It was the final night of a three-day engagement at The Six Bells in Chiddingly, East Sussex, on 28 August 2005. We knew Keith Emerson had a home in the area, but nothing could have prepared us for what happened next.
Keith walked in and, after watching from the audience, made his way to the stage. What followed was an extraordinary evening of music that none of us will ever forget.
Keith took over the keyboards during Tarkus and Knife Edge, his fingers dancing across the keys from 04:30 to 05:43. During Fanfare for the Common Man and Pictures at an Exhibition, he was in complete command — playing from 01:03 to 03:10 and again from 05:57 to 07:07, with his trademark reverb-spring twanging at 11:34.
The highlight came during Rondo, where Keith performed throughout, including a breathtaking 'Flight of the Bumblebee' passage at 03:28 that had the entire pub on its feet.
We were fortunate enough to have the entire performance recorded. It was later released as our live CD 'Thank You, Masked Man!' — a lasting memento of one of the most incredible nights in the band's history.
This wasn't the first time our paths had crossed with Keith. Back in 1992, Tom had offered Keith his Hammond L100 organ at the Manchester Apollo during ELP's Black Moon tour. That same organ would go on to feature at Wembley Arena in 2009 and the High Voltage Festival in 2010.