The IMWAN Forum has a few ELP Fans chatting about the ‘debacle’ in Cleveland.
Robert Gerard Hunt actually posted a photo of the empty Emerson Lake stage in Cleveland. in his blog.
How ironic is that!
I have said it before many times: you get little reward for being a fervent ELP fan. It’s bad enough that (if you live long enough) you wait 15 years between tours then when the tour comes round it stutters to a false start.
Some people in Cleveland are a bit pissed off that that they drove 200 miles to the gig to be told it was cancelled at the last minute. I have spent months making all sorts of arrangements, and a fair amount of money, to fly from Glasgow, Scotland to New York to see the gig at The Nokia Theatre.
How angry do you think I’ll be if that gig is cancelled!
For sure it must have been incredibly disappointing and frustrating to get to the gig and waiting on it all happening only to be told that there is no gig. I have never heard of such circumstances in all the gigs I have attended over 30 years.
It seems particularly irksome that there seems no good reason forthcoming at this point….. at least not yet anyway. There is a lot of speculation about in fighting but I personally don’t believe that. They must have been rehearsing for weeks before the tour and would have cleared up all artistic disagreements before this point.
Furthermore after the amount of time they have been in the business, they must have a degree of professionalism that would have overcome petty arguments.
I mean, even Roger Waters and Pink Floyd played music together at Live 8 in a professional manner and look how much abuse they had hurled at each other over the years. Even if you hate each other it is still entirely possible (and good for your career and reputation) to get over that and go and get the job done. Yes the show must go on. Its is an entertainment cliche but it is true
My view is that it is some kind of health issue, bureaucratic issue or something more important than Emerson and Lake swinging handbags at each other. The management press release mentioned at cleveland.com states that the tour will continue from Monday at Annapolis MD. If you have an arguement you don’t generally agree a date for a truce do you?
In the modern business/celebrity arena people are very cautious about opening their gob until they have worked out the ‘best outcome scenario’: check out Tiger Woods or these English footballers and their wives. And given how little ELP ever tell the world anything, it is not suprising that no info is forthcoming. I mean they barely told anyone about the bloody tour! All the fans had to find out via the jungle drums and private detectives and then passed information around the Secret Society!
Let’s hope the tour continues on Monday and the long suffering fans get what they deserve: some ELP music played by EL(P): that’s it – surely not too much to ask!
Otherwise any one fancy a beer with a jetlagged scotsman in Time Square NYC on Thursday night?……. cos I may have a few spare hours to spare!
In an interview for the first Emerson Lake gig of 2010 at Lakewood Civic Auditorium the website cleveland.com spoke with Keith and Greg and got some hints that we may see more from the duo/trio following this tour and the High Voltage gig in London in July.
Everyone knows that they have been writing together and the only reason to write is to record and release new music. This is very exciting since their creative output has been fairly minimal since their real ‘Imperial period’: the last real album was in 1994’s In the Hot Seat. Whilst the album certainly does have it’s moments the widely held view is that it is not an ELP landmark.
But then given the arm problem Keith had at the time and the ‘post tour syndrome’ they always seem to suffer these days it is hardly a surprise.
It sounds like both players have may have mellowed with age and realise the ‘chemistry’ the have (described by Greg Lake in one of his online chat sessions) is actually worth cherishing and hopefully they can find a way to give the long suffering ELP fans a reward for their endurance.
And given the amount of crap music we all have to suffer these days in mainstream media (including the internet) we could really do with some quality music to listen to. My Brian Salad Surgery CD (an album which is impossible to listen to enough) has been played so much it is as worn as my vinyl – now that takes some amount of playing.
I personally can’t with to go to NYC next week to see the new gig format and have them chatting to the audience too!!!! wow. Like a rare warm scottish summer it looks like 2010 is gonna be a bumper year for ELP fans.
Keith was awarded The Frankfurt Music Award for artistic and technical innovation. The award was given to Keith at Frankfurt’s Town Hall ‘Römer’on the eve of the annual Frankfurt Musikmesse, 23 March 2010.
The Frankfurt Music Prize was founded in 1980 and is awarded annually on the occasion of the international Musikmesse in Frankfurt by the Trustees of the Frankfurt Music Prize Foundation (Kuratorium Stiftung Frankfurter Musikpreis zur Internationalen Musikmesse Frankfurt) to personalities from the world of music for special achievements in the fields of interpretation, composition, musicology and teaching
It seems that the Keith Emerson and Greg Lake North American 2010 Tour dates are now somewhat finalised (stay awake though, anything can happen on planet ELP. Details are available at Pollstar
According to Pollstar Keith Emerson and Greg Lake have announced another date in April – the Regency Ballroom in San Francisco on 26 April.
Sunday 04/11/2010 Lynn, MA
Saturday 04/24/2010 Las Vegas, NV
Wednesday 04/28/2010 Colorado Springs, CO
Keith Emerson is shown with Les Mercy after attending their show at Santa Monica.
I just stumbled across the website of photographer Al Ligammari 11 (Alimar) with some great backstage an concert photos of ELP from several shows by Al himself.
1. Backstage at Toronto in 1973 (Maple Leaf Gardens?) with a few stage shots (black and white)
2. On stage in Buffalo NY (Rich Stadium?) in 1974 (black and white)
3. On stage in Buffalo NY in 1978 (colour)
Can anyone confirm the venues?
Great shots Al – thanks for sharing
Al also has others personal photos of Yes, Genesis, Led Zeppelin, Steve Hackett and Gentle Giant
More tour dates have been added for the Emerson Lake USA Tour 2010.
Thu Apr 1 Lakewood OH Lakewood Civic Auditorium
Fri Apr 2 Glenside PA Keswick Theater
Sat Apr 3 Ridgefield CT Ridgefield Play House
Tue Apr 6 Alexandria VA The Birchmere
Thu Apr 8 New York NY Nokia Theatre Times Square
Fri Apr 9 Westbury NY Westbury Music Fair
Sat Apr 10 New Bedford, MA Zeiteron Performing Arts Center
Tue Apr 13 Montreal QC Place des Arts
Fri Apr 16 Milwaukee WI Potawatomi Casino / Northern Lights Theatre
Sat Apr 17 Merrillville IN Star Plaza Theatre
Sun Apr 18 Indianapolis IN Murat Theatre at the Murat Centre
Sun Apr 25 Los Angeles, CA Orpheum Theatre
Not all tickets are on sales yet. It seems its is down to each venue to make that decision so you can carry on the detective exercise and see if you can find out when tickets for your town go on sale.
Living on the West Coast of Scotland my local gig is obviously New York City so I got my tickets when they went on sale for the Nokia Theatre.
Ticket price for the gig $99,
plane fares $900,
accommodation, meals……..ah the things you do for an Emerson Lake gig!
BTW the Paradise Music site has really pulled all the stops out and posted a wee radio jingle for the gig in New York City.