Brain Salad Surgery - See The Show

Welcome back my friends to the show that never ends ~ Ladies and Gentlemen





ELP toured the USA from Nevember 1973 to April 1974 to promote the album. By this time, the band's stage act had grown to immense size. They traveled with 25 roadies and 40 tons of equipment, including a revolving drum kit, quadrophonic sound, 32 sound cabinets, a grand piano that rose 30 feet into the air and flipped end over end, and a special lighting system.

Greg Lake:
"In those days, it was also the time when promoters thought that the more the indulgend groups, the more likely they were to get them back the second time. You know, to get somebody like ELP at that time, it was a guarantee. You could make a hundred thousand dollars in a day back, guaranteed! So we'd go back to our room, and there'd be three plates of oysters, a half a dozen bottles of champagne, there'd be beautiful people everywhere. Extravagance beyond belief! To such an extent where you'd have to escape it sometimes.
Those were the days when we were all so young. It truly was fun! However, Carl, Keith and myself all came from relatively humble backgrounds. And so, we walk all into this, it was great at first, but after you've eaten your third plate of strawberries, you just don't want any more strawberries. And, I got like that, you know."





On April 6, 1974, ELP played the biggest show in its career, when the band co-headlined (with Deep Purple) at the California Jam. The festival was held at the Ontario Motor Speedway, several other established acts including Black Sabbath, Black Oak Arkansas, Earth Wind & Fire and The Eagles. It was attended by 350,000 people. California Jam was filmed for television and later broadcast by ABC.







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