Carl Palmer Band

Brewery Arts Centre, Kendal

Carl Palmer’s performance at the Brewery was simply awesome. As a drummer Carl is off the scale. Technically, he is still one of the greats.

These days, instead of being flanked by Keith Emerson and Greg Lake, Carl’s power trio is made up of Paul Bielatowicz on lead guitar and Simon Fitzpatrick on bass.

They opened with ELP’s The Barbarian. Although, it was good, for me it just lacked the big dramatic sound of Emerson’s Hammond organ. And that’s no reflection on young gifted guitarist Paul. Bitches Crystal was another ELP number that for me didn’t quite hit the mark using lead guitar. However, the 20-minute or so version of Mussorgsky's Picture at an Exhibition did. It sounded really fresh and one of the highlights of the gig. Another, was from five-string bass player Simon, whose stunning solo comprised the whole of Led Zeppelin’s Stairway To Heaven, instrumentally. You’d have to hear it to believe it.

Guitarist Paul’s solo was a beautiful piece of classical type finger picking. He’s obviously a great player in the making.

The set finished with a superb and triumphant version of Fanfare for the Common Man, which led to Carl’s own solo. Wow!

As well as his trademark gongs and pneumatic left hand, Carl’s boyish grin still remains and sent me spinning back to the heady days of ELP shows.

Adrian Mullen