POP MUSIC REVIEW : Post-ELP Bombast by 3 at Palace

Toting along their latest front man--bassist/singer/keyboardist Robert Berry--Keith Emerson and Carl Palmer welcomed back their friends Sunday night at the Palace in Hollywood with the Southern California debut of 3, progressive rock’s latest equation.

It’s great to see Emerson--the keyboardist’s keyboardist--and Palmer--the drummer’s drummer--looking so perky after lo these many years, and it was proven again and again during the positively rococo 90-minute set that neither has lost any of his fearsome chops.

But with Emerson arranging the band’s (mostly Berry’s) longish tunes, you just knew blinding technique and orchestral bombast were going to be the main course--and they were, despite the moderating influence of Berry’s frail vocalizations and the added presence of another guitarist and a female backup singer.

None of 3’s material is nearly as overstuffed as the old Emerson, Lake and Palmer’s later work, and--refreshingly--the trio takes itself much less seriously than, say, Asia, Palmer’s post-ELP outfit.

Yet between the ritual thrashing of an old Hammond B-3 organ by the unmellowed Emerson and Palmer’s interminable traps solo, there was serious deja entendu going down. Unquestionably the fans came to hear “Hoedown” and other quasi-classics done at warp speed, and they got it. But there was nothing new under this sun, and after all these years, there should be with these blokes.