I Just Read About That…

[ATTENDED: October 9, 2024] Beat

I have seen King Crimson five times, all in the most recent iteration of the band.  I never saw the earlier incarnations when Adrian Belew was the singer/guitarist.

When it was announced that Adrian was gathering troops together to play 80’s era King Crimson, I was intrigued.  The tour had the blessing of Robert Fripp AND it featured Tony Levin on bass.  So that was pretty much all it took.

I’m not sure why Pat Mastelotto wasn’t invited, but Tool’s Danny Carey was a great choice.  As was bringing in fellow Frank Zappa guitar player Steve Vai Although the two never played together).

This ear of King Crimson is not my favorite.  Although Discipline was the first KC album I’d ever bought, I never really got into the other two (a few songs from each, but never the whole things).

And yet, this was a change to experience Adrian Belew singing these songs properly.  I was also intrigued to see Steve Vai play.  I was briefly into showoffy guitarists in high school, but since then I’ve been kinda meh about the whole genre.  But I couldn’t deny that it would be cool to see a master at work.

I got to the theater and sat in my seat (actually, there was a couple sitting there and I was in the one seat between them, so I said if it was easier, they could slide down and I’d save the trouble of having to squeeze past.  It was fine except that I was now next to the guy’s wife.  They were an older couple (duh, look at the demographic of this event) and she was pretty drunk and kinda flirty which was 100% not what I was expecting at this show.  I mean, I didn’t know if any women would even be here!  But she was a huge fan of Adrian Belew and kept telling me I had to find his solo albums.

She was also rather annoyingly chatty during the show.  I mean, this is the one time possibly ever that we’ll hear this lineup and probably the last time Adrian Belew will sing Crimson songs so maybe a little silence is warranted. But she was sweet and it wasn’t too terrible to be friendly.

I had just seen Tony Levin up close with Stick Men, so it was cool to see him again playing the Stick and other things.  But it was Belew’s voice that really brought me back.  I mean his voice is synonymous with King Crimson for many years (and with Frank Zappa as well).  And he sounded great.  They started with four songs of of the Beat album–the poppiest of the three.

Of course one of the great things about King Crimson is the guitar playing.  I wished I could see Steve Vai a little better, but it was clear how complex his lines were.  And Vai is a showman of the highest order, from his outfit (a giant pilgrim type hat?), to the way his flairs his hands as he plays, he’s just fun to watch.

With Steve Vai on board, it’s easy to forget that Adrian Belew is a master guitar player himself.  Vai did most of the soloing, but Belew did a huge amount as well.  He’s known for his unusual style of playing which Wikipedia describes as like sound effects or noises made by animals and machines (see Elephant Talk).

Tony played 5 string bass on Heartbeat and then played “lead” Chapman Stick on Sartori in Tangier before switching to a funky bassline.

Then they played some songs from Three of a Perfect Pair.  They started with the weird Dig Me which has Tony on keys and Adrian playing some wild sounds.  This is the album I know least and two of the songs are instrumental so  didn’t really know them at all.  But it was fun watching Adrian improvise and play with his gadgets.

And then they ended the set with the least popular Larks’ Tongue in Aspic section (Part III).  But it was still great to hear it.   Not least of which was because Tony Levin was using his patented Funk Fingers (tubes he attaches to his fingers so he is constantly slapping the bass strings).

After an intermission, Danny Carey came out and started playing a small instrument at the front of the stage–a kind of electronic marimba.  Then Adrian joined him on the other side and then Tony came out on his Stick.  This was all for Waiting Man, which featured Adrian at one point making a “solo” out of the feedback he generated waving his guitar close to his amp (it was pretty interesting).

The second set was almost entirely the Discipline album.  I like that they didn’t play it in order though.  They started with The Sheltering Sky–an opportunity to watch Vai play this scripted guitar part and add some of his own flair to it.  After a brief jump back to Three of a Perfect Pair (with a solo for Tony and his Funk Fingers (for Sleepless), they moved onto Frame By Frame, one of my favorite songs.

Then came the slow, pretty Matte Kudasi with Adrian using the slide up and down the neck of his guitar.  But it was back to wildness with Tony returning to the Stick to launch into the opening track of Discipline–Elephant Talk, a huge favorite of mine.  Oh and yes, Adrian did use a cordless drill on his guitar during Three of a Perfect Pair and people sang along with it too).

By far the most loved song of the era is Indiscipline (I mean King Crimson plays it too).  I’ve seen it four or five tines with the new Crimson line up and it was great to hear it from the originator’s mouth.  And to watch them go berserk during the instrumental breaks.

That was the obvious end to the set, but they did come back for an encore.

And the first encore was a song that Adrian didn’t play on (and neither did Tony).  It was the classic instrumental Red.  And you either play it great or you don’t play it at all (they played it great).

They ended the night with Thela Hun Ginjeet (complete with recorded parts played over the speakers).

I really couldn’t have asked for more from a night of music.

1. Neurotica ∇
2. Neal and Jack and Me ∇
3. Heartbeat ∇
4. Sartori in Tangier ∇
5. Dig Me ¾
6. Model Man ¾
7. Man With an Open Heart ¾
8. Industry ¾
9. Larks’ Tongues in Aspic (Part III) ¾
   SET 2
10. Waiting Man ∇
11. The Sheltering Sky ⊗
12. Sleepless ¾
13. Frame by Frame ⊗
14. Matte Kudasai ⊗
15. Elephant Talk ⊗
16. Three of a Perfect Pair ¾
17. Indiscipline ⊗
    ENCORE
18. Red ®
19. Thela Hun Ginjeet ⊗

® Red (1974)
⊗ Discipline (1981)   [did not play “Discipline”]
∇ Beat (1982) [did not play “Two Hands” “The Howler” “Requiem”]
¾ Three of a Perfect Pair (1984) [did not play “Nuages” “No Warning”]