Emerson, Lake & Palmer

Jetzt ist auch der Auftritt von ELP beim letztjährigen HIGH VOLTAGE – Festival auf DVD und BD (Hinweis: die US-BD scheint RegioCodeFree zu sein – zumindest meine, die über PLANETAXEL (ehemals: AXELMUSIC) gekommen ist).

Hierzu ‚mal ein Review der DVD von DPRP:

Emerson Lake & Palmer – 40th Anniversary Reunion Concert [DVD]

Tracklist: Karn Evil 9: 1st Impression – Part 2, The Barbarian, Bitches Crystal, Knife Edge, From The Beginning, Touch And Go, Take A Pebble segue Tarkus: (Eruption | Stones Of Years | Mass | Battlefield | Aquatarkus), Farewell To Arms, Lucky Man, Pictures At An Exhibition: (Promenade | Gnome | The Sage | The Hut Of Baba Yaga | The Great Gates Of Kiev), Fanfare For The Common Man | Drum Solo | Rondo Bonus Material: Nicky Horne’s interviews with Keith Emerson, Greg Lake and Carl Palmer, interviews with various managers, archivist Tony Ortiz and music journalist Chris Welch

The temptation to open this review with the now immortal Sinfield/Lake lyrics that open Karn Evil 9: 1st Impression – Part 2 was tempting, however Ladies and Gentlemen… this may well be our last chance to witness these three pioneers of the progressive rock movement in action. A band that have sold almost 40-50 million albums, written hit songs as well as composing epic tracks. Icons of the progressive rock movement who have influenced generations of musicians and I’m sure will live long in the annals of music, whatever genre. The fact that they reformed to play at High Voltage surprised and delighted many and for those, like myself, who were unable to be at the concert then this DVD is an absolute must. A chance to see Keith, Greg and Carl celebrate a forty years of ELP.

And that is what this concert is/was about – a celebration. A band paying one final tribute to their fans…

On a personal note this is also a chance for me to share in this celebration. As a young teenager I was dabbling with Purple, Heep, Sabbath, Zeppelin and so on, each week travelling into town to buy a new album. On one such weekend I bought an album with a flighted dove on the cover. Once at home and shortly after placing the album in the gramophone ;0) – those distorted bass notes resonated well in these ears. However it was in fact 4th March 1971 where my love of progressive rock really began. A close friend and myself had bought tickets for a concert at Stockton on Tees‘ Globe Theatre to see one Emerson Lake & Palmer in concert…

Bring on the celebrations!

So what is great for me to see on this DVD, amongst all the pyrotechnics, the stage sets and projections is those human moments – and those moments that remind me of what live music is about. This is not a flawless performance (I doubt the concert in March 71 was either). Greg is obviously not happy with the stage monitoring, Carl has issues with his drum kit after the drum stage revolves, Keith’s keyboards do not always cut through the mix, but through all these minor mishaps is a wonderful show, performed by three truly professional musicians.

As for the music – well much as you might expect really – extracts from Pictures and Tarkus – From The Beginning and Lucky Man are there of course. Fanfare For The Common Man which of course features Carl’s drum solo and concludes with Rondo. The rousing Touch & Go is a big crowd pleaser – the footage of which reveals an emotionally charged audience, revelling in the concert. There are even some young people in there ;0). Bitches Crystal is a nice inclusion as is Farewell To Arms.

Highlights: Well there are many, but to pick just a few. Great to hear so much from the first album with only The Three Fates and Tank being AWOL. The already mentioned Bitches Crystal. Keith’s piano solo leading into Tarkus (on piano). Tarkus itself. And then there’s Pictures At An Exhibition loved by many, reviled by others. I fall into the former category… as hot on the heels of my first ever concert I travelled to Newcastle City Hall on 26th March 1971 and, well, the rest is history. The more concise version here is splendid and the reworked The Sage delightful.

Disappointments: Well the band were delayed getting on stage – so it would be interesting to know what the „missing twenty minutes or so“ of their set might have been? Or maybe not… no don’t tell me! Not really a disappointment but something a little more from the oft overlooked Trilogy album. Or sacrificing Fanfare, (sorry folks but I could live without another version of this), for a version of Pirates which was such a highlight from their 25th Anniversary celebrations.

The concert footage seems to be a fairly true representation of the gig and there seems to be little in the way of editing, although Fanfare seems to be chopped rather clumsily. Keith’s keyboards suffer soundwise here and there, and there are few minor glitches (Pictures…). But hey I’m just nit picking here. As our trio emerged on stage at dusk the stage lighting is less effective at the beginning, but in true ELP style captures the show to a tee.

As for the bonus material. The interviews with Keith, Greg and Carl are interesting, thoughtful if not too searching. I was a little disappointed, in light of the nature of the concert, that the band didn’t do a joint interview. Now this may not have been possible, but certainly would have been the icing on the cake. Interesting to hear Greg say that the band still have unfinished potential?

Before I conclude this review. I’ve read criticisms about Emerson Lake & Palmer’s performance at High Voltage and those who say the band are not the band they were. Well this may well be true – however they set such high standards. So here I would say – go look in the mirror and ask the aging, likely balding and somewhat larger framed figure in front of you and ask – what am I able to do as well or better now, than I could forty years ago?

So folks – a thoroughly entertaining and highly recommended concert captured on DVD.

Conclusion: Impossible for me to rate…

Persönliche Anmerkungen: Der Sound ist nicht mit den DirectRecordings von CONCERTLIVE zu vergleichen, da um Längen besser. Lake gleicht wirklich einem Honigkuchen … hat auch hier und dort einige Schwierigkeiten, wie Emerson wohl auch. Als altem ELP-Fan sind mir doch tatsächlich fast die Tränen gekommen …