October 20, 2010

By Howard Whitman

Set List:
Barbarian | Hoedown | Peter Gun | Bitches Crystal | Canario | Tarkus | Guitar Solo | Bass Solo | Trilogy | Pictures At An Exhibition | Fanfare for the Common Man | Drum Solo | Carmina Burana

Encore:
Nutrocker

You have to admit Carl Palmer's got balls. It's nothing new for former members of a classic band to tour solo and play the band's classics live. But to take the music of a band like Emerson Lake & Palmer, which was so driven by the keyboards of Keith Emerson, and play it with no keys? On guitar? Without vocals?

It's hard to imagine, but that's what Palmer's doing with his current trio, The Carl Palmer Band consisting of guitarist Paul Bielatowicz, bassist Simon Fitzpatrick and CP behind the drum kit.

In Bielatowicz, Palmer has found the guitar equivalent of Keith Emerson. Bielatowicz (who also plays in Neal Morse's band) does a lot of two-handed tapping on the guitar neck, using all ten fingers to hit notes at the same time, often creating a keyboard-like fullness. Beyond that, the guy just shreds, mixing soaring solos, lead parts covering Greg Lake's vocal lines, and some lightning-fast runs that would give Steve Morse, Steve Vai or even Eddie Van Halen a run for their money. He's that damn good.

Fitzpatrick is no slouch either. A new addition to the band, he plays six-string bass like Bielatowicz plays guitar—all over the neck, lots of tapping and lots of covering parts previously handled by keys or vocals on ELP's classic albums.

Then there's the man with his name on the marquee. At age 60 (and following recent heart surgery), Palmer has lost none of his steam or power, and seems invigorated by the young guys (Bielatowicz is 31). His drums drive the trio's powerful playing with the same energy he brought to ELP in the 1970s.

I saw the Carl Palmer Band early in their 2010 U.S. Tour at the Keswick Theater, an old (opened in 1928) vaudeville/movie theater-turned-concert-hall that offers great acoustic and sight lines for national touring acts in the Philadelphia suburbs. It was a paltry but enthusiastic crowd that greeted the band on Oct. 20—the theater was about 1/3 full.

“If I'd have known it was going to be like this, I would've had you all in my living room,” Palmer joked after the first song, a powerful run-through of “Barbarian” from ELP's debut. After that well-received crack, Palmer didn't make any further reference to the sparse crowd when acting as MC—which he did between virtually every song, sprinting to the microphone, probably to get a break and have a stretch as well as to communicate with the audience.

No, Palmer, Bielatowicz and Fitzpatrick played the show as if it was a packed house, with all of the skill, power and precision they could muster. Most of the night was devoted to covering ELP's covers—re-interpretations of classical and popular compositions (such as the familiar “Peter Gun” theme)—rather than ELP vocal tracks, although a few of those were handled, such as “Bitches Crystal” and the ELP fan-favorite title track of the band's classic “Tarkus” album.

Throughout the show, I was in awe of how cool the new arrangements of the old songs (in some cases, really old—Mussorgsky's “Pictures at an Exhibition” was composed in 1874) were. Without the fullness of Emerson's keyboards, there were some holes in some songs, but not too many! Bielatowicz and Fitzpatrick did an amazing job of filling the space in these tunes, and sometimes when there was some space that wasn't in the songs before—well, that was cool too.

Following what must've been an exhausting 20+-minute run-through of “Tarkus”, Palmer and Fitzpatrick left the stage to Bielatowicz, who played a solo medley incorporating “Over the Rainbow” and “Flight of the Bumblebee” that was jaw-dropping.

Continuing the solo vibe, the other two members returned for a short jazz piece that morphed into Fitzpatrick's solo section—a one-man, all-bass take on Queen's “Bohemian Rhapsody.” Yes, he played the whole thing. What seemed like all of the vocal and instrumental parts. On bass. Wow. You can see why he landed this gig, and he's perfectly suited to it.

The best solo, of course, was saved for last—the star of the show attacked his drum set with an extended drum solo that was impressive for its percussive imagination as for Palmer's physical stamina. A staple since his early ELP days, Palmer's solo didn't disappoint.

Visually, the trio didn't do much in the way of moving around—they were far too busy playing their challenging parts. Palmer was the primary focus, and he was amazing to watch in action. Video shown on a screen behind the drummer added to the show's visual impact.