Greg Lake

First day of November and first CD of the month arrives from e-bay....

I've been trying to get this for a while. It's the American version of "The Ultimate Yes", the band's 35th anniversary collection. Of course I have everything on the compilation itself (other than a couple of special single edit versions of tracks - but we can all do those now with our wave editing software). I'm after the third disc which has new versions of three old pieces, a new song and a new adaptation of Dvorak's 9th Symphony...

The packaging is tattier than I expected (Jorg would find it unacceptable) but I knew it was 2nd hand. The discs are a bit scuffed but play perfectly - ah the wonders of 1980's technology...

Tonight we're off to the Festival Theatre, where we saw "The Merry Widow" a couple of weeks back. Greg Lake is performing with his new band. It's his first tour for many years and the production values are pretty high - excellent light show, crystal clear sound and jaw-droppingly adept musicians..

We meet with Dr Prog for this one and are in the 2nd front row...

The two sets were a delight for Dr Prog and me and at the interval, Anne expressed her surprise that she knew every song played in the first half...

After the show, including two encores, we hang around for the "meet and greet". Mr Lake is an affable gent and is happy to pose for photos with the collection of, frankly, freaks and geeks who have queued for the chance to shake his hand...

I puzzle everyone in the band by asking them not only to autograph my programme, but to add next to it, the last CD they bought..

Here are the results:-

David Arch (Keyboards) - The new Stevie Wonder CD

Florian Ophale (Guitar) - Didn't understand the concept and wrote "Die letzte CD" - he's German

Trevor Barry (Bass Guitar) - The new John Mayer CD

Brett Morgan (Drums) - Jeff Buckley's "Grace"

Jai Ramage (Backing Vocals) - Jack Johnson's CD

Bekki Carpenter (Backing Vocals) - Coldplay's "X&Y"

Greg Lake (Guitar) - Respighi's "Church Windows"

and for you ELP and King Crimson fans out there the approximate setlists were:-

Set One

The Court of the Crimson King

Paper Blood

From the Beginning

Take a Pebble

Touch and Go

I Believe in Father Christmas

Farewell to Arms

Set Two

Fanfare For The Common Man

Footprints in the Snow

Love You Too Much

Hang On To A Dream

Lucky Man

21st Century Schizoid Man

Encores

Pictures at an Exhibition

Karn Evil 9 1st Impression pt 2

Brilliant!!

Thanks Mr Lake and your quite excellent musical troupe...