Carl Palmer bringing Emerson, Lake & Palmer music back via video for Jacksonville show

Tom Szaroleta, Jacksonville Florida Times-Union
·3 min read
Carl Palmer plays the music of Emerson, Lake & Palmer with his old bandmates on video.
Carl Palmer plays the music of Emerson, Lake & Palmer with his old bandmates on video.
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Carl Palmer was one of the most aggressive drummers in rock during his days holding down the beat for Emerson, Lake & Palmer.

But that was decades ago, and a new show that Palmer is bringing to Florida this month really puts him to the test. He'll be banging away on the drum kits, playing ELP's biggest hits, while Emerson and Lake — who both died in 2016 — accompany him on large video screens, using video captured at a 1992 concert. That means Palmer not only has to keep up with his longtime bandmates, but also with himself from 30 years ago.

"That’s not a problem," Palmer said in a recent phone interview. "I can deal with that because I’ve stayed on my case."

The show will be a curious mix of live and archived performances, he said. For seven or eight songs, he'll play drums while the video screens bring Emerson and Lake back to life. Two musicians will also join him onstage to augment the sound and play other songs that weren't available on video.

Carl Palmer played drums for Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Asia and other rock bands.
Carl Palmer played drums for Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Asia and other rock bands.

The video comes from a 1992 performance at Royal Albert Hall that was shot for a DVD release. Five cameras were used and, critically, the audio was recorded separately, Palmer said.

"The audio tracks of that night, everything was recorded separately," he said. "All of the keyboards all of the guitars, all of the vocals. What you have is Keith Emerson at his very best, Greg Lake at his very best."

That allows Palmer's road crew to mix the sound — whether it's coming from the stage or the video — live on the spot to customize it to the venue.

The one musician you won't see from the 1992 show is Palmer. He said he considered setting up a drum duet with himself but rejected the idea.

"On the original DVD, you could see me playing," he said. "We didn't need that on the screens. You don't want to see me from the Royal Albert Hall on the screen."

He said it took about eight weeks to put this show together, working with the video to reduce glare and hisses in the sound.

"What I had to learn was where, on that particular night, the group would speed up and slow down," he said.

The band made a few mistakes during the 1992 show, but those have been edited out. Any errors that pop up in the show now are all Palmer's fault.

"The mistakes I’m making now are on the night," he said. "On the original recording that went out on the DVD, everything was taken care of and corrected. Now what I’m having to do is play spot on every night."

Palmer played in several other bands in his career, notably Asia and Atomic Rooster, but this show will be strictly Emerson, Lake & Palmer songs. He said he'd consider doing a career retrospective tour, but not this time out.

Fans attending the show will also be able to purchase a new Carl Palmer box and autobiography that set is due to be released in April.

The Welcome Back the Return of Emerson Lake and Palmer Tour has six Florida dates in February:

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Video brings Emerson, Lake & Palmer back to life for Jacksonville show