Emerson, Lake & Palmer performed today in 1973 at the Sporthalle in Cologne, Germany.
The band were for the first time not touring in support of an album, but rather were simply going on a European Tour. The Get Me A Ladder Tour, which snaked through Western Europe in the spring of 1973, was the first tour they embarked upon after forming their own label, Manticore. Accompanying them as supporting acts were other Manticore acts, notably the American band Stray Dog which Greg Lake had produced.
Although there was no new album out, new music still made it on the setlist on this tour, including on this night! Namely, these songs were early drafts of “Karn Evil 9: 1st Impression”, “Toccata” and “Still…You Turn Me On”. The last was particularly divergent from the album version, featuring an entirely different second section rather than the verse-chorus-verse-chorus the finished product comes out to be. Also notable for this tour is the presence of the “Abaddon’s Bolero”, which due to the massively layered keyboards was difficult to reproduce live (source).
This concert was recorded and is in circulation online.
I talk more about the venue at which they performed, the Sporthalle Cologne, here.