Travelled into a hot and humid London (thank God for air conditioning!) to see one of my heroes ..well actually my greatest hero.Keith Emerson the man who was an inspiration for many keyboard players in prog ..and now over sixty..although you would never know it!

The audience loved every minute of it.My friend who's into guitar rock like Wishbone Ash thought it was the best gig he's seen in years! Of course I agree

Mr Emerson thankyou for a great night

Wife and I were there too!

It was a fantastic show in a smallish intimate venue (And it was incredibly hot) . Actually in many ways I'm glad the stuff I like is less popular these days, because I no longer have to be one of 100,000 in a stadium. I can be one of 600 or so and I can end up three rows from the front right in line with the maestro's key rig. (Although I can honestly say I'm not such a anorak as many others who took the opportunity pre-show to photograph the rig  )

Keith hasn't lost his chops one bit... (He's now 61, I think) during the show we were treated to flamboyant Hammond palm glisses, incredibly rapid left hand parts (Once described by Rick Wakeman as unsurpassed in its technique and musicality). and the usual pyrotechnics involving a Moog ribbon controller, and of course Keith's party trick of playing the opening section of Bach's toccata and fugue backwards from the wrong side of the keyboard! (He has given up sticking knives into a beaten up old L100 and playing it while stood on top of it - or lying under it - Well he is nearly a pensioner!)

The highlight for me was Tarkus too.  Amazing.  Though i did enjoy the brilliant acoustic Jazz piano set. 

He's put a really top notch band together (Marc Bonilla on Guitar and Vocals, Pete Riley on Drums, and Phil Williams on Bass) Each of them was given the opportunity to showcase their talent, which was nice, they weren't just making up the numbers. (Actually I rate Bonilla a better vocalist than Greg Lake  )

Keith's main rig consisted of his Goff modded Hammond C3, the venerable but fully refurbished Moog Modular, a Triton Extreme and an 88 note Korg Oasys. I suspect that there was some rack gear off stage too. For his acoustic/jazz set there was a Yamaha grand on the other side of stage.

It really was a scorching hot night which did bring some tech difficulties Interestingly enough, it was the Triton and the Oasys that acted up (Or I suspect the computer off stage that I know Keith's keyboard tech uses to drive all the patch changes throughout the show) But the Hammond and the Moog performed flawlessly throughout.

Standout moment - The Lucky Man Moog solo. Bloody Hell that beast is capable of delivering power. The highs could cut through glass, and those portmanto dives to the deep bass physically shook the whole building. And every one of us in the audience. I just can't imagine any virtual analogue (or indeed anything else) being able to deliver anything that FAT and powerful.

As they came out to do the Encore Keith was high-fiving along the front of stage, and I spotted my wife right at the front slapping hands with the man himself  - she was always better at worming her way to the front of a gig than me!

To top off a great gig, during the encore, as someone else has already mentioned, Keith's son Aaron unexpectedly arrived off to the side of the stage, he reached over the keys and tapped him on the shoulder.  There followed some animated beckoning and pointing which ended up with Keith pretty much dragging his son onto stage so they could share a bit of an impromptu keyboard duet (complete with good natured shoving) Aaron has inherited his dad's keyboard ability - who says it's not in the DNA!

A great gig.  One I will remember fondly for a long time