Greg has always been the oak tree on stage surrounded by the 2 musical tornadoes; I agree though and I think the 96 Tour was the most energetic I've seen them. Maybe they had something to prove after the In the Hot Seat disaster. At least his bass playing was better in 97/98 than during the 92/93 Black Moon tours where he seemed to be just playing the absolute bare minimum. What I really noticed in the 97/98 shows was how sloppy Keith's playing had become which this clip kind of shows.
Well yeah, during the 70's he was always overshadowed by Keith & Carl, but in the 97/98 shows he just doesn't look happy or content playing the old songs half heartedly. If only he'd released a solo album after the last ELP breakup...
Actually, the European videos I have show a snippet of ribbon controller pyrotechnics, so they were used during the show. For some reason it is edited out. The director of this entire concert must have been a fan. Good camera work.
It's possible that the pyros weren't used and there wasn't an edit. In some European venues regulations are tighter, and they won't allow pyro firings to take place.
Watching numerous videos of ELP's 97/98 shows I get the feeling that a lot of the energy onstage was sapped by Greg Lake. Not that I want to speak ill of him, far from it, but he just looks so bored, uninterested and that he'd rather be somewhere else.
I have noticed European versions of ELP performances always edit out the pyrotechnics. Glad to see them here.
Greg has always been the oak tree on stage surrounded by the 2 musical tornadoes; I agree though and I think the 96 Tour was the most energetic I've seen them. Maybe they had something to prove after the In the Hot Seat disaster. At least his bass playing was better in 97/98 than during the 92/93 Black Moon tours where he seemed to be just playing the absolute bare minimum. What I really noticed in the 97/98 shows was how sloppy Keith's playing had become which this clip kind of shows.
Well yeah, during the 70's he was always overshadowed by Keith & Carl, but in the 97/98 shows he just doesn't look happy or content playing the old songs half heartedly. If only he'd released a solo album after the last ELP breakup...
Actually, the European videos I have show a snippet of ribbon controller pyrotechnics, so they were used during the show. For some reason it is edited out. The director of this entire concert must have been a fan. Good camera work.
It's possible that the pyros weren't used and there wasn't an edit. In some European venues regulations are tighter, and they won't allow pyro firings to take place.
Watching numerous videos of ELP's 97/98 shows I get the feeling that a lot of the energy onstage was sapped by Greg Lake. Not that I want to speak ill of him, far from it, but he just looks so bored, uninterested and that he'd rather be somewhere else.