Arts: Prog Spring

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Prog Spring Prog Spring Rotating drums! A $5,000 Persian rug! Quad sound! Inside ELP's legendary 1973 Madison Square Garden concerts. By David Weigel Posted Wednesday, Aug 15, 2012, at 07:45 AM ET Here is a list of the musicians, artists, and other figures mentioned in this series, along with brief bios. When he was 14, and living in Brooklyn, Rob McDonnell nearly missed the ear-punishing spectacle of 1973. He'd seen Led Zep on the Houses of the Holy tour. He'd seen the Who's Roger Daltry inflict minor larynx trauma with the scream from "Won't Get Fooled Again." Seen, obsessed over, etched the names of the bands on his skateboard. Then Emerson Lake & Palmer announced two nights at Madison Square Garden, right before Christmas. They sold out straightaway. McDonnell grieved, then got lucky. "I worked for a man who had a friend on the inside at MSG," he explains, keeping some of the mystery almost 40 years later. "He got us tickets for an extra $2per"—a total of $9.50 for a ticket, still a steal. Any right-thinking American teen would pay that for an ELP ticket. (Math lesson that will come in handy throughout: One 1973 dollar is worth around $5 in 2012.) The band was born to be mammoth. Its origins dated to February 1970, when keyboardist Keith Emerson was treading water in the Nice and guitarist Greg Lake was falling out of King Crimson. Lake called Emerson, around 3 a.m., and said "I want to play with you, man." Some time later, Lake made a late night call to Atomic Rooster's drummer Carl Palmer. "He said that if I didn't join the ... To continue reading, click here. Join the Fray: our reader discussion forum What did you think of this article? POST A MESSAGE | READ MESSAGES Also In Slate Ding Dong, Daily Deals Are Dead Should You Trust Online Reviews? If Your Baby Girl Might Be Born With a Small Penis	Advertisement
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