Dream Theater, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, and Deep Purple performed on this day in 1998 at the Marcus Amphitheater in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
The bands’ triple threat tour had by now reached the upper midwest. Throughout, all bands involved received positive coverage from fans, especially Deep Purple and ELP.
The tour unfortunately could not have been scheduled for a worse night; the Green Bay Packers, a popular American Football team with particularly ardent supporters in Milwaukee, had a game. Several reviews imply that the groups struggled to fill seats. ELP, however, had some fun with it and apparently came onstage at the end of the night in Packers T-shirts. The band’s general relationship with American Football is surprisingly strong for a British progressive rock group; they had even recorded an ad for Monday Night Football earlier in the decade!
Dream Theater’s setlist is not known to have been recorded; if it was, the recording is in private hands. Both ELP and Deep Purple’s setlists were recorded and are in circulation online.