“WELCOME BACK MY FRIENDS TO THE SHOW THAT NEVER ENDS….” Carl Palmer continued the Emerson, Lake & Palmer legacy with an incredible performance last night at The Kent Stage. Joined on stage by guitarist Paul Bielatowicz and bassist Simon Fitzpatrick, Carl Palmer played the songs that made Emerson, Lake & Palmer become one of the most iconic “Progressive Rock” bands of all time.
A just under two hour set that included some video and music from Keith Emerson and Greg Lake accompanied by Carl Palmer and his bandmates “live” on stage. At 74 years old, Carl Palmer did not bring the “thunder” while playing drums, he brought a “category 5 hurricane”. His drum solo during “Carmina Burana” was a drum clinic extraordinaire. During some of the songs that feature video of Keith Emerson and Greg Lake, Carl Palmer played “live” with the tracks provided from Emerson Lake & Palmer concert at the Royal Albert Hall in the early 1990s. He had removed the drum parts from this recording and played his parts “live” on stage.
Most of the hits from the Emerson, Lake & Palmer were played and at one point Palmer talked about how he had consulted the families of Emerson and Lake, as he put the show together and they all agreed on what the show would contain. Keith Emerson’s son requested that Palmer included a video of his father playing “Creole Dance” as it was Emerson’s favorite solo to play. While they were showing the video, the band left the stage, so it was truly a solo performance. Another song featuring Palmer on vocals, which he joked and said “he would offer a refund on the ticket” was “Benny the Bouncer”. He said that it was one song that his Emerson, Lake & Palmer bandmates did not like to play in concert.
I had heard some of the fans walking into the show were concerned on how this seeing Emerson Lake & Palmer “Live In Concert” was going to be pulled off and for obvious reasons but Carl Palmer’s vision was indeed pulled off and they received a “standing ovation” at the end of the show. The show featured the “tracks” from Keith Emerson and Greg Lake accompanied by Carl Palmer and his phenomenal bandmates on stage, Paul Bielatowicz and Simon Fitzpatrick which had the crowd as close as they could possibly get to seeing ELP “live” again.
Appropriately, the last song of the evening was “Fanfare For The Common Man”. It was a FANtastic concert that celebrated the genius of Emerson Lake & Palmer!
