Together again... Emerson, Lake and... oh. Well, at least we have those two icons of Prog on the same stage.

Together again... Emerson, Lake and... oh. Well, at least we have those two icons of Prog on the same stage, giving us some of the, perhaps, less well known tracks (though of course, fans will have no issue knowing and loving them), often stripped back and very gentle.

There's a bit of chat too, which should be interesting and fun, but actually can come across like Home Counties gents telling tales in the pub over a good game pie and a pint of bitter. It smacks of false modesty and is a little clunky, even though the crowd seem to hang on every self deprecating word. To be balanced though, this does provide good info detailing the background to the songs and has the potential to be very sweet and self deprecating.

But of course these two can really play and the songs are little parcels of delight. So what do we have; 'Bitches Crystal' from 'Tarkus' is less bombastic and more bare bones, gorgeous piano and lovely simplicity. Of course, you can't do that with 'The Barbarian' from the debut and this sounds magisterial whilst 'Take A Pebble', wittily explained beforehand, blasts into action just before a "nice, but where are we going?" button is pressed.

' Pirates' is cheesy and musical theatre but people expect and want that, it does give us all the breathtaking twists and turns we want, almost Reggae, horns and xylophone. Of course, at the centre of this is a seventeen minute performance of 'Tarkus', a more acoustic piece but with all the flair and élan, plus fervent belief that make it a special piece of work.

An interesting piece this and one for collectors to coo over, not to deride collectors, this is a glimpse into the reasons for the songs; those great pieces stripped of frippery and handled with delicacy and care. It's just that sometimes there's a hankering for the songs in their pomp; only so often can you repeat "oh, that's nice". A brilliant band that deserve to be celebrated, just not sure if this party is the best we can do.

Steve Swift