CARL PALMER’S ELP LEGACY
This was a fine display of extremely talented musicians playing technically complicated music not just for the sake of showing off their chops but because they enjoy it.
This time last week, I was at the 100 Club for Steve Ignorant’s Crass Songs tour. Tonight, I am at Epic Studios for something very different indeed, CARL PALMER’S ELP LEGACY. This show is, I suppose, a tribute to baroque prog rock legends Emerson Lake & Palmer and the late Greg Lake and Keith Emerson.
First things first, much as ELP’s sound relied on Palmer’s drums and Lake’s voice, acoustic and bass, it was Emerson’s keys that were, to many, ELP’s USP. Palmer’s ELP Legacy band retains the power trio format but with no keyboards. Some might question the wisdom of this but it makes sense. How can you recreate something that arguable can’t be recreated? From opener Karn Evil 9: 1st Impression, Part 2, Paul Bielatowicz and Simon Fitzpatrick - on guitar/vocalist and bass/Chapman stick, respectively - do a damned fine job of capturing the spirit, if not the actual sound, of Lake and Emerson.
Second number of the night is Toccata and Fugue in D minor. As Palmer says after the song, this is not an ELP number but is included because they enjoy playing it. Third tune Knife-Edge is downright menacing whilst Trilogy is as OTT as ever. C'est La Vie is performed by Simon Fitzpatrick solo whilst the honky tonking rocker Benny the Bouncer, with Palmer on vox and brushed drums brings the first set to a conclusion.
After the interval, Bielatowicz opens the second set with a solo reading of Clair De Lune. This is followed be a take on King Crimson’s 21st Century Schizoid Man, which Palmer tells us was the first song ELP ever played together. For Lucky Man, Fitzpatrick imitates Emerson’s solo with the Chapman stick and a bunch of effects pedals. Tarkus features gong abuse and is followed by a rocking Hoedown and a raging take on Fanfare For The Common Man, complete with extended drum solo. Now, my normal position is that there is no excuse for a drum solo ever. I’ll change that to there is no excuse for a drum solo ever unless it is by by Carl Palmer and it thoroughly deserved the standing ovation. With the trio not leaving the stage, there is an encore of Nutrocker.
This was a fine display of extremely talented musicians playing technically complicated music not just for the sake of showing off their chops but because they enjoy it. It was not perfect, however. I don’t understand why a band would choose not to take full advantage of Epic’s lighting, which is amongst the best that I have ever seen. Bielatowicz‘s voice struggled a little at times (and I have seen him before so know he is better than this). Palmer leaving the drum kit to take a mic at the front of the stage to talk to the audience didn’t make much sense. Those gripes aside, this was was a thoroughly enjoyable evening.
