Emerson, Lake & Palmer: …Welcome Back My Friends: 40th Anniversary Reunion Concert 2010 [Blu-ray]

People get old. Bodies get stiff. Voices change. What was once limber and flexible becomes much less agile and fluid. Taking all THAT into account this is a pretty good disc. No it wouldn't be a 5-star performance for a bunch of 20 somethings, but for folks on the high-side of their 60s who had a pretty decent career of making great music (with a few clunkers, I'll admit), this is a nice send-off recording of the band (especially given it was a one-off performance, as I understood it).Positives?- The video and sound quality in bluray. Great picture and great sound.- Some interesting tweaks to the standard ELP arrangements. Nice that they changed up some of it, though I expect part of that was out of necessity- There is a certain positive energy with this performance that was lacking in some other videos of ELP gigs (likely because they weren't fed up with touring with each other yet)- It's just a another chance to enjoy a band I like quite a bitNegatives?- Yep, the band and the performance is a little rusty in places, despite that energy in the performance- The arrangements are a little over-simplified in placesBut hey, to see this band one last time in nicely filmed hi-def, I can live with it, and I fully admit 1-to-1.5 stars of my rating is because I really like the band and their body of work.

This is quite simply an amazing show. I just got the DVD of it today, and it looks and sounds very good, indeed. The song listing is the same as the double disc CD that came out late last year. You can still hear the squeals and screeches that were heard on the CD. However, the squeals do not seem as annoying to me on this DVD. It's not a perfect concert. It does have its mistakes. The picture quality is suberb, with the images clear and crisp. Really nice use a camera angels make this show all the more pleasing to the eye. Great lighting as well. Nice visuals. Additionally, the color schemes are very good. According to the info on Amazon the single disc runs 210 min., however that is not correct. A bit of a typo, I'm afraid. Total time is 120 minutes. The concert runs 91:45, and the new documentary runs 28:15. The documentary consists of Emerson, Lake & Palmer along with the live concert director, the DVD editor, and the producer as they talk about various ELP related topics. The documentary is not one of those discussions with all the participants sitting around some table, instead each person is at a different location, interviewed, then edited as a whole piece. It is well done, though at this moment I've only seen a quick sampling of it. This concert may indeed be their last. Highly recommended for any music fan.

To pull together 3 of the most innovative musicians for a '40 year' Anniversary concert was no small feat. It has been 12+ years since ELP had played together, and while this filmed concert had it's share of typical live event problems, the guys really pulled off a great show. It was great to see that legendary left hand of Keith's up close. Carl was in top form, and though 'life' had filled out Greg some, the voice was spot on (unlike some senior rockers) Had I known about this concert, I might have booked a flight to the UK. I have seen ELP every time they have been in the LA area since 1975. Cal-Jam, Anaheim Convention Center (where I purchased 12 seats right in front of the FOH mixing desk and had to round up 11 friends to go with) Last time was Irvine Meadows, where I introduced my kids to ELP.The 'making of' video is a nice addition - explaining how this all come about. I don't know if ELP will do anything like this concert again, but I thank them for doing this DVD. It's so hard to describe their music and performance to those who have never experienced it. It was great to see all varied ages in the audience - and all seemed to be very serious fans.Technically, the video was well shot, but the Dolby 5.1 mix was a bit uninteresting. A dts or a Blu-ray disc with Dolby-HD would have been fun to listen to, as ELP have always been very inventive when it comes to their sound (live or in studio).If you are an ELP fan, you need this DVD. If you would like to see and hear 3 guys play really complex rock/jazz/classical based music with NO sequencers and NO auto-tune, check'em out. (The proof is the Moog Modular still can't stay in tune...)