I Just Read About That…

[ATTENDED: September 21, 2019] King Crimson

It is hard to believe that it has been almost two years since I last saw King Crimson, because I feels like it was just a few months ago.

This was my fourth time seeing them in five years.  As I said last time, who knows when Robert Fripp is going to decide to end this iteration, so if they come to town, I’m going to see them.  In fact, I had a ticket for Monday night’s show in Philly as well but I decided not to go because I had been to a show Friday and now Saturday and I had four more shows lined up later in the week (seven shows in nine days is a lot, even for me).

This time I went with my friend Bill.  He drove us into the city for which I was thankful.  He told me he usually just looks for street parking but because he didn’t want to be late he booked a garage.  That proved to be a huge mistake because everyone who didn’t live in NYC also booked that garage and there were only two attendants.  We waited for 45 minutes for our car (which meant I got home at 2AM!).  This was Bill’s first time seeing King Crimson.

He was very impressed.  Of course.

This time the band was back down to a seven piece.  I’m not sure what happened to the eighth member.  It was going to be Bill Rieflin again and then he took a sabbatical and was replaced by Theo Travis.  But apparently he was not included on this tour “when the band opted not to have musicians deputising for Rieflin again.”

Even though these shows have a base of similar songs and players, each tour (and each tour date) has mixed it up somewhat.  So out of the eighteen songs they played that night, I hadn’t seen 5 of them.  That’s a pretty great evolution.   And honestly, the songs I’ve heard more than once (some every time) I’m more than happy to hear again and again.

The last time I saw them I wrote

after they tour Europe, if they came back I would see them again no question.  This time maybe from the front of the balcony for a whole new perspective.

Following my own advice, I scored front row balcony seats to this show, and they were really spectacular.  The band sounded great and it was easy to see what everyone was doing (where to look is a perennial problem).  [My seats in Philly were also exciting–stage left in a balcony box, staring right at Fripp–I’ll definitely try to get them again if they come around in 2020).

The back row has remained consistent throughout these tours: Tony Levin (bass, Stick, keyboards this time, too); Mel Collins (saxes, flutes); Jakko Jakszyk (guitar, vocals), and of course, Robert Fripp (guitar and more).

This show opened with “Hell Hounds of Krim” one of the spectacular drum sequences that allows the three drummers [Pat Mastelotto, Jeremy Stacey and Gavin Harrison] to play off of/against/with each other.  It’s a statement of purpose and an impressive start to the show.  It’s a lot of fun to see how much they enjoy what they’re doing and how much fun the rest of the band has watching them.

Then came “Larks’ Tongues in Aspic, Part One,” one of the songs that I’ve seen all four times (there are shows where the don’t play it, and I’d not like to be at one of those).  I really wanted to see Bill’s reaction to it and it was one of wide-eyed appreciation for how incredibly tight this monstrous band is.  This is also a great statement of purpose–what you can expect to see this night.  And it was magnificent.  This time Mel Collin’s extended flute solo included a bit of “Take the ‘A’ Train” which was sweet.

They followed it up with a new-to-me-live song “Suitable Ground for the Blues” which I knew from their recent live albums.  It was really cool seeing a brand new song on this tour and promised more new things to come.

They followed it with “Red” a song I love and love hearing live (This was my third of four times with it).  King Crimson has so many songs to choose from and I forget all of their titles, so I never know which one is which when they play it.  Plus, there’s so many great songs that if they don’t play one I don’t miss it–it’s a pretty great situation.

So far they’d played for some twenty-five minutes and only had vocals on one song.

So they slowed everything down to let Jakko Jakszyk really shine on the slow “Epitaph.”  This song was originally recorded in 1969 with Greg Lake (who died in 2016) on vocals.  While he is not trying to sound like Lake (I don’t think), he sounds amazingly like him.  And it’s a beautiful version.

“Epitaph” is a pretty intense song and they followed it up with one of their silliest songs, “Cat Food.”  That was on my list of song I’ve wanted to hear so it was great to get it tonight.

This began a whole series of songs that I had not heard live before.  “Elektrik” is from the final studio album that they’ve released.  It begins with all kinds of interesting synth music.  The synth was played by Jeremy Stacey.  I mentioned last time that I was really impressed by Stacey’s keyboard playing.  It seems insane that he is an amazing drummer AND an amazing keyboard player.

During the previous show they only played “Moonchild” and like last time, after the song Tony Levin played a solo on the upright–plucked and then bowed–and then Jeremy Stacey followed with an improvised keyboard piece.

There are technically Five parts to the “Lark’s Tongue in Aspic” saga.  I had only ever seen Parts 1 and 2.  Technically “Level Five” is Part 5, but it has a different name.  I gather they don’t really ever play Part 3.  But I also didn’t think they played Part IV all that much.  And tonight they did!  Even if I don’t know it as well as the other parts, it is still an amazing piece of virtuosity and noise and was wonderful to see.

After the chaos of “Part IV,” the band ended the set with a nice long mellow song, the beautifully sung “Islands.”

And then it was Intermission time.

They started off Set 2 with a new drum solo piece called “Drumzilla.”  It’s funny to think that the drum “solo” pieces are composed, but they are.  And each time “Hell Hounds” follows the same trajectory.  But “Drumzilla” was new and was really fun–I love watching the drummers seem to compete with each other.  It was followed by “Easy Money” a song I love to hear live and which feature even more drum pyrotechnics.

The short jam that is “Radical Action II” led to the long jam that is “Level Five” one of my favorite new(ish) King Crimson songs.  I’ve seen it all four times and never get tired of the intensity of it.

One of my all-time favorite Crimson songs is “In the Court of the Crimson King” which I actually like better than “21st Century Schizoid Man.”  I saw that on one of the previous shows I’d seen, it was on the setlist but not played.  Last time they did play it and tonight they played it again.  I don’t recall if Jeremy Stacey played the ending keyboard cadenza last time.  But he sure did this time.  The section is borderline comical (especially after the intensity of the early part) but so neat to hear.  An after playing the lighthearted part and stretching it out a bit, the band resumed for the end.

After the show I was talking to someone who said that they always play “Starless” and I guess that seems true.  And yet, how could you not.  Each time it is amazing.  And that moment towards the end when the lights slowly turn from blue to purple to red is always incredible.

That really seems like a set ender, and yet they had a bit more left.  They played “Indiscipline.”  I think this happened last time, too, but I was much more aware of it this time.  As Tony plays the cool pulsing riff on the Stick, the drummers have a little competition.  Pat starts it out and plays a fill and then the other two try to copy it in their own way.  It’s so much fun watching them all look at each other while they play with that air of egging them on.  And to see them do all of these fun fills and then all three of them end with a rolling snare until on cue they all crash into the song proper.  And like each time I’ve seen it, Jakko sings the lyrics rather than speaking them as Adrian Belew did on record. The singing does kind of take away the “story” of the lyrics, but it is a neat way to hear it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then came the encore break.

From up in the balcony would could look down on everyone downstairs.  And while everyone was applauding I saw a guy and his little kid leave. First, it’s awesome that he brought his little kid to see King Crimson (hope the kid had earplugs) but second, how could you leave before the encore.  How could you not let your kid experience “21st Century Schizoid Man?”  I realize it was around 11 already, but surely, an extra ten minutes past your bedtime wouldn’t hurt.

This is the third time I’ve seen it live and it never fails to impress. This version featured a drum solo from Gavin Harrison.  I love that when his solo ends, Pat Mastelotto is the first one to start applauding.

It was an amazing show yet again.

The only problem on the way out was that the lobby was absolutely packed with humanity.  I was looking to get one of the new T-shirts that I really liked, but there was no way we were going to try and wait through that sea of people.  I see that it is on sale at the UK store but with the European dates.  I hope it’s for sale in the US store when the tour is over.  Ironically, we wound up waiting 45 minutes at the garage instead.

Doubly ironically, when I went to the Pinegrove show on Wednesday, a guy there was wearing this very shirt.  He had seen them in Philly on Monday and bought the best short there. He was as surprised as I was that there were actually two King Crimson fans at a Pinegrove show.  I tole him that my other King Crimson shirt is the most commented upon piece of clothing I own.  Clearly we are so excited to see other KC fans, that a conversation must ensue!

Radio City Music Hall Sept 21, 2019	Merriam Theater Nov 2, 2017
SET 1	SET 1
Hell Hounds of Krim (3) [drums]	Larks’ Tongues in Aspic, Part One (3) £
Larks’ Tongues in Aspic, Part One (4) £	Pictures of a City (3) ϖ
Suitable Grounds for the Blues [new]	Cirkus (2) ∧
Red (3) ®	Neurotica (2) ß
Epitaph (2) ©	Epitaph ©
Cat Food ϖ	Fallen Angel (2) ®
EleKtriK ¶	The Letters (3) ∧
Moonchild (2) (with cadenzas)  ©	Radical Action (To Unseat the Hold of Monkey Mind) [new]
Larks’ Tongues in Aspic (Part IV) ψ	Islands (2) ∧
Islands (3) ∧	Hell-Hounds of Krim (2)
SET 2	Larks’ Tongues in Aspic, Part Two (3) £
Drumzilla [drums]	SET 2
Easy Money (3) £	Indiscipline (2) ð
Radical Action II (3) [new]	Moonchild (‘The Dream’ part only; followed by Tony Levin and Jeremy Stacey cadenzas) ©
Level Five (4) ¶	The Court of the Crimson King ©
The Court of the Crimson King (2) (with coda) ©	Devil Dogs of Tessellation Row [drums]
Starless (4) ®	Easy Money (2) £
Indiscipline (3) ð	Lizard “(c) The Battle of Glass Tears (i) Dawn Song (ii) Last Skirmish (iii) Prince Rupert’s Lament” (2) ≅
Encore:	Meltdown (2) [new]
21st Century Schizoid Man (3) (with Gavin Harrison drum solo) ©	Radical Action II (2) [new]
	Level Five (3) ¶
	Starless (3) ®
	Encore
	Heroes (David Bowie cover)

Red Bank July 9, 2017	Academy of Music Sept 13, 2014
SET 1	SET 1
Neurotica ß	Larks’ Tongues in Aspic, Part One £
Pictures of a City (2) ϖ	Level Five ¶
The Errors [new]	A Scarcity of Miracles ℑ
Cirkus ∧	Banshee Legs Bell Hassle [drums]
Lizard “(c) The Battle of Glass Tears (i) Dawn Song (ii) Last Skirmish (iii) Prince Rupert’s Lament” ≅	Pictures of a City ϖ
Red (2) ®	One More Red Nightmare ®
Fallen Angel ®	Interlude [new]
Islands ∧	The Letters ∧
Larks’ Tongues in Aspic, Part Two (2) £	Sailor’s Tale ∧
SET 2	Hell-Hounds of Krim [drums]
Larks’ Tongues in Aspic, Part One (2) £	VROOOM ♦
The ConstruKction of Light ψ	Coda: Marine 475 ♦
Easy Money £	The Light of Day ℑ
Indiscipline ð	The Talking Drum £
Interlude (2) [new]	Larks’ Tongues in Aspic, Part Two £
The Letters (2) ∧	Red ®
Meltdown [new]	Starless ®
Radical Action II [new]	Encore
Level Five (2) ¶	HooDoo [drums]
Starless (2) ®	21st Century Schizoid Man ©
Encore
Heroes (David Bowie cover)
21st Century Schizoid Man (2) ©

© = In the Court of the Crimson King (1969)
ϖ = In the Wake of Poseidon (1969)
≅ = Lizard (1970)
∧ = Islands (1971)
£ = Lark’s Tongue in Aspic (1973)
Starless and Bible Black (1974)
® = Red (1974)
ð = Discipline (1981)
ß = Beat (1982)
Three of a Perfect Pair (1983)
♦ = THRAK (1995)
ψ = The Construkction of Light (2000)
¶ =The Power to Believe (2003)

ℑ = Jakszyk, Fripp and Collins (2011) [A King Crimson ProjeKct]

I was curious about the shows after the ones I saw–what songs did I miss?  So here’s the nights I didn’t go:  And it seems of all of the shows, the only song I didn’t hear was “Fracture.”  That’s not bad at all.  Still haven’t heard “Fracture” and I see that they added “Frame By Frame” a song I love from Discipline.  I’m very curious to hear how the new band plays it.  And I hope to see it live next time.

Academy of Music 2014	Red Bank July 10, 2017	Merriam Theater 2017	The Met Philly Sept 23, 2019
SET 1	SET 1	SET 1	SET 1
Larks’ Tongues in Aspic, Part One	Larks’ Tongues in Aspic, Part One	Hell-Hounds of Krim	Hell Hounds of Krim
Pictures of a City	Neurotica	Neurotica	Neurotica
A Scarcity of Miracles	The ConstrucKction of Light [with Tony Levin “error“]	Cirkus	Suitable Grounds for the Blues
The ConstruKction of Light	Cirkus	Lizard “(c) The Battle of Glass Tears (i) Dawn Song (ii) Last Skirmish (iii) Prince Rupert’s Lament”	Red
One More Red Nightmare	Lizard “(c) The Battle of Glass Tears (i) Dawn Song (ii) Last Skirmish (iii) Prince Rupert’s Lament”	Moonchild (‘The Dream’ part only; followed by Tony Levin and Jeremy Stacey cadenzas)	Moonchild (with cadenzas)
Interlude	Fracture	The Court of the Crimson King	Cat Food
Red	Epitaph	Radical Action (To Unseat the Hold of Monkey Mind)	Frame by Frame
The Letters	VROOOOM	Meltdown	EleKtriK
Banshee Legs Bell Hassle	Islands	Radical Action II	Epitaph
Sailor’s Tale	SET 2	Level Five	Indiscipline
The Light of Day	Indiscipline	SET 2	SET 2
The Talking Drum	Pictures of a City	Devil Dogs of Tessellation Row	Drumzilla
Larks’ Tongues in Aspic, Part Two	The Errors	The ConstruKction of Light	Lizard (‘Dawn Song’ only)
Starless	Easy Money	Fallen Angel	Larks’ Tongues in Aspic (Part IV)
Encore	Red	The Letters	Islands
Hell Hounds of Krim	Fallen Angel	Epitaph	Easy Money
21st Century Schizoid Man	Interlude	Indiscipline	Radical Action II
	Meltdown	Starless	Level Five
	Radical Action II	21st Century Schizoid Man	Starless
	Level Five	Encore	The Court of the Crimson King (with coda)
	Encore	Easy Money	Encore
	Starless	Heroes (David Bowie cover)	21st Century Schizoid Man (with Gavin Harrison drum solo)
	21st Century Schizoid Man	Encore 2
		Larks’ Tongues in Aspic, Part One