Keith Emerson Band, Tarrytown, NY show

I got to see the Keith Emerson band last night at the Tarrytown Music Hall. It was a thrilling evening in more ways then one. For starters, Keith looks fantastic. His hair is graying visibly but it's still long and he looks to be in great health. All the other band memebers are much younger but they all make an incredibly good band and I don't think I've ever seen Keith Emerson look so happy on stage in many, many years.

He also spoke quite a bit between numbers, speaking of the inspirations for many of the songs played.   I didn't write down the setlist during the show so I may not get the order of the songs exactly correct. If you don't want to know the setlist, turn away now!

The first song started with a Moog solo which segued into "KE9, 1st Impression, pt2" (Welcome back my friends...).

The second song was initially unrecognizable but slowly I realized it was the 3rd movement from his Piano Concerto, but rearranged in a rock band context. It was very heavy, reminding me a great deal of Toccata.

Keith then introduced the band then talked how the next song came to be written as a trubute to Led Zepplin which was a scorching version of "Living Sin". Marc Bonilla sounded great, taking on his own vocal interpretation of the melody at times.

Bitches Crystal was next, and very similar to the arrangement to what I've heard played live over the past ten years.

I believe Hoedown came next, again much like many live recordings I've heard over the past ten years.

It was now time to go acoustic with a new song called New Orleans, written in responce to that great city and how it's been hurt by recent events, such as Hurricane Katrina. This was mostly Keith at an acoustic baby grand with the other band members backing him up on an instrumental song that went from jazz to something more elegaic.

"From The Beginning" was next with Keith accompanying on the piano, rather then his synths, giving the song much more of an intimate feel.

Next was a Marc Bonilla instrumental. I believe the name was "Flash Point" and was a funky/jazzy piece with lots of incredible soloing by both Marc and Keith.

Keith then told a brief story about meeting Dave Brubeck. After his very funny story about meeting Jimmy Smith, the band played America/Rondo.

The first set was finished off with a very spacy guitar solo from Marc Bonilla which started off a very beautifully re-arranged version of Lucky Man, which also included an extended Moog solo at the end of the song.

The second set began with "The Karellia Suite" which Keith did with the Nice many years ago.

Tarkus was next, which was played complete, though slightly rearranged and was another of the highlights of the show.

The encore was Fanfare for the Common Man, which was in many ways closer to the recorded version and yet still had lots of interesting twists and turns, including quotes from the Van Halen song "Jump" and eventually segueing into many different classical pieces like Flight of the Bumblebee, Carmina Burana, and a bit of the Nutcracker (including Nutrocker!) thrown in for good measure.

My friend knew one of the roadies and scored us a couple of "backstage" passes, which really meant that we got to hang out in the theater after the show as each of the band members came out to sign autographs and talk to us. Keith Emerson came out as well for about 10 minutes and signed everyone's memorabilia while sitting on the edge of the stage. He was very gracious to everyone and it was truly a great thrill to be there.

It was truly an awesome night that I will not soon forget! I hope that anyone who sees them on this short tour will encounter the same enthusiasm and joy I witnessed last night.

Pierre

Thanks for the review .I'm seeing Emerson at The Astoria 20 July ..can't wait 

I'm seeing Emo live in London at the Astoria as well on the 20th, so up for it! One question though, should we expect all the classic Emerson stage tricks, pyro, organ abuse etc.... hope so, I've got a friend coming with whose not exactly a prog fanatic but keen for new experiences, and the more loud, extravagent and exciting the show the better! Any info so I can prep this guy would be helpful....

Regarding Emerson's usual pyrotechnics, the answer is yes and no. He did use the ribbon controller during Aquatarkus (I believe) but it did not shoot off any Fireworks. I believe they are making this decison on a venue by venue basis as I've seen photos from the BB King gig that showed him firing up the ribbon controller and shooting sparks into the audience. After the tragic fire at a Warwick, Rhode Island fire a couple of years ago, I think that bands are being VERY careful with anything that could start a blaze.

Keith did not have his old L-100 Hammond organ (that he would use only during Rondo) in Tarrytown so there were no extended thrashing, knife throwing moments. He did play one of his keyboard backwards though as he would have on the L-100.

Oddly enough, I was speaking to my friend who also saw Emerson in New Haven and while the show was great, the venue was quite empty and this clearly seemed to effect the bands performance. The modular moog was acting up and my friend said Emerson seemed clearly frustrated throughout that show.

However, the Tarrytown gig was by far the best performance I've seen him give in many, many years. There was no doubt he was having a wonderful time playing again and even though Tarrytown is just forty minutes north of mid-town Manhattan, the place was packed and the audience was wildly receptive.

Pierre