The Return of Emerson, Lake & Palmer
Nov. 15—SHIPSHEWANA — Carl Palmer is finally bringing the Return of Emerson, Lake and Palmer to Shipshewana.
The last of the EPL namesake, Palmer and his team have created a show unlike anything else around.
"The actual show is referred to as the return of Emerson, Lake & Palmer," Palmer said. "It's really to do with Greg and Keith appearing on these giant scenes inside of the stage, and I'm playing along with them and it's all perfectly in sync."
Thanks to the confluence of old technology originally used to record their hits and new technology, Palmer's management team and the estates of the two performers who died in 2016, were able to pull individual music tracks by each of the two deceased artists to play alongside Palmer's live drumming.
"It's probably the closest you'll ever get to hearing Emerson, Lake & Palmer live and of course, on top of that, all the videos — Greg singing and Keith playing, are all perfectly in time," Palmer explained. "This is a really unique show in a way. They're not holograms, it's actually them, and I'm actually playing live with them."
The clips come from Live at the Royal Albert Hall, recorded in 1992.
"This particular video, it was recorded with the audio separately," Palmer explained. "So I've managed to wipe all of my drums away, and when you come to the concert, the keyboards from Keith Emerson, the voice from Greg Lake, are all being mixed on the night, again with my drums playing then and there."
Paul Bielatowicz and Simon Fitzpatrick of Palmer's band also play in this show on various tracks, some from Emerson, Lake, and Palmer, and others from Palmer's other bands.
"I don't think anyone else is doing it," Palmer said. "They've kind of all integrated together. It's quite an interesting show. We've used an AI program to allow us to clean up the visuals and it's working incredibly well."
The show will be at Blue Gate Performing Arts, 760 S. Van Buren St., Shipshewana, at 8 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 18. Tickets range from $29.95 — 69.95. Doors open at 7 p.m. To purchase tickets online, visit https://www.thebluegate.com/shipshewana/blue-gate-theatre/event/emerson-lake-and-palmer.
Dani Messick is the education and entertainment reporter for The Goshen News. She can be reached at [email protected] or at 574-538-2065.