Carl Palmer show last nite...

ronyd

Silver Member
Went to see Carl Palmer last nite here in Rhode Island at the Met. I've seen ELP back in the day many times, but not that close to see Palmer in action. God almighty, for a guy who is 65 years old, the intensity, speed, agility, stamina is incredible. I mean, I saw Roy Haynes last year, who is what, 86 yrs old, And I thought that was amazing. Of course, Roy played in very small increments of speed in comparison.

all in all enjoyed the show very much, watching very closely at his hands moving around.

The quirky thing about the show is the missing "EL" part of the equation. Playing ELP tunes with just the guitar and bass player was sometimes whacky. Knowing ELP inside and out, sometimes I got lost where they were. But was cool to see the bass player blend in some synthesizer type stuff with his setup.

His Ludwig Stainless kit was awesome to see. Double bass (probably 26"), 13", 14", 16" 18" toms. His snare sounded amazing. Also had an electronic pad of sought, letting out some serious sounds. And, of course, the 2 gongs and assortment of Paiste cymbals. You could tell though, that hitting gongs with 2 large mallets was a bit slower than back in the 70's. Shoot, I probably couldn't lift my arms up that high.

When you attend a gig like this, I always wonder what its like to play in front of a very small audience, compared to back in the day playing to thousands day after day. Are guys like Carl Palmer well off with money and now travel around in small van and U-Haul having a great time with small gigs OR is he broke and need the money...

After playing almost 2 hours, came out to the lobby and signed autographs.

very nice....
 
Reasons for playing for the older guys I'm sure are varied. Look at Bermuda. He plays for pocket cash to pay the maid to dust off the many Gold and Platinum records.
 
I'm jealous. I've seen him a couple times in the past few years and he does have serious stamina.

What ELP songs did they play? I'll have to youtube later and see what I can dig up.
 
I'm jealous. I've seen him a couple times in the past few years and he does have serious stamina.

What ELP songs did they play? I'll have to youtube later and see what I can dig up.

Played tarkus to the full (15 mins). Hoedown, trilogy to start with....
 
One of my biggest influences for sure, I even bought a 48" gong back in 1974.
 
Saw his show last night and would like to second what the OP said. Played a nice medley and mix of ELP and other prog songs. The guitarist and bass player are amazing, they've transposed a lot of parts into those instruments and make this 3 piece sound large and modern.

He played with such intensity the entire night, 2 hours. The crowed went pretty wild and got some swag signed. If he comes around to your area, check them out.
 

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Carl Palmer is great!

He probably isn't taking off his shirt anymore, though! (Had to say it).
 
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