Are keyboards in Prog music 'played out'?

Definitely not. Of course, I'm not a fan of any of the bands that you mentioned there (the last 2 I have never even heard of). I think the music usually loses something when you remove an instrument from the four main instruments. I think usually it is far less dynamic without both guitar and keyboards intermingling. For me, most guitar-centric music without keyboards sounds fairly bland to me (there are a couple of exceptions: Rush and Wishbone Ash). For some reason I'm much more tolerant of keyboard centric music without guitar (ELP, Egg, Rare Bird, etc.) But most bands I enjoy have a healthy mix of both and I don't really see that changing.

It's a good observation.  You just don't hear a lot of really innovative keyboard work in modern

I'm not an expert in latest-generation Prog but sadly you might be right. Of course retro-prog bands still make good use of vintage-sounding keyboards, and guys like Rudess have kept the keyboard as a front instrument, but there seems to be a wave of bands who are shifting to a more guitar-oriented format (or electronic, which I do not really consider as "keyboard music").

Yes. 

SteveG wrote: With the trend of fans embracing new less keyboard centric groups like TOOL, Koonival, Cult Of Luna, Mastodon and new up and comers like Agent and Sisare as well as a post interested in guitar centric groups, do you feel that the use of keyboards in prog music is 'played out' or just failing to offer anything new? If so, why? If not, again, why?

Have you ever listened to Cult of Luna? I suggest you go onto youtube and listen to the song Dim and then try and tell me they don't make use of keyboards. It doesnt take much to find bands that started out in the last  10-15 years that still make extensive use of keyboards.

SteveG wrote: With the trend of fans embracing new less keyboard centric groups like TOOL, Koonival, Cult Of Luna, Mastodon and new up and comers like Agent and Sisare as well as a post interested in guitar centric groups, do you feel that the use of keyboards in prog music is 'played out' or just failing to offer anything new? If so, why? If not, again, why?

Tool is not a new band. They've been in existence for more than 20 years, and their early EP Opiate and first proper album Undertow are not prog. I remember when they arrived on the scene and I liked them almost immediately, but they never struck me as prog. Then Ænima changed that.

There are plenty of prog/proggy/psych/fringe bands that employ keyboards/synths, like Black Mountain (who got a mention from Jason Newsted on That Metal Show), Lazer Crystal, Earthling Society--and the guys in my avatar, who play concerts with just a keyboards-drums setup. Trans Am and Maserati have both added a bit more synth/electronics to their sound on their last couple albums.

None of the keyboardists/synthesists in these bands play like Wakeman/Emerson/Moraz/Downes/Powell, etc. We'll see those again, though.

Could it be that, in a more general sense (not specifically prog), it's because of the history of the last 30 years of popular music? Mention synths to most people, especially younger people, they'll immediately make a joke about how terrible 80s music is. They'll mostly have a similarly bad reaction to organs. Grunge in the 90s was the perception of raw guitar music winning out over polished keyboard/synth music, and that's more or less still the dominant mindset, even if it's not grunge anymore. Of course young people aren't trying to be the next Emerson or Wakeman, to most of them, if they saw them or heard their music they'd think it was hilarious, a bad joke. 

Not if the latest album from Deluge Grander - Heliotians is anything to go by. Also Dan Britton's other project Birds and Buildings are doing some interesting stuff that uses keyboards.

Kazza3 wrote: Could it be that, in a more general sense (not specifically prog), it's because of the history of the last 30 years of popular music? Mention synths to most people, especially younger people, they'll immediately make a joke about how terrible 80s music is. They'll mostly have a similarly bad reaction to organs. Grunge in the 90s was the perception of raw guitar music winning out over polished keyboard/synth music, and that's more or less still the dominant mindset, even if it's not grunge anymore. Of course young people aren't trying to be the next Emerson or Wakeman, to most of them, if they saw them or heard their music they'd think it was hilarious, a bad joke.  Obviously this is a generalisation, and keyboards are still around plenty, but you get the point.

Kazza3 wrote: Could it be that, in a more general sense (not specifically prog), it's because of the history of the last 30 years of popular music? Mention synths to most people, especially younger people, they'll immediately make a joke about how terrible 80s music is. They'll mostly have a similarly bad reaction to organs. Grunge in the 90s was the perception of raw guitar music winning out over polished keyboard/synth music, and that's more or less still the dominant mindset, even if it's not grunge anymore. Of course young people aren't trying to be the next Emerson or Wakeman, to most of them, if they saw them or heard their music they'd think it was hilarious, a bad joke.  Obviously this is a generalisation, and keyboards are still around plenty, but you get the point.

Your wrong here, most young people listen to pop music like Lady Gaga which is heavily influenced by 80's pop music and as such is heavily synth based. Of course, all these people would want to be the singer and not the person that actually makes the music.