There aren’t many people who can say they have shared a stage with their musical
icon, and even fewer have released a CD, or even loaned out musical equipment.
Local musician Tom Szakaly can tick these boxes as one of the fortunate few to have
performed alongside the legendary Keith Emerson, of Emerson, Lake and Palmer,
thanks to his ELP tribute band, Noddy’s Puncture.
They first met in 1987 after Tom knocked on Keith’s door to invite him to the pub,
paving the way for future collaborations.
Their paths crossed again in 1992, during ELP’s Black Moon tour. With ELP due to
play the Manchester Apollo, Tom had a phone call from Keith, in Holland at the time,
asking if he knew of anyone who could take a look at his equipment, which had been
rendered useless the night before.
In 2005, Keith Emerson came along to one of the Noddy’s gigs at his local pub, The
Six Bells, before getting on stage and joining in with the set. The gig, which was,
being recorded, was subsequently released on CD – a dream for many musicians.
Tom said: “I knew he was going to be there. Keith’s son and his partner always came
to my gigs, so I had an inkling he would bring his dad. He turned up and joined in on
the third number, going on to play a few on his own. It was just a big jam really;
everyone’s jaws were on the floor and I was over the moon. Keith had a whale of a
time.”