Chuck's Chats...cont'd.
I expressed a follow-up opinion that there were too many digital synth rack units midied together to be able to control in a live mix and then regretfully in retrospect asked Keith directly why he felt like he needed all that stuff when his Hammond C3, Moog Modular the two Minimoogs, Clavanet and Grand Piano he used on the Brain Salad Surgery tour not only sounded fantastic but sat perfect in the mix.
Keith was annoyed by this and said "that's enough" then walked off.
Greg had just come into the room, overheard this, then walked over, put his arm around my shoulder and seemed amused by the whole exchange with Keith, laughing and saying "Don't worry about him, Mate, he gets like that," and then we had easily a ten minute conversation.
Greg had the ability to make one feel as if they were important. He was kind, considerate and funny. It was like you knew him all your life.
Someone else at the party insisted I get a pic with Keith later on in the night. I was a bit scared to re-approach him but it went ok.
So I went to the aftershow very excited to meet my idol, Keith Emerson, and ended up being totally impressed by Greg Lake.
I never forgot how nice Greg was to me as I'm sure he could tell I felt subdued after meeting Keith.
In fairness, Keith was really nice when I met him again in 2005 after a Keith Emerson Band concert at The Birchmere, Alexandria, VA. When my son, Greg, asked Keith for a picture with me, Keith looked at me and said to my son "He's your Dad??" then happily walked over for the picture.
(92 And '05)
Chuck Wagner