Emerson, Lake & Palmer Reuniting for Classic Rock Magazine

[Shaun Ponsonby]

ELP are reuniting for a one-off show in London's Victoria Park, part of a festival being organised by Classic Rock Magazine. ZZ Top will headline the festival's first day.

Come inside for the latest news on what’s being billed as ‘The Best New Rock Festival In The World’.
High Voltage, the UK’s new prestige rock festival, launches in July 2010 with headline appearances from Emerson, Lake & Palmer and ZZ Top.

The dates: July 24 and 25, 2010.

The place: Victoria Park, London, UK.

High Voltage is the must-see rock event of 2010 – a two-day festival featuring the very best in classic rock, progressive rock and metal, with over 40 acts handpicked by the UK’s fastest-growing music magazine, Classic Rock.

Topping the bill are the legendary Emerson, Lake & Palmer and ZZ Top with many more acts to be announced..

Emerson, Lake & Palmer are reuniting especially for High Voltage. This will be ELP’s one and only live performance of 2010 – and possibly the last show they will ever play together, the culmination of a spectacular career that has seen the trio sell over 30 million albums worldwide.

This marks the first time that ZZ Top will be headlining a UK rock festival in 25 years. The superstar trio, known far and wide as that little ol’ band from Texas, is celebrating its 40th year with the same personnel line-up intact. The group has sold in excess of 40 million albums over the course of a career that saw them inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame by The Rolling Stones’ Keith Richards in 2004. The Birmingham Mail cited their recent Wolverhampton appearance as ‘a barnstorming boogie blitz that pretty much blew the roof off the Civic Hall’.

Says Classic Rock Editor-in-Chief Scott Rowley: “High Voltage is the festival all true rock fans have been waiting for – custom built by rock fans for rock fans. The High Voltage team have been to every rock festival imaginable – we’re taking what we’ve learned to build a festival unlike any other.

“First of all there’s the music: two amazing headliners AND three unique stages specially curated to cater for different sides of the rock audience, and a brilliant supporting cast playing special must-see sets.

“Then there’s the festival itself. The facilities will be second to none: great food, proper beer, clean toilets, deluxe hospitality packages, designated hotels, free shuttle transport. This is somewhere you take the whole family.”

High Voltage offers a new and unique festival experience for rock fans of all ages. Only High Voltage gives ticket buyers the freedom to design their own bespoke festival package – which can include accommodation, transport, parking and VIP bar access. Early-bird ticket purchasers will be able to upgrade their tickets with a host of options from January 2010.

“If you can think it up, we can do it,” says Scott Rowley. “We asked our readers what they’d like to see and we’re taking the best of their ideas and making them happen. It’s 30 years since the first Monsters Of Rock festival, and now, at last, rock fans have finally got a quality festival they can call their own.”

Early bird tickets priced £120 (for weekend tickets) and £65 (for day tickets) went on sale from 9am on Friday 4th December 2009. The early bird tickets will end on 31st December 2009. Standard tickets are prices £130 (for weekend tickets) and £75 (for day tickets).

Classic Rock subscribers were able to purchase early bird tickets from Wednesday 2nd December 2009. The subscribers’ early-bird tickets include free festival laminate and the ability to fastrack queues on the day.

There is no booking fee for Classic Rock’s High Voltage festival tickets.

Tickets are available from High Voltage Festival, Built By Rock Fans, For Rock Fans, London, 2010 (http://www.highvoltagefestival.com) or 24hr credit card ticketline 0871 230 5582.

Please check the websites below for further updates

High Voltage Festival, Built By Rock Fans, For Rock Fans, London, 2010 (http://www.highvoltagefestival.com)
Classic Rock (http://www.classicrockmagazine.com)

[Atomic_Rob]

Holy shit. This is the first I've heard about anything like this. Saw ZZ Top at Wembley in October, but a proper classic rock festival so we can wave two fingers at Download and Hyde Park Calling?

HAPPY FUCKING DAYS.

[Kristy]

Oh yeah for prog rock.

[kwame k]

Palmer was a great drummer, other than that:sleepy:

[Mr Badguy]

Bullshit punk year zero revisionism.

ELP was a fine band, bursting with talent.

I hope they do more dates, although Emerson and Lake have a hard time working together for any length of time.

[twonabomber]

i thought Emerson had carpal tunnel or some other hand injury that was keeping him from playing. hopefully they won't run a lot of sequences or pre-recorded tracks.

[Mr Badguy]

i thought Emerson had carpal tunnel or some other hand injury that was keeping him from playing. hopefully they won't run a lot of sequences or pre-recorded tracks.

That was fifteen years ago.

Since that he`s been more or less at full strength.

The most puzzling thing for me is that all three have done so little since ELP.

I know Palmer did well with Asia, but those three guys were virtuosos and could have played with anyone.

[Kristy]

I'll admit I never knew who Greg Lake was until I saw him on some Who documentary where he did a session playing bass with Pete Townshend. The dude looks like he weighs over 450 pounds.

[Terry]

They're okay. Can't deny the level of musicianship in the band.

Always found it a bit suspect that 70's punkers had lambasted prog rock groups; as if the general public aren't mutli-dimensional enough to appreciate and enjoy both.

[chefcraig]

Greg Lake did a couple of solo albums in the early eighties with Gary Moore that were most notable for how ill-suited Lake's voice was for hard rock. The studio version of this tune found some airplay at the time of it's release, and I think Moore recorded it a couple of times as well.

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[MAX]

Brain Salad Surgury kicks major ass. I love the "Tocatta" song.

[Mr Badguy]

Lake used to have one of the best voices in rock.

Something happened to it between "Emerson, Lake and Powell" (a seriously under-rated record) and "Black moon".

Maybe the same thing as happened to Ian Anderson after Tull`s "Under wraps"?

[Shaun Ponsonby]

That was fifteen years ago.

Since that he`s been more or less at full strength.

The most puzzling thing for me is that all three have done so little since ELP.

I know Palmer did well with Asia, but those three guys were virtuosos and could have played with anyone.

Saw him with The Nice in 2003 and he was fantastic. Did a set with The Nice, had a breather whilst his guitarist (who also plays with Roger Waters on occasion) did a solo song, came back for a solo piano set, then welcomed on a different band and said "Now we're gonna play the whole of Tarkus"-and they did...perfectly.

At the end of the set they did Fanfare for the Common Man, bringing The Nice back on, so doubling up on every instrument and then did the same for an encore of Honky Tonk Train Blues to one of the longest standing ovations I've ever seen.

They say it will probably be their last show, but I'm hoping they find they enjoyed playing to gether and do a final tour cos I'm not sure I can make it down to London in July.

On a side salad-it's pretty impressive that a magazine can reunite a stadium-filling band. Major kudos to them.

[Mr Badguy]

On a side salad-it's pretty impressive that a magazine can reunite a stadium-filling band. Major kudos to them.

Yes.

At least they`re doing something right.

As a reader since issue 2, their magazine has been less than spectacular the past couple of years.

Every second copy now seems to be a "the 100 greatest..." list lazy journalism shite, with a bunch of talking heads kissing each others arses.

Come on Classic Rock, get back to doing the brilliant features you used to do like the "story of the album..." or the great interviews they did with the likes of Skynyrd, Iron Maiden etc., there are still a lot of bands they haven`t covered.

[Shaun Ponsonby]

Yes.

At least they`re doing something right.

As a reader since issue 2, their magazine has been less than spectacular the past couple of years.

Every second copy now seems to be a "the 100 greatest..." list lazy journalism shite, with a bunch of talking heads kissing each others arses.

Come on Classic Rock, get back to doing the brilliant features you used to do like the "story of the album..." or the great interviews they did with the likes of Skynyrd, Iron Maiden etc., there are still a lot of bands they haven`t covered.

Yea, I've noticed that over the last few years too. I find myself flicking through a lot of it these days and not bothering to read it all, whereas a few years ago I read every single word.

[Mr Badguy]

Wow.

I just picked up this month`s issue.

What do you know?

It`s half full of the "Classic Rock Awards"!

What a load of shit that is as well.

I understand having album/band/etc. of the year, but there are too many "awards" for the sake of it.

Giving Biff Byford a "Metal guru award"?

What the fuck is that?

Some othe pointless "awards":

Classic songwriter: Paul Rodgers
VIP Award: Doc McGhee
Outstanding contribution: Ronnie Wood
Classic Album: Aerosmith "Rocks"
Living Legend: Iggy Pop

and, most ridiculously,

Best new band: Chickenfoot

[Mr. Vengeance]

Have to admit I always found (like a lot of the prog rock guys) that ELP was a bit self indulgent.

Greg Lake's original solo album was pretty good though.

[Shaun Ponsonby]

Just confirmed: Marillion and Argent will appear at next summer’s festival.

Marillion are proud to announce their only UK festival date of 2010 will be at High Voltage.

Additionally, for the first time since 1975, the original line-up of Argent (of Hold Your Head Up fame) will re-form to play the festival.

The rest of the bill for Classic Rock’s High Voltage shebang is shaping up as follows:

HEADLINERS:
• ZZ Top (July 24) and ELP (July 25)

MAIN STAGE:
• FOREIGNER (who release new album Can’t Slow Down on March 1)

PROG STAGE:
• ASIA
• MARTIN TURNER’S WISHBONE ASH
• FOCUS
• THE REASONING
• TOUCHSTONE
• STEVE HACKETT

METAL HAMMER STAGE:
• BLACK LABEL SOCIETY
• CLUTCH

The High Voltage Festival is set to take place in London’s Victoria Park.