ69 Posted April 6, 2010 Share Posted April 6, 2010 Greg talked about getting his first guitar when he was 12. He also wrote Lucky Man that same year at 12. They were a few minutes short on tracks when recording their 1st album so Greg said he had a short song he wrote when he was 12. Keith said, yeah right, and walked away. He came back and his new moog had just arrived. He was testing its range while they secretly recorded him. Turns out that particular range fit in perfectly at the end of Lucky Man which is how that synthesizer ending came about. Great story Gary, Lucky Man is still in my top rotation even after all these years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators dtel Posted April 6, 2010 Moderators Share Posted April 6, 2010 Well a late Happy Birthday, that was a nice present, I had no idea they were still playing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lo123 Posted April 6, 2010 Share Posted April 6, 2010 Recently bought SACD release "In the Court of the Crimson King". Very cool! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garymd Posted April 7, 2010 Author Share Posted April 7, 2010 BTW - They played, "I Talk To The Wind" from The Court Of The Crimson King. It reminded me of seeing Pink Floyd back in the late 80s when they opened with Astronomy Domine. I was going nuts and the rest of the crowd was dead silent because all they knew was DSOTM and beyond. However, this was a much more sophisticated ELP crowd. They knew King Crimson very well. At intermission (after 3 songs LOL!), the ladies were joking because it was the first time anyone could remember the line to the men's room being longer than the line to the ladies room. The joke was (and probably true) that the average age of those attending was probably mid-50s and the men all had enlarged prostates.[] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldtimer Posted April 7, 2010 Share Posted April 7, 2010 From digging around I found they will be closing as headliners in London July 24/25 at the High Voltage Rock Festival in Victoria Park. ELP and also ZZ Top. Hopefully they will tour the US after that but no word I could find on an ELP tour yet... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Budman Posted April 7, 2010 Share Posted April 7, 2010 first concert i ever went to was ELP in the early 70's here in cincy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IB Slammin Posted April 8, 2010 Share Posted April 8, 2010 Used to do a lot of concerts back in the day. Santana, Jimi, Who, Zappa and the Mothers, etc. ELP has to rank in the top three. Outstanding audio quility for a live band back then. And to see this guy belted to a piano bench, 20' above the stage, doing back flips with a grand piano........( grand not baby grand) and never missing a lick........ A fake Moog CPU bank catching fire while pounding the walls of the theater with LF.......Huge trap set lifted and revolving on stage while playing his a$$ off....... I was young and so were they. Did I mention great live audio quility? tc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
winchester21 Posted April 8, 2010 Share Posted April 8, 2010 Awesome- really awesome- thanks for sharing-I remember them well from back in the day- sorta[] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skonopa Posted April 8, 2010 Share Posted April 8, 2010 That is awesome! I would have loved to that myself. The last live music that I got to see was Epica at Jaxx in Springfield back if January. At least I'll be seeing TSO this upcoming Sunday. Will be curious to see what thier non-Christmas show is going to be like. Found out in the paper today that Cheap Trick is going to be playing on the 21st of May literally right in my back yard (there is a concert venue not even 1/2 mile from here). I am hearing rumours that Foreigner may be playing there as well sometime later this summer! Also found out that Rush will be playing in September as well (I am SO going to that one!). Of course, I'll be seeing Sonata Arctica on May 2nd at Jaxx as well. Anyway, enough of that. Glad you had an excellent time and got to see some good live music again. Belated happy birthday [^] Live music, especially in a intimit setting like that Rams Head and Jaxx. I have heard of, but yet to see some good metal shows there at Rams Head. I wanted to go see Nightwish there, but that got cancelled - at least I saw them at Jaxx, though. I guess it is tought to drive all the way up there when I seem most of the same shows at Jaxx, which is less than half the distance. BTW, for the ELP fans, I would highly recommend checking out a local outfit called Kinetic Element. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garymd Posted April 9, 2010 Author Share Posted April 9, 2010 And to see this guy belted to a piano bench, 20' above the stage, doing back flips with a grand piano........( grand not baby grand) and never missing a lick........ A fake Moog CPU bank catching fire while pounding the walls of the theater with LF.......Huge trap set lifted and revolving on stage while playing his a$$ off....... tc Keith Emerson told a really long story about being strapped to that piano. They didn't quite have it working right one night and he almost broke both of his legs during the show. It was a 9 foot grand, his legs strapped to the piano going one direction (back flips) while his body was trying to go in the opposite direction. All the time, he had to continue playing these extremely amazing and difficult songs. Turns out he was just badly bruised, adjustments were made and the tour continued. My first ELP show was during the Trilogy tour in the mid-70s. Let's just say it was a mind-altering experience at Cole Field House, the home of the Maryland Terrapins at the time. They played the entire Trilogy album. I remember Carl Palmer doing things that night that did not seem humanly possible! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boxx Posted April 9, 2010 Share Posted April 9, 2010 One of my favorites. I would go see them if they came anywhere close to north Texas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldtimer Posted April 9, 2010 Share Posted April 9, 2010 Emmo and lake will be in Dallas at the Granada on the 30th this month and then May 1st. There were some few tickets to the may 1st show left a couple of days ago. My schedule will not allow me to attend (slight chance on the 1st) so I did not buy any. Check it out. I will be hoping for Palmer to join in and get near enough to attend, and would probably move anything out of way to make it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boxx Posted April 9, 2010 Share Posted April 9, 2010 Thanks for the heads up. I was able to ****** up two tickets for the 4/30 show. The Granada is a great venue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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