Author: Peter Podbrežnik
Photos: Aleš Podbrežnik
Location: Velden am Wörthersee / Bluesiana Rock Cafe / Austria
Concert date: 02/26/2016
Attendance: 60
Ticket price: €34.00
At Bluesiana we caught legendary drummer Carl Palmer live for the fourth time in the last five years. He rose to fame in the early seventies as a member of British prog rock attraction Emerson, Lake & Palmer (ELP for short), and plenty of people also hold him dear for his stint in the supergroup Asia, where he enjoyed the biggest commercial success of his rich musical career in the eighties. Since the nineties, when the biggest successes were already a thing of the past, Mr. Palmer has gotten used to playing far more modest venues, so he’s long since been above nothing when it comes to playing music clubs, where sometimes fewer than sixty people turn up to see him. That’s roughly how many people gathered at Bluesiana this night, and it didn’t faze Carl, guitar virtuoso Paul Bielatowicz and bass master Simon Fitzpatrick (who also swears by the Chapman stick) one bit. They once again delivered a top-notch live show where we all got a proper fill of some unforgettable ELP standards, with a surprise or two thrown in along the way.
Carl, Paul and Simon opened their set with the first part of the unforgettable super-epic »Karn Evil 9«, which has become almost a traditional intro to Palmer’s shows in recent years. These instrumental grand masters, whose special trick is that guitarist Bielatowicz covers both Keith Emerson’s keyboards and Greg Lake’s guitar at the same time (an incredibly tough job), kicked off with a ferocious performance. Right after the first number, though, there was a brief, unpleasant hiccup between Carl and the sound engineer at the mixing desk. The legendary drummer claimed the sequencer couldn’t be heard, while the sound guy claimed exactly the opposite. In the end they did reach an agreement and the show rolled on undisturbed. Interpretations of ELP standards by Palmer’s band, where the guitar stands in for the keyboards and there’s no room for vocals, always sound interesting and refreshing.
The only song from the later, less successful ELP era this night was »Romeo & Juliet«, originally written by Prokofiev. Carl pointed that out, as he did before the other pieces that originally belong to the masters of classical music but that ELP dressed up in prog rock ‘shirts’ back in the ‘olden days’. Bielatowicz, who delivered an extremely subtle version of Debussy’s »Claire de Lune« during his solo spot, once again had his hands full with the original Emerson piano and synth textures. His solo turn was slightly overshadowed by Fitzpatrick’s solo feat, when he played the Toto hit »Rosanna« on the Chapman stick in a stunning way, replacing »Stairway to Heaven« and »Bohemian Rhapsody« from previous years. The only thing that got more enthusiasm from the crowd was Carl’s own solo.
The drumming grand master and his loyal sidekicks also delighted us this night with »Bitches Crystal«, an ELP classic from the ‘primeval’ days when it seemed the legendary trio couldn’t be stopped. Fans of heavier sounds were surely happiest about the furious »The Barbarian« and the raging »Knife Edge«, which warmed up the air nicely in the sparsely attended club, though Palmer’s band didn’t lose any sleep over that. The biggest surprise of the night was definitely the vividly colorful cover of the King Crimson classic »21st Century Schizoid Man«, where the saxophone passages were swapped for wittily sounding wah-wah effects. Carl introduced ‘Schizoid Man’ as the ‘premiere’ piece ELP played when they first started rehearsing, way back in 1970. A smaller surprise was the performance of the ‘patriotic’ evergreen »Jerusalem«, where Carl reminded us that when ELP wanted to release it as a single in 1973, the BBC blocked it from being played on the radio over a banal reason.
Sadly we didn’t hear the post-apocalyptic super-epic »Tarkus« this night, but there was really no reason to mourn, since Carl’s band played Carl Orff’s famous masterpiece »Carmina Burana« in outstanding fashion and topped it off with a good 23-minute version of the masterpiece »Pictures at an Exhibiton«, bringing to life the vibrant sonic images once dreamed up by the famous composer Mussorgsky. This rendition was of course based on the first ELP live album from 1971, which still ranks among their greatest masterpieces. »Fanfare For the Common Man« served as a logical close to the main part of the show, with Carl’s obligatory solo spot after Paul and Simon (temporarily) said goodbye to the stage. Carl’s drum solo was, as always, ‘out of this world’, and it’s practically impossible to describe how he ‘worked over’ his massive drum kit without taking a breath. For the big finale, Carl’s band played the encore The Nice classic »Nutrocker«, which of course originally belongs to Tchaikovsky, but which ELP also loved to perform later on, especially in their early years when they didn’t have much original material yet.
Any hangout with a drumming eminence of Carl’s caliber is an unforgettable experience. His takes on ELP evergreens are one of a kind, a real feast for the ears, and they do wonders for body and soul alike. It was great to see that after an initial reserve and the aforementioned unpleasant incident, Carl’s band loosened up and played a show that both the crowd and the band themselves enjoyed. An ELP reunion is sadly more and more science fiction, so right now the most authentic live experience of their music is catching The Carl Palmer Band.
Setlist
1. Ride of the Valkyries (intro tape)
2. Karn Evil 9: First Impression, Part 2
3. Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 565
4. The Barbarian
5. Bitches Crystal
6. Romeo & Juliet
7. Jerusalem
8. 21st Century Schizoid Man
9. Hoedown
10. Clair de Lune (Paul Bielatowicz solo)
11. Knife Edge
12 Rosanna (Simon Fitzpatrick solo)
13. Carmina Burana
14. Pictures at an Exhibition
15. Fanfare for the Common Man/drum solo
—encore—
14. Nutrocker
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