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....
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....