From: kemp@uiatma.atmos.uiuc.edu (John Kemp)
Subject: ELP CONCERT (INDIANA)
Organization: University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
Date: Tue, 18 Aug 1992 21:37:21 GMT


Here is a review of last night's ELP concert in Indiana:

---------------------> The Short Version 

The concert was great!  We had a great time!  Go see 'em
if you get a chance!

----------------------> The Play List

     Karn Evil 9 Intro
     Tarkus             (Oldies) 
     Knife Edge
     Paper Blood        (New songs)
     Black Moon
     Closer To Home     (Piano)
     Creole Dance
     From The Beginning (Guitar)
     Lucky Man
     Pirates            (Everything Else)
     Affairs of the Heart
     Romeo & Juliet
     Pictures 
     Fanfare            (Encore)
     America 

--------------------> Deer Creek Music Center 

Deer Creek is a covered ampitheater a few miles north
of Indianapolis.  It has a large grass track area in the rear.  
It probably seats around 6,000 with room for 2,000 or so more 
on the grass area.  The roof is a high steel-truss with walkways
and spotlights.  The sides and rear section are completely
open so it has a very spacious feel.  It was a perfect night 
weatherwise.

For the grasslanders, they have video screens in back and three 
video cameramen in the orchestra pit area, so people on the grass get 
some nice close-up views during the performance.  All in all, it is an 
excellent venue.  If you're on a budget, that grass area is a great
deal, and it is not that far back from the stage.

---------------------> Performance Critique
     
                        *** Keith Emerson ***

Whoever thrashed Keith for a poor performance at one 
of the previous shows should have seen this one.  His playing was 
just wonderful.  We had perfect seats to watch his piano work.
"Creole Dance" was especially good... very percussive.  I hope it
shows up on a future album.

"Closer To Home" was also a beautiful piece.  "Pirates" was 
probably the high point of the show... lots and lots of time
changes, and different textures.  And remember, not only
was he playing his original parts, he was also playing the 
orchestral accompaniment.  

Give me a break!  The guy is fantastic!

                       *** Carl Palmer ***

Well, I have always thought of Carl as a technician, and 
an accompaniment player, so I wasn't expecting much.
He did a good job.  You could tell he was enjoying himself,
indeed, I think all of them were having a good time.

During his solo he played the fastest 
rolls you will ever hear on double bass.
The solo was good, but musically, not very interesting.

One interesting note about the drumming; during one 
piece, Carl played the rhythm backbeat into a sequencer, 
then let the sequencer run, and comp'ed over the top of that.
That's kind of fun to see in a live trio situation.

                       *** Greg Lake ***

I was very pleased with Greg's performance.  His vocals
were very expressive.  I had heard that some of the songs had
been lowered to fit his current range, but it wasn't noticeable.
Overall, probably an A+ for Keith and Greg, and an A- for Carl.

----------> "To Bonham or Not To Bonham, That is the Question"

The reaction from the people I was with after Bonham left the 
stage was, "We just can't think of anything good to say about 
those guys."  Actually, it was more like, "We're trying to stop
thinking of bad things to say about these guys."

They finally came up with: "They had great hair!"

I was a little more generous.  The vocalist has potential.
He sounds a bit like Sammy Hagar and Steve Tyler.  Their
compositions were a bit redundant.  And I think everyone 
there at one point or another wondered why "Bonham" would 
be paired with ELP.  Any guesses?

In deference to the group, we were sitting a bit too close to 
the stage on the left side, and did get completely blasted by them.  
I think there albums might actually have some nice textures.  Some of 
their stuff had that "Kashmir" feel, which I thought was good.
Overall, they were very proffesional.  If I were 15 years old,
I probably would have loved them.

If anything, it was a good contrast.

---------> "Does anybody really know what time it is?" (LONG) 

The afternoon of the concert, we figured out how long
it would take us to get from the Univ. of Illinois to Indianapolis.
With 2 hours driving time, and 1 hour for dinner, we figured 
leaving at 5:30 would get us there in time to miss the opening group.  
At the last minute we decided, just to beat the traffic, we would
go at 4:30.

So around 4:45 we're getting ready to leave, and our navigator
says, "Did you guys account for the time difference between 
here an Indiana?"  The general reaction to that question was
"Oh, shit!"  And we bolted for our car.

Our driver kept his pedal to the floor all the way into 
Indiana, and we had to make the turn from I74 to I65.  There
was, of course, road construction on the way, and about 4 miles
back of the turn he caught a sign out of the corner of his eye
that said "I65 use right lane".  So he got over.

A couple miles later he sees the sign for I65, but it is hanging
over the left lane.  And there are a set of saw-horse dividers 
splitting the lanes up ahead.  So he swerves back into the left 
lane just in time.  Just in time, that is, to see that there is
now no way to get back into the right line, where, as you might
expect, we shortly see the turn off.

So, 1) we're late, 2) we're not sure where we're going, and 
3) we just missed the turn off.  Our driver made a spectacular
correction and got us turned around.  A little while later we
were pulling into the music theater parking clot.

So, we get there, and no one is playing.  In fact, "Bonham" has
not even started.  We figure, "Yeah, they know a lot of Illinois
people are coming so they delayed the start for an hour."  And
soon there after "Bonham" starts up.

To make a long story short, today we asked around and learned 
that Indiana is indeed EST while Illinois is CST.  But Indiana
has no daylight savings time!  

Yes, we do feel stupid,  and no, you don't have to remind us.
:-)
-----------------> Yes Reunion v. ELP Comeback

We had gone to the "Union" tour of Yes, and I have to say, it 
was the least inspiring Yes concert I had ever seen.  So of coure,
we were worried that this concert might end up being another 
lackluster event.  It was anything but.

One of the major elements that I think made the ELP show better
was the fact that the new album really stands on its own merits.
The Yes "Union" album is generally considered to be 
mediocre.  The ELP "Black Moon" album, on the other hand, has 
work on it that is nearly as good as anything ELP has produced
in the past.  The level of quality of ELP's material, IMHO, has 
remained consistently good.

-----------------------> Great T-Shirts

I usually won't buy a concert T-Shirt, but heck, how many times
do you get a chance to buy a "Tarkus" T-Shirt?  They had a bunch 
of nice T's from old concerts: Pirates, ELP, Brain Salad Surgery.

I never got to see a program though, so if someone wants to be nice
and post highlights from the program, that would be great.

Later,
JohnKemp@uiuc.edu
Newsgroups: alt.music.progressive