I saw them in August of 1974 at Charlotte Speedway with 300,000 others...They stole the show.
Folks forget that they were the headliners of California Jam, with supporting acts Eagles and EWF and more. My friend knew the promoter in Jackson MS and we drove up to see the show there the night before that Baton Rouge one. He let us in before the venue even opened and I zombied my way to stand directly in front of Keith's keyboards, mesmerized. At one point I yelled out "Knife Edge" and Keith looked at me and nodded, but they didn't play it then. Another friend was a great photographer, so I have some wonderful, clear, action shots of the show. Saw them many times after, but it became "Puppet Show and Spinal Tap" after a while. Even caught the band 3 (tolerable) and Emerson, Lake, and Powell (embarrassingly empty venue, so the echo made it unlistenable). The conceit/expenses of the Works tour (toting around feeding and housing the orchestra instead of just hiring the local folks?) and divorce took all his money and he ended up sleeping on couches. Couches. How much of a fan am/was I? When Emerson killed himself I got at least two calls asking me if I was alright. And, I was. My hero had had many rough periods and was forced to hide a background keyboardist at shows since he couldn't play the parts himself any more. Note in the videos that he keeps his 4th-5th fingers curled since he'd had to have some ulnar nerve surgery. But, he'd teamed up with Marc Bonilla, who seemed to energize his last years.
They had second billing at August Jam to the Allman Brothers but as I said they stole the show. They played deep into the night and had fireworks at the end. I was sitting on top of the grandstands and with every flash it looked like a war zone with bodies strewn everywhere in the infield. It was a scene I'll never forget.
I saw them in August of 1974 at Charlotte Speedway with 300,000 others...They stole the show.
Folks forget that they were the headliners of California Jam, with supporting acts Eagles and EWF and more.
My friend knew the promoter in Jackson MS and we drove up to see the show there the night before that Baton Rouge one. He let us in before the venue even opened and I zombied my way to stand directly in front of Keith's keyboards, mesmerized. At one point I yelled out "Knife Edge" and Keith looked at me and nodded, but they didn't play it then. Another friend was a great photographer, so I have some wonderful, clear, action shots of the show.
Saw them many times after, but it became "Puppet Show and Spinal Tap" after a while. Even caught the band 3 (tolerable) and Emerson, Lake, and Powell (embarrassingly empty venue, so the echo made it unlistenable).
The conceit/expenses of the Works tour (toting around feeding and housing the orchestra instead of just hiring the local folks?) and divorce took all his money and he ended up sleeping on couches. Couches.
How much of a fan am/was I? When Emerson killed himself I got at least two calls asking me if I was alright. And, I was. My hero had had many rough periods and was forced to hide a background keyboardist at shows since he couldn't play the parts himself any more. Note in the videos that he keeps his 4th-5th fingers curled since he'd had to have some ulnar nerve surgery.
But, he'd teamed up with Marc Bonilla, who seemed to energize his last years.
I caught ELP back in the latter 70s in Baton Rouge (college days). After, my buddy said, “Let’s head for the Hilton. All the stars stay there.” We head over, not sure what to do next. There’s music coming from the lounge, live band. As we walk up, the drum solo starts. People start shoving to get in, pushing me and this other guy out of the way: Carl Palmer. After he sits, we take a table behind him and, eventually, I hand him my ticket stub. He graciously signed it, and it’s up on my wall with a lot of my other stubs from shows. But I always love the idea that they shoved Carl out of the way to see if the guy on stage was Carl Palmer. Heh.
I saw them in August of 1974 at Charlotte Speedway with 300,000 others...They stole the show.
I caught ELP back in the latter 70s in Baton Rouge (college days). After, my buddy said, âLetâs head for the Hilton. All the stars stay there.â
We head over, not sure what to do next. Thereâs music coming from the lounge, live band.
As we walk up, the drum solo starts. People start shoving to get in, pushing me and this other guy out of the way: Carl Palmer.
After he sits, we take a table behind him and, eventually, I hand him my ticket stub. He graciously signed it, and itâs up on my wall with a lot of my other stubs from shows. But I always love the idea that they shoved Carl out of the way to see if the guy on stage was Carl Palmer. Heh.
I caught ELP back in the latter 70s in Baton Rouge (college days). After, my buddy said, âLetâs head for the Hilton. All the stars stay there.â
We head over, not sure what to do next. Thereâs music coming from the lounge, live band.
As we walk up, the drum solo starts. People start shoving to get in, pushing me and this other guy out of the way: Carl Palmer.
After he sits, we take a table behind him and, eventually, I hand him my ticket stub. He graciously signed it, and itâs up on my wall with a lot of my other stubs from shows. But I always love the idea that they shoved Carl out of the way to see if the guy on stage was Carl Palmer. Heh.
Tull was the first "Major" concert that I saw in the Old Boston Garden. The Stormwatch tour. Ian came swinging out of the ships rigging on a rope with a sword like a Swashbuckler to open the show. A concert moment I will never forget.
My first concert of theirs was the Songs-From-The-Wood tour in Cologne. I was already hooked up to their music before that, buying any of their albums I could get my hands on. To me it seems their folkish tunes, ranging from Celtic to Classical music were what hit me hardest, and most unforgettably. Can't remember how many times I've seen them live. At 18 I listened to all their albums almost exclusively. Their was nothing else to compare when it came to music for me at the time.
As this is my personal memory-glory of my early youth, I have to say that Genesis (with Peter Gabriel) and Peter Gabriel's solo projects, as well as Pink Floyd and Yes came close back then, but "only" close! I remember when we used to party as high school kids, 16-17 yrs. old and their 70's live album "Bursting Out" was on, while most of us had been to their concerts. What a great time!
Even today, I can listen to their earlier tunes for many hours on end.
i've been lucky enough to see them multiple times
always a great show
as an early teen, aqualung was one of first purchases in the columbia house record club
Tull was the first "Major" concert that I saw in the Old Boston Garden. The Stormwatch tour. Ian came swinging out of the ships rigging on a rope with a sword like a Swashbuckler to open the show. A concert moment I will never forget.
Didn't know this came out as a remaster in 2013. I've been using this track for blasting w/ real stereo gear (and likely annoying the neighbours) for decades now. The whole album is utterly phenomenal.
