Las Vegas Weekly

Did anyone out there see the show? If so, please comment here and tell us all how it went...

Thanks, Joe

This is a rather unfair assessment of the tour. Yes, the beginning was a disaster, but E and L have pulled it all together and have been performing to sell-out crowds since then. All the show reviews I have seen have been very positive. The show is different... Carl Palmer is definitely missed, but he already had contracted to tour with Asia. Still, Emerson and Lake have put together a show that is fan-pleasing, while acknowledging the fact that their days of jumping over keyboards and screaming lyrics are behind them (as well as most of their fans!). The show is a retrospective of their careers... and I am very much looking forward to seeing them in Houston this weekend.

Thanks for the out-dated review. The issues that arose during the first few nights of the tour have since been resolved. They are back on schedule and have played at least six shows since the dated material in your report. I saw them in Massachusetts on April 10th. It was a fantastic show and both Emerson and Lake are in top musical form. This show has been billed as an "Intimate Evening with Keith Emerson and Greg Lake". So anyone that goes to this show expecting to see EL&P is a twit. Palmer has contractual obligations with Asia, but will be preforming with Emerson and Lake (as ELP) in July at the HiVo. Something tells me that Mr. Brown doesn't even know who the heck these guys are...he just copied/pasted a review that he found on the internet. If you're a "forever fan" of ELP - go to the show. you won't be disappointed.

Um, wentka, I have all of ELP's important (including Works II) permanently resident on my iPod. This little piece wasn't a review, it was a preview, letting people (many of whom, i assure you don't read ELP fansites) what has been going on with the tour. thanks for reading and commenting!

joe

As mentioned by few others who have commented on this article here, the tour had a rough start, but got going, and many of the successful SOLD OUT shows were performed in April. I myself saw them in San Francisco on April 27 where they performed in front of a full-house audience, and played far better than expected from only a couple of former super group legends in their 60s. Unlike some of the other superficial pop music groups from the 70s, these guys matured very well musically, and had lots to offer to the real music listeners.

This article was obviously written by a person with a very limited musical insight and knowledge, who failed to mention the quality of the music they have delivered in their heydays and are now delivering today. Instead, this dirt-digging article only talks about the lack of the rotating drum kits (very pointless without a drummer), a flame-throwing synthesizer and a somersaulting grand piano (only a fool would expect to see these antics that are so passe in the year 2010. Oh I forgot, that's the kind of stuff people still go to Vegas for...) It's sad that some people only seek cheap thrills in a real music act like this. They should have skipped a superficial tinsel town of LV altogether, so no Joker Brown had to publish such inaccurate and misleading preview just to fill the space.

Joe, maybe you don't grasp the concept of an "unplugged" type show.
You appear to be the typical entertainment writer who looks for the dirty laundry and forgets the music and what it's about. The reviews from the fans, and that's what this tour is about, have been great, but you prefer to go into the unfortunate happenings at the beginning of the tour. Typical lack of real journalism from your type. You could have easily followed up with more current information, but chose not to. I feel sorry for the fans in LV, but maybe you know your audience.

I just don't understand the music press and their animosity towards ELP. In the 70s when their shows did have spinning pianos and pyrotechnics they were scorned for being so ostentatious. They even lambasted Greg Lake for standing on an oriental rug! Now, here Joe Brown is jumping on the bandwagon in criticizing them for doing a stripped down show. The problem with "journalism" on the internet is that there no longer seems to be any sources for the story other than another story. Joe Brown gave for the cancellation, "The band has a history of contentiousness, and E and L had reportedly been squabbling during rehearsals." And what source did he site for this statement? He obviously didn't quote a witness, management their publicists, or from they themselves! Using the word "reportedly" doesn't make a rumor true.

This show is exactly what that they promised--an intimate evening. And this is a show that the fans loved. I can imagine the disappointment of the fans whose shows were cancelled--I myself went to a show that had been postponed and my friends and family could no longer accompany me. The show was absolutely wonderful! But what the press doesn't seem to get about ELP is that they have very loyal fans that just love them. I have to think this tour was a gift for those diehard fans. When they come back on tour with Carl Palmer, I suppose you and other critics will have their poison pens ready.