Emerson, Lake & Palmer performed on this day in 1971 at the Portsmouth Guildhall in Portsmouth, England.
ELP were at this time on the first leg of their Tarkus Tour. So far, the contours of it were quite reminiscent of the group’s debut tour; they were playing most of the same songs and visiting many of the same locations. What was different was the scale of the tour; while the first tour had only included dates in England and Western Europe, the Tarkus Tour followed this batch of England dates with a hop across the pond, where they played their first North American dates.
There is no known recording of this concert.
The band performed at the Portsmouth Guildhall, the second and last time they did so.
The hall was built in 1890, designed by architect William Hill. Hill has also designed a town hall in Bolton, which greatly inspired this building. Originally designated as the Portsmouth Town Hall, it received an upgrade to Guildhall in 1926, when Portsmouth became a city rather than a town. The building’s interior and roof were completely destroyed during the Blitz, though the exterior survived. After the war, the building was restored and reopened on June 8, 1959.
It has since served as a concert hall, and its website can be found here.