Birmingham & Preston - Nov. 6 & 14, 2005
I wish to add my thanks to Greg Lake & his band. Every thing has been said already, but I really hope Greg gets the
chance to read these posts.
I saw the shows in Birmingham & Preston and each time I was blown away.
My eldest brother who has followed ELP right from the start came to both shows, or should I say I went with him.
I saw ELP in 1992 at the Symphony Hall, Birmingham and my interest started from this moment really, however I remember growing up as 6 year old and hearing ELP music booming out from my brother's stereo (that's what they called them in the 70's), now of course we call them Hi Fi's, or even MP3 players, how times change!!!
For my brother to meet one of his idols in Birmingham...well let's just say he didn't come down for a few days, he was floating on cloud nine, the picture I took of him & Greg tells the story. You can see it in his face that the light's on but no one is at home. I remember hearing him thanking Greg for the past 30 odd years of music and Greg thanking him for his support, whilst signing the ELP book he had asked him to sign.
Greg you were such a genuine, caring, sincere guy, always willing to spend time after each show with the people who had followed you from afar for many years. To finally get the chance to meet and speak to you was a thing many fans believed would never have been possible.
Playing in smaller venues at least made this possible, but as already talked about on this site if only more fans had filled the venues? Our gain is their LOSS. They missed out BIGTIME.
As tonight's show will be the last of the tour (I would have loved to have been there by the way), I will remember the two shows I was fortunate to see, and look forward to the DVD in the new year.
Take a well earned rest, and pleaseeeeeeeeee come back next year to the UK. Before that though I believe there are a few people in the USA, etc. etc. who are hoping you tour over there in 2006. You guys are in for a real treat and I look forward to reading your reviews after the shows as you have read ours here in UK.
I would like to thank all the people on [the Greg Lake] site who have made this site really enjoyable to read, reading the reviews first thing of a morning from the previous night's show was fantastic.
Once again to the members of the band: You guys were excellent! To the guys behind the scenes making the shows possible each night, handling all the equipment before & after the shows: Thank you.
To the lighting & sound engineers: I did thank you after the Birmingham show - AWESOME, 100% AWESOME! You guys did a marvellous job and I'm sure the DVD will show this.
And to the Man or should I say GENTLEMAN himself: THANKS for a wonderful tour Greg. See you next year, when once more you will be saying "Welcome Back My Friends".
On behalf of my brother and myself THANK YOU!
Phil Reade