Emerson, Lake & Palmer – Live at Montreux 1997, Blu-ray (2010)
Studio: Eagle Vision EVBRD 033360R1 [6/22/10]
Video: 16:9 1080i HD color
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 5.1, DD 5.1, PCM stereo
All regions
Length: 91 mins.
Rating: ****
Another pop group making a spectacular appearance at the Montreux Festival in Switzerland. Emerson, Lake & Palmer had their big hits in the 1970s, and broke up at the end of that decade, but they have regrouped several times, and got together in 1997 for their debut at Montreux. The group was different from other first-line rock trios in that it was based on the keyboard virtuosity of Keith Emerson. He’s up to wild shenanigans on his many electronic keyboards and sythns. It includes playing a couple of them upside down during the closing medley of some of their hits: Fanfare for the Common Man, Rondo, Carmina Burana theme, drum solo by Palmer (during which he somehow loses his shirt) and Bach’s Toccata in D minor.
The accent is on showmanship here, as was always the case with Emerson, Lake & Palmer. Emerson seems a bit more sophisticated in his keyboard work now than he was when the trio started. The Blu-ray images are terrific and the instrumental balance good, but the vocals by Greg Lake have a distant sound and a huge reverberation that makes them mostly unintelligible.
TrackList: Introduction by Claude Nobs, Karnevil9/Impression Part 2, Tiger in the Spotlight, Hoedown (Copland), Touch and Go, From the Beginning, Knife Edge (Janacek), Bitches Crystal, Creole Dance, Honky Tonk Train Blues, Take a Pebble, Lucky Man, Tarkus/Pictures at an Exhibition (Mussorgsky), Medley.
— John Henry
