New Year's Message

Alright proggers! Another year has come and gone. I am using the final hour of 2016 to write this message to all of you. This was a terrific year for concerts in particular. This year, my dream to see David Gilmour was fulfilled. Along with that, I made some important new musical discoveries, the main one being Marillion. It's only been a little over two months since my first time seeing them, and I already feel very strongly about them. I look forward to spending 2017 discovering the rest of their music. I think I will make a strong effort to show them to other people in my life who may not be so familiar with them. I feel like they are a band that people just need to at least be aware of. I feel a solemn duty to make sure that their talent isn't overlooked.

As for the rest of you, I know that this year was tough for some of you. 2016 had its share of setbacks for me, particularly the loss of Greg Lake and Keith Emerson. As devastated as I am by these losses, I also know that no one is destined to live forever, and that our time on this earth is finite. Unfortunately, if there's one thing I've learned in life, it's that you're going to have some years where it seems like all hope is lost and that things can't get any worse. I've had a few years like that, but when I think about it, I eventually got through those tough times, and I'm still here today. Even though things may seem hopeless at times, just know that you WILL get through them. Hang on to the people and things in your life that matter to you. Keep them close and don't take a single one of them for granted. That is the main lesson I took away from this year. 

I gained lots of new members on ProgBook this year, and I'm really excited for that. Thank you so much to everyone for all your support. Your enthusiasm for prog and for music in general is what inspires me to keep this group and this blog active. I hope you all have a very happy and safe 2017 full of music and memories. :)

 - J Michelle

Greg Lake Journal Entry

The entry you are about to read is an account of my experience of seeing Greg Lake's Songs of a Lifetime show on May 18, 2012 at the Orpheum Theatre in LA. It was taken directly from the journal I filled out throughout 2012, when I was 15. Since Greg's passing, I have felt the need to share my experience of him with as many people as possible. You have heard my thoughts on that evening as I look back on that night from 4 years ago, approaching 5. Now,  I think you should hear my thoughts on that evening from when I was 15. Some of the words in this entry have been removed, but for the most part, I have typed it out exactly as it was written four years ago. Yes, I know some of the grammar and spelling is a bit off, but cut me some slack. I was only 15. Typing this entry out was very emotional for me, especially the last two lines of it. I hope you enjoy it:

I cannot state the time for this entry because today is the 20th. This was a very bust weekend. School was busy, but I much to look forward to this night. I was going to meet with some good music buddies for dinner at a small Brazilian restaurant with my Dad, and then we would head over to the Orpheum Theatre to see Greg Lake. The restaurant was called "Wood Spoon," but you did not have to guess too hard on that, for there was a large wooden spoon set in place of the restaurant's name outside the building. Had some chicken, Brazilian rice, and fried bananas for dinner, and Coca-Cola imported from Mexico to drink. Mexican coke has a softer texture than American, but still tasted great. The whole meal was great. My good friend Bill arrived late due to heavy traffic coming down from Bishop, so he had no time to eat. With him, was his brother Richard, and a box of caps he had customized to have the logo of his Friday night radio show on the front. Mine fit perfectly, fortunately. Finally, my excitement for the show was too great, so Dad and my buddies paid the bill and we walked to the Orpheum. I had a nice talk with my friend Xhana on the way down there. I told her about my ordeals with adults on John Wetton's guestbook, and the anger I felt from it. Apparently, her high school experience matches perfectly with my current one, since she felt like an outcast due to the music she liked, but in the end, everyone she met after high school accepted her for who she was. Once we arrived, we picked up our tickets and VIP aftershow stickers from the will-call box... Dad and I had seats near the aisle in the sixth row, a wonderful view. 

The show started about a half hour late, approximately 8:30 pm, but it was lovely. Greg came out after an intro of the song "Power" by Kanye West, which features a sample of Greg's vocals on a King Crimson track called, "21st Century Schizoid Man." I must say he looked a lot healthier than he did two years ago, and his voice was taken well cared of. His choice of songs was very impressive, for he included not just Emerson, Lake, and Palmer songs, but also King Crimson songs and covers of songs by artists who greatly influenced him, like Elvis Presley and The Beatles. Throughout the show, he told wonderful stories about some of the biggest experiences of his life, from seeing Elvis in concert, to getting his first guitar after gaining interest from playing with a friend's one-string guitar. Sadly, though, after a 20-minute intermission, a man sitting behind me would not let me ask a question at a point during the Q&A session because he "was next." He had also complained to me and this poor woman in front of me that we were using flash photography, which we were not. It wasn't fair. I wanted to ask Greg why the ELP album "Trilogy" is special to him, for I had heard him mention its importance to him in various interviews. The rest of the show went by, and before I knew it, it was time for the aftershow.

I was led into the concession room with Dad, Bill, Xhana, my new buddies Victor (JJ) and Rebecca, and the others attending, where we were told to wait. There were several VIP packages with different features included, so we ended up having to wait for two hours, making it after midnight when we finally came out to meet Greg. During those two hours, I had nice conversations with Tony Ortiz, a longtime friend of ELP, who gladly took a picture with Bill and me. After that, I spoke for a bit with Ron Lyon, the man who took our picture, a d he showed interest in seeing my YouTube videos upon learning that I was a guitar player. I have yet to hear from him on that. He gave me his card so that I could email him for the pictures of me with Bill and Tony. The Meet and Greet was outside for some reason, but well worth it. Everyone with laminants went first, so a little more waiting was needed. Finally, after Bill had a nice talk and picture with Greg, it was my turn. After I set y sweater on the steps (which turned out to be a bad idea since ti was cold), I heard the photographer introduce Dad and I. Greg shook my Dad's hand and then, as he went to shake mine, I held out my arms, and the dream I had had for the past five months had been fulfilled: I hugged Greg Lake. He and I embraced each other, and everything felt alright. He wondered how someone my age could be interested in his music, which I responded with the statement that I have been a fan since I was 12. He blushed and began to mention "this girl with amazing talent called Rachel Flowers." I told him I knew exactly what he was talking about and had seen her perform. We talked about the message I left on his website when I was 13, which he remembered  after thinking for a bit, and then he signed my Tarkus CD with: "To Michelle. Love, Greg Lake, XXX." I tried to hide my shivers, but he saw that I was cold and expressed concern, but I assured him that I'd be fine. He then gave me a thin guitar pick, one side having the ELP logo, and the other having his own logo. I thanked him, and after the pictures, gave him a huge hug. He blessed me, and expressed his appreciation for my attendance. I told him it was the least I could do. I smiled the whole way home. That pick is safe with the pick Steven Wilson gave me last year. I hope to see Greg again. He is so special to me.

Greg Lake

When I was 12 years old, back in 2009, my guitar teacher introduced me to the band Pink Floyd. That band marked the start of a musical journey that has made me the music fan I am today. My dad saw how much I enjoyed the music of Floyd, so he decided to encourage me to check out more bands that fell under this genre called “progressive rock.” One day he called me into his office. He sat me down and put on a song called “C’est La Vie,” by this band called Emerson, Lake, and Palmer, or ELP. Instantly, I fell in love with every aspect of that song, particularly the vocals. I learned that the name of that singer was Greg Lake. I was struck by the uniqueness of his voice, and it became very obvious to me that it was a voice you could not mistake for any other. I decided to look further into this band and, soon enough, discovered albums like Tarkus and Trilogy. I was hooked. I could not get enough of their music. I had never heard of a successful band dominated by keyboards. Early the next year, I learned that Greg Lake and Keith Emerson were going to be performing at my now favorite concert venue, the Orpheum Theatre. It was an opportunity we could not pass up, so we went for it. That night proved to be a game changer for me, not just musically, but personally as well. A few people who were at that show are now good friends of mine, though we discovered each other on Facebook. The show was unique to me because it was a chance for me to get to hear Keith and Greg talk about their experiences over the years. It was a joy getting to hear them perform and speak, but I was particularly excited to see Greg. I had developed a soft spot for him and felt a sense of warmth and ingenuity whenever he spoke. After that night, I had developed a dream of someday meeting him.  In the summer of 2010, my musical soundtrack was devoted entirely to ELP. It seemed as though I could not get through an entire day without playing the Tarkus suite or Brain Salad Surgery. In October of that year, I found Greg’s website and his Q &A page. Because we had balcony seats for Keith and Greg’s show, I was not able to ask him a question during the Q&A portion of the show, so I felt I would take a chance and see if he would answer. I wasn’t getting my hopes up though, since I figured he had a lot of questions from people. But then, one day, I got an unexpected surprise: he replied. It went like this:

Question

Hello Greg. I am a 13 year old girl who has been playing guitar for almost two years and am greatly influenced by your music. Getting the chance to see you and Keith in concert on your recent tour was very important to me and a night I will never forget. I wanted the opportunity to ask you a question during the Q&A part of the show but sadly could not because I was located on the upper level. My question was: What was your inspiration for Tarkus (my favorite ELP album)?

Answer

Dear friend,

Firstly I am most impressed that at such a young age you are able to appreciate and enjoy such a complex piece of music as Tarkus. The initial inspiration for this record came from the music that Keith had written. Following on from this I wrote various songs and worked together with Keith and Carl as a producer to create the record you now hear. Tarkus has been the backbone performance piece for ELP for almost four decades now and has certainly stood the test of time. It is one of the best examples of the musical genius of Keith Emerson as a composer and of the band ELP working and performing together at the very top of their game.

Thank you for you interest and support and next time you come along to see a show just make sure you write to Eileen at this website in advance, ( with your name) and she will arrange for you to come back stage and I will introduce you to Keith and you can ask him about the piece personally.

Best wishes,

Greg.

(Oct-09-10)

I couldn’t believe it. Greg Lake had answered MY question. It totally made my night, and I had developed a new appreciation for him. After that, I was determined to meet him. At the end of 2011, a devastating year for me, I received some happy news: Greg would be coming to the US in spring of 2012 with a tour called Songs of a Lifetime. Now is my chance, I thought. I immediately contacted Eileen and showed her the transcript of my exchange with Greg. She replied that she would be happy to help me out. We scored sixth row seats for his show on May 18, 2012 at the Orpheum. I was also thrilled to hear that some of my best music friends were also going to be attending.

May 18, 2012 remains today as one of the best nights of my life. That night, I, along with my dad and good friends, got to hear stories from a voice that contained so much wisdom and a lifetime of experience. That same night, at 15 years old, my dream to meet Greg was realized. We waited about 2 hours for him, so by the time he came out, it was well after midnight. However, I will never forget the love, warmth and generosity he showed my friends and me. Even though it was 12:30 am and quite cold outside, he kept on smiling and made sure he met everyone.  For a precious 5 minutes, I was able to talk to Greg as a person. That is something that I would never forget.

I knew that, one day, I would have to write this entry. I knew one day, I would wake up to the news that Greg was no longer with us. This has to be the most difficult entry I have ever written, because I was fortunate enough to experience Greg as more than just a musician. I was able to see what he was like as a person, as another human being. Meeting him remains one of the highlights of my life, and I will always remember the big hug he gave me before and after our conversation. It is bittersweet to be writing this, since the last thing he told me was that we would see each other again someday. I cry at the realization that there is no possibility of that now. I also cry at the realization that I will never know the answer to why Trilogy was his most cherished ELP album. To be honest, in spite of everything bad that is going on in the world, I always took comfort in knowing that Greg was still with us. If anything bad ever happened, I always told myself, “Well, it’s not all bad. Greg Lake is still alive.” I realize that the days of me saying such a thing are over now.

Grief is a feeling that I have grown to be very familiar with in the last 5 years. In that time, I have experienced the loss of family, friends, and certain musicians that I looked up to. I guess it’s the price I pay for loving these older rock bands as much as I do. I get less time to enjoy them while they are still here. However, at the same time, I am eternally grateful to have been able to see many of them perform live. The Emerson and Lake show as well as the Songs of a Lifetime are now very special memories for me. I will always remember the love, warmth, and grace Greg put into each song, and each lyric. I will always remember the fact that his music managed to bring so many people into my life. Through his music, we connected with one another and formed some truly special bonds that I hold dear to me. That is what continuously blows me away about the power of music.

Today had me thinking of the famous ELP line, “Welcome back my friends to the show that never ends.” To me, the show truly will never end, as long as the music continues to be played. The same can be said about Bowie, Prince, Chris Squire, Keith, and all the other musicians that have left us, or who eventually will leave us. The artist may be gone, but the art lives on forever.

Rest in eternal peace, Greg. There will truly never be another one like you. I will never forget you.

Love,

J Michelle