ELP made their American debut at my college, unfortunately the year before I got there but I had a friend who was there at the time. They played at the gymnasium to a crowd of less than 100 people.
When I saw ELP on their Black Moon tour it was in a little theater in Allentown, PA - I’m guessing it held maybe 400 people. The concert would start and stop for about 45 minutes. They kept blowing the electrical for the entire block!
A bunch of older folks sitting there - so no rioting!
Sometimes you get crazy gigs.
In 1993, I sat onstage, perched atop Buck Dharma’s Marshall stack, taking photos when BOC played a local WV roadhouse.
Prior to that, I’d only had nosebleed seats for them at the Cap Center.
Rock is a fickle mistress.