From: ross@cbmvax.commodore.com (Ross Hippely - Manuals)
Newsgroups: rec.music.synth,alt.music.progressive
Subject: Re: ELP tour
Summary: Agreement, ELP show was lame
Keywords: elp concert emerson lame
Date: 14 Aug 92 20:12:06 GMT
Reply-To: ross@cbmvax.commodore.com (Ross Hippely - Manuals)
Followup-To: alt.music.progressive
Organization: Commodore, West Chester, PA

In article <1992Aug10.224405.32062@watson.ibm.com> cc@cowan.fishkill.ibm.com (Chris Cowan) writes:
>Before going further, I should explain that I was once about as hard core of
>an ELP fan, as there ever was.  Unfortunately, I've crossed the death-line
>(30 yrs.)

So far, my story too.

> and discovered Jazz somewhere along the line!  

I can't claim I'm too deeply into Jazz with a capital J, but my tastes have
expanded into a diversity of more "serious" music forms since first becoming
an ELP-head.

> In general, I found the show disappointing.  

It sure is refreshing to hear that I am not the only one with this reaction.

>(Although, I will admit that I am pretty spoiled
>going to Clubs in NYC and have really grown to hate large venues, like this
>concert.)

Same here, but in Philadelphia.  Only this (the Mann Music Center) is one of 
the nicest large venues you'll find.  Not a hockey rink.

>Anyhow, I saw the show in Columbia, MD,  referred to earlier.  
>Here's my recap:

[description of deja vu concert experience deleted]

I saw them in Philadelphia, reportedly the opening show of the tour.  The
other descriptions I've heard match the show I saw, except that
"Pirates" was not played.  There were a few prominent technical glitches
in the show -- "Knife Edge" came to a complete halt when Emerson reached 
for a sound that wasn't there -- but that was entirely forgivable.

>- Palmer still plays great solos and has HORRIBLE time.  (Being a musician
>  myself, I find the time thing more and more annoying each time I see them.
>  I'm probably one of the few people who liked Cozy better than Carl, because
>  of this).

Hmmm, that's one complaint I didn't have about this show.  Palmer's buzzsaw
double-bass work in the solo still sounded impressive to me.  Otherwise, I
wasn't listening so closely to Palmer.

>Throughout, they played snipets of old material, rather than the whole deal.
>(Tarkus, Karn Evil 9 and Pictures were all "truncated".)

This really bothered me, the cursory, grab-bag character of the show.
If there are any two pieces that epitomize ELP, and would be considered
obligatory, they are "Tarkus" and "Karn Evil 9".  Instead, we get a potpourri.
Give 'em a little of the ribbon-controller thing, a taste of this album, 
do the acoustic bit, the rotating-drum-stand-with-gongs solo, wrap up 
with the organ schtick, there ya go buddy, now you've seen Emerson
Lake and Palmer!

But I could deal with all that, if the musicianship were there.  I've
got no big complaint with Lake or Palmer.  They were competent.  The problem
was Emerson.  He sucked.  SUCKED.  He played like he'd been drinking heavily
before the show.  And it definitely wasn't that he was taking it too fast.
The tempo of "Tarkus", for example, was *noticeably* slower than the studio
album version, and still he could only approximate the parts.  We're talking
handfuls of missed notes.  He just wasn't anywhere near reproducing the
original parts, to say nothing of embellishing or developing them.  Emerson's
virtuosity in writing and playing was what really made ELP as far as I'm
concerned, and there was none of it left on that night.  

Of course, if you didn't know the music well in the first place, or you 
weren't listening too closely, I suppose it sounded fine.  The lights were
very nice.  Certainly there was a horde of people on all sides of me 
who did not share my opinion; they were cheering like it was the second
coming.  But the mighty Moog of yore was only window dressing, the Hammond 
little more than a prop.

>Last but not least, they played some of the new stuff.  But,
>I can't really say that I was bowled over by it.  

You are very kind.

>Chris Cowan 

Now maybe they just had an off night.  For the sake of you folks who have
tickets for upcoming shows, I hope so.  But as far as I'm concerned, they
were just going through the motions.  

No more dinosaur-band reunion concerts for me.  Snort.

-- 
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Ross Hippely:                                               Technical Writer
employed by, not speaking for:              Commodore Business Machines Inc.
Newsgroups: rec.music.synth