[ATTENDED: September 4, 2021] King Crimson
This show was originally scheduled at the State Theatre in New Brunswick, which would have been an amazing place to see King Crimson. The sound would have been incredible, and it’s only 30 minutes from my house. When this was first rescheduled, it appeared that they’d be playing at the Count Basie in Red Bank, which would have been fine–great sound, but a further drive. Then it wound up at PNC Bank Center, which has less great sound, but is a nice venue and is very easy to get to.
A few days before the show I heard an ad on the radio that said this was King Crimson’s final tour. I hadn’t heard that before. And maybe if they had originally played in 2020, they might have done another stretch into 2021…who knows. Anyhow, an article recently said that yes, this was probably the final tour, but they didn’t want to make a big deal about it. So it’s possible that this will be my final King Crimson show (five times in eight years is pretty good–especially for King Crimson).
The last few times King Crimson has played two 90 minute sets. But this time they had the Zappa Band opening for them. Which meant that they’d do only one set. Sadly, for the same amount of money. But oh well. What this meant was that they did a 90 minute set that almost felt like a greatest hits (of the last few tours) package.
I decided to splurge somewhat for this show–not paying for a VIP, sorry Robert–but I was reasonably close and more or less in the middle.
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). From this vantage point I could see everyone very clearly, which was ideal. A very obnoxious couple sat down next to me but there were, thankfully, two empty seats on the other side of me so I slid over and was able to sit between the heads of the two people in front of me for an unobstructed view. The obnoxious couple left mid set…huh.
They opened with a drum trio piece called “Drumzilla.” It was a great introduction to the three drummers [Pat Mastelotto, Jeremy Stacey and Gavin Harrison] and to what we could expect tonight: very tight drumming with occasional syncopation and possibly a little competition. I love watching Mastelotto play–he is so much fun and has such an amazing supply of toys to play with. On the other side is Gavin Harrison who is probably the most technically accomplished of the three–he gets a solo at the end and even the other drummers applaud. Jeremy Stacey plays keyboards for half the songs, but his drumming is really impressive too. He doesn’t show off much, but his timing and speed are notable.
Despite my love of the band, I’m terrible with song titles and, worse yet, a lot of their songs are similarly chaotic in structure so that when they play a song with a complicated opening, I’m not really sure which song it is until the lyrics come in. So while I didn’t immediately recognize which song “Pictures of a City” was, I was pretty excited to hear it.
On the other hand, “Court of the Crimson King” is one of my favorite songs, so I recognized that one immediately. I was pretty excited to hear it because they don’t play it all the time, so it’s a nice treat. This one also featured the weird keyboard coda that Jeremy Stacey played.
Then it was on to the ripping and wild “One More Red Nightmare.” I can’t believe I’ve only seen this one twice. There’s some outstanding drum fills on this track, with each drummer getting to supply a fill during each other the sections.
Tony Levin got to play a little bass solo–bowed and plucked–which was fun. I feel like he had done one at a previous show but possibly not all of the shows.
Then they moved back into Red territory with “Red,” another ripping song that just gets more intense as the song progresses.
Things slowed down for “Islands.” I hadn’t realized I’d heard this nearly every time (except the first one). This is a chance for just about everyone to relax. Jakko sings it quite powerfully and Jeremy Stacey and Mel Collins provide pretty much the only music. It’s a good breather between “Red” and “Neurotica”
One of the more fun revivals has been “Indiscipline.” Jakko (and Tony) sing the melody (on the original it was spoken) and it takes on a whole new feeling. Although the most fun part has got to be the nearly 6 minute drum “competition” that opens the song. Mastelotto plays something and the other two match him. It doesn’t convey all that well on record, but watching it live is a thing of joy as they all three seem to watch one another while playing the next fill of cymbal splash.
Things slow sown again for “Epitaph.” Once again this is a chance for Jakko to shine–his voice sounding so uncannily like Greg Lake’s.
“Radical Action II” is a show instrumental–jagged and heavy–that fits in perfectly with the even more jagged and heavy “Level 5.” I love “Level 5.” It is complicated and mesmerizing and there’s wonderful drum parts and guitar/bass parts. It’s just mind blowing to watch.
They also play “Starless” every show and why not? It’s pretty awesome. And an truly spectacular way to end a set.
Despite “21st Century Schizoid Man” being the obvious encore, I haven’t seen it every time. I think the one time they didn’t play it they simply ran out of time. It’s a wonderful song to see live–and Gavin Harrison’s drum solo neve fails to impress.
I was mildly bummed that there was no “Lark’s Tongue” on the menu tonight, but I have seen it every other time, so I can’t complain.
When the show was over I really wanted to get down by the stage to take picture of the drums (for the last time), but they turned the stage lights off pretty quickly and started packing up. And that was actually fine because for the first time ever at PNC I managed to park really close to the entrance (no long bus ride for me) and I was back on the highway about fifteen minutes after the last notes.
I don’t know if Crimson will ever tour the States again, but if they do, I will be there, no matter ho else is playing with them.
Speaking of playing with them, tonight’s line up had two band in which Adrian Belew served as lead singer. He played with Zappa for a year and sang lead on a couple of songs (and appears on many live releases, so I was sure he was with Zappa for more than a year). He has also been in King Crimson longer than any other member aside from Robert Fripp (1981-2013 although Crimson wasn’t active all that time). And yet he was no where to be seen on this tour.
| PNC Bank Center Sept 4, 2021 |
| SET 1 |
| Drumzilla (2) |
| Pictures of a City (4) ϖ |
| The Court of the Crimson King (3) (with coda) (2) © |
| One More Red Nightmare (2) ® |
| Tony’s Cadenza |
| Red (4) ® |
| Islands (4) ∧ |
| Neurotica (3) ß |
| Indiscipline (4) ð |
| Epitaph (3) © |
| Radical Action II (4) |
| Level Five (5) ¶ |
| Starless (5) ® |
| ENCORE |
| 21st Century Schizoid Man (4) © |
| 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]
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