Greg Lake has just finished a tour in the UK with a new band. I am not sure that he has ever toured so many towns in Britain, and certainly not in the same decade. We were always left out on the ELP world tours,; for example they didn't play here between 1974 and 1992, and despite touring until 1997 never played here again!

So it was a huge surprise that Greg Lake played in Stevenage, a town about 35 miles north of London, in a converted sports hall. And wow, what a gig! He has assembled a fantastic band, including one of the finest young guitarists, a German, Florian Opahle. He covered songs from King Crimson, ELP, and yes, "I believe in Father Christmas." Brilliant performances all round, and a rather surprisingly different, and very good, version of "Take a Pebble" based around acoustic guitar instead of piano. And the show was filmed for an imminent DVD release. I really can't wait to see the show again.

Part of the tour merchandise is a DVD titled "Welcome Backstage." It covers rehearsals for the tour, it's in widescreen and DD and DTS (but it not planned to be available in stores - I think you can also order it from his website http://www.oneshoprock.com/products....HS&SubCatID=51
The sound is excellent. In fact the sound on the night of the show was probably the finest live presentation I've ever heard, and that includes all of the big name bands such as Yes, Floyd, etc. It didn't matter how many instruments and voices were in the mix on the night you could distinguish every single one.

If you get the chance to see Greg Lake take it, you will not be disappointed (or order the DVD!!)