DTELPDP in MTL
Dream Theater/Emerson, Lake, and Palmer/Deep Purple performed tonight at the Molson Centre in downtown Montreal. I dare estimate that the audience was finally 4-5,000. A funny thing, however, happened with respect to my seat. I had bought my ticket on July 8 (shortly before seeing ProjeKCt Two on that day as well). I had thusly got a seat in the white sector. It might have been high above the stage, to the far left of Mr. Emerson as how one looks at the stage. Upon entering the arena, however, I was asked to show my ticket a second time and then my ticket was exchanged with one of a better seat. This seat was far from the stage and on Mr. Lake's side this time. While talking to people on the neighbouring seats during the breaks, I realized that the same thing happened to them as well. And it also seemed to me that many people even took over unoccupied seats from the central section. Maybe this is also indicative of the sales figure. However, the audience was enthusiastic with all the three bands. This was my very first live experience with any of them.
DT sounds a bit too heavy for my current tastes yet I enjoyed some very good prog moments of theirs. Noticeable are also their all-black, all-tight stage outfits. They quoted Pink Floyd's "Have A Cigar" and a hit of Metallica in one song. Obviously, I, for one, have to check a website of theirs, and to learn new names, like Derek Sherinian, Mike Portnoy, James LaBrie (I'm sorry for any mistake here) since the members weren't introduced and my VISA card was indulgent with just a Tarkus T-shirt and no tour programme or other items for me this time. I think DT played for about 50 minutes with no encore.
I couldn't believe my eyes that ELP were in such a good shape after all these years. Finally, I came to see with my eyes what I had been only reading about - the knive-stabbed organ included. I saw Mr. Emerson shaking his right hand only once. The ELP setlist included (not necessarily in the order that I'm recalling it): Excerpt from Karn Evil 9 - 1st Impression, Hoe Down, Knife-Edge, Excerpt from the 4th Movement of Keith Emerson's Piano Concerto No. 1, C'est la vie, Lucky Man, A Time and a Place, Tarkus. The encore included King Crimson's 21st Century Schizoid Man, Carl Palmer's drum solo, and Rondo. Keith Emerson played grand piano, synthesizers, organs, and accordion. Greg Lake played bass, acoustic, and electric guitars. A gentleman, who might have seen ELP in their early years as well, kindly borrowed his monocular to some of us around him to see various moments better. I think ELP played for about 75 minutes.
With open eyes, from where I was, I managed to recognize four of the five DP - Ian Gillan, Roger Glover, Jon Lord, and Ian Paice. My DP knowledge hasn't been updated for years and I had thought that Steve Morse was no more in Deep Purple either. However, both that monocular and a check with a more well-informed fan behind me helped me to decide the guitar player yet was Steve Morse. It's a shame to not be able to recognize a musician even from the sound, but probably I'm more familiar with Steve Morse's work in Kansas (the band) and in his very own band than in Deep Purple. Both Steve Morse and Roger Glover are incredibly slim, whereas Gillan has a more athletic appearance. As stage personae, Jon Lord and Ian Paice are more discrete at this time. Ian Gillan also plays congas and harmonica. There are nice interaction moments: Glover-Gillan, Glover-Morse, Gillan-Morse, Morse-Lord. The light show during Ian Paice's drum solo is absolutely remarkable - from the distance where I was at, one is left with the visual impression of an image processed/computer graphics created, drumming Ian Paice. There is also a nice "colour and motion sampling" effect in green during a guitar chord progression in "Perfect Strangers". This song, if I remember correctly, ends the main setlist that includes: Hush, Strange Kind of Woman, Bloodsucker, Black Night, Woman from Tokyo, Pictures of Home, Lazy, Smoke on the Water, Watching the Sky, Speed King (introduced by Ian Gillan as "some Scottish lullaby" :) ), Jon Lord's and Steve Morse's solos (Roger Glover has one, albeit shorter, as well). The encore was "Highway Star". I think DP played for about 2 hrs overall.
Thank you to Kevin and Cristi for recommendations with respect to the show. I hope I just got renewed powers to help me deal with my current (albeit unwanted) administrative-academic issues.
It is also so good to be able to see with your eyes what you had once upon a time only heard on poorly copied tapes or scratched vinyls somewhere in Eastern Europe. Funny thing is also that during those early days in my prog interest, my collectionist pallette was not as narrow as nowadays and both ELP and DP were among my favourites. And one of my girlfriends from those days was a DP fanatic yet she hated ELP. However, this is not why we didn't use to get along. Now, if she only knew that I, for one, lived to see both bands live in the same show...
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