^ Especially if the judge was using flash photography.
^ Especially if the judge was using flash photography.
Hmm... the opening announcement in Raleigh certainly sounded like Fripp to me, I assumed it was a recording. And he absolutely did point at someone in the audience at least twice. Each time someone came out of the shadows behind him with a flashlight to point out the offender, but I didn't really see who it was either time. I thought it was hilarious that he/they would go to that trouble.Originally Posted by MissKittysMom
Wouldn't it be funny if that same security guard was eyeballin' you and thinking to himself "Look at that schmuck who spent $150 to listen to this unintelligible dissonant crap"? lol
Last night was really something special, so happy to have been in the room with The Beast again. Too many highlights to list but hearing "Cirkus", "Lizard" & "Epitaph" back to back to back was pure bliss. Really, every piece played is worthy of a mention. Jakko sounded great all show, Tony tearing up the Stick during "Neurotica" isn't talked about enough, that perfect transition from "Radical Action..." into "Meltown", Pat laying down this ridiculously wonderful rhythm with his metals during the instrumental segue in "Easy Money" and Robert powering it all up all night, etc. etc. etc.
"Breathless" left me breathless last night. My favorite of the 3 played these last 3 shows. Pat, Jeremy & Gavin really kicked up a notch or three; if I had any complaints it was that I wasn't able to come down to earth again till the next song, "Moonchild", was nearly over. Chris' handling of the Frippertronics parts were stunning.
I was working all day yesterday (today too, running on fumes now), and arrived at The Beacon at 7:42 thinking there was plenty of time to get inside before show time. Was also told the Amsterdam Ave. entrance was closed. The lines forming to get inside on both (74-75 st) sides were wrapping around the blocks. I too got to my seat during "Pictures Of A City". There were quite a few audients still behind me.
So many great memories for me from this King Crimson, hoping those who haven't seen them can get to any of the remaining 4 states dates and those of you across the pond will enjoy them as much in 2018.
Thank You again Robert Fripp for continuing....to continue.
Last edited by Obscured; 11-19-2017 at 09:32 PM.
"Henry Cow always wanted to push itself, so sometimes we would write music that we couldn't actually play – I found that very encouraging." - Lindsay Cooper, 1998
"I have nothing to do with Endless River. Phew! This is not rocket science people, get a grip." - Roger Waters, 2014
"I'm a collector. And I've always just seemed to collect personalities." - David Bowie, 1973
They dropped all red lighting over the band before 'Starless' - it really helped me settle into a great place when they did that.
I vote NO. KC doesn't need a light show to "improve" their show (and I'm sure that RF wouldn't allow it). Just the simple overhead Blue lights that they had (which changed to Red during "Starless") is all they need.
Went to Friday's show at the Beacon (first NYC date). Unfortunately I had to divide my attention between Crimson and the food poisoning from my dinner.
Comments in approximate chronological order:
-- show starts with a drum warmup, very synchronized but hard to get excited about. In general the drummers played in unison much more than I would have thought optimal.
-- then a chaotic "Neurotica"; it took me many seconds to recognize it, and I think I was one of the first
-- smell of some joints being lit
-- with the drummers and Levin, the bass is powerful and rapidly changing; about 1/3 of your listening is done with your stomach and chest cavity
-- this interacts interestingly with intestinal disturbances
-- "Pictures of a City" was great, a clear step up from the studio version.
-- they played "Breathless" in such a way as to emphasize its similarity with "Larks"
-- they played "Epitaph", "Moonchild" and "Court" in sequence. "Epitaph" was warmer and more muted than I expected, particularly the "March for No Reason" where the brittle chords were replaced by strumming. At the end of "Moonchild" Levin soloed on an absurdly oversized fretless bass, maximum degree of difficulty but not much to listen to. I wish he'd segued into the end of "Requiem".
-- then the grown-up music started with "Larks' Tongues" I/II
-- my attention was divided toward the end
-- long line for men's room at intermission; the women were quite chuffed about it
-- missed the start of "Indiscipline" which opened the second set
-- they played the kinder gentler "Starless" again
-- missed whatever came next as an end-to-end gastrointestinal purge demanded precedence
-- they played "Islands" in two halves, a sparse and very beautiful song and then tout ensemble
-- Mel Collins was a net positive for the night, something I never expected
-- I don't think I have ever seen a human move as fast as Gavin Harrison near the end of his drum solo in "Schizoid Man," not even the ninja busboy at Jing Jing's
Re light show: not just "no," but "hell no."
Last edited by Tom; 11-20-2017 at 10:32 AM.
... “there’s a million ways to learn” (which there are, by the way), but ironically, there’s a million things to eat, I’m just not sure I want to eat them all. -- Jeff Berlin
No light show. Not even the red lighting for songs from Red. It's a distraction from the music, and I went for the music.
Seriously, light shows are a distraction, and often an intentional one. It takes attention from the band, and maybe nobody notices that the band isn't quite playing their best. KC is polished and professional, and that's part of what makes their show so impressive.
Along the same lines, my piano teacher encourages me to play more Mozart, with the comment that in Mozart, "there's no place to hide."
I think the subtext is rapidly becoming text.
I was at the same show. Agreed that Hell Hounds of Crim (the drum piece you reference) was an odd and not-very-good choice for an opener. Otherwise, though, I thought the show was fine. Sorry about the gastrointestinal issues.
I had a great seat (first row of the Loge), which probably helped with the sound. Lots of videographers in the Loge. Two of the seats next to me were vacated a couple of songs into the show and this seemed to be an invitation for a few guys with cameras to sit next to me and film portions of the show. Security seemed unconcerned. I don't really care about the recording, but I figured that these people might at least ask if I knew whether or not the people who were assigned to the seats would be returning. But no - they just sat next to me and did their thing. One guy just took over the seat for the rest of the show, and kept asking me "what song was that?" I mean, are you F-ing kidding me? You don't know what Cirkus or Larks Tongues 1/2 is? Why are you there? I was much more amused by the individuals on the other side of me. They were very demonstrative, showing a mock-orgasmic enthusiasm when the band would play really aggressive stuff, but then expressed a comic disappointment and outrage when they played softer things, like Islands. I got a kick out of it - it was like having Beavis and Butthead there to comment on the show.
Beacon itself was great. You get raped on ticket prices there, but other than the venue not having an elevator, the experience is always top-notch, IMO.
Not much to add about this weekend's shows. Interesting to note that, as mentioned, Fripp stopped playing to Sutherlandingly point at vidiots in the crowd 4 or 5 times on Friday, and not at all on Saturday. Take from that what you will.
For me, seeing the show from the front row of the loge on Friday, completely unobstructed in view, compared to row M on the floor Saturday... with all respect to those of you that had issues getting in on time, man, the aisles were like Grand Central Station until four or five songs into the show. No exaggeration, during Cirkus - four songs in - my view was blocked by arrivals in the aisle and their ushers for almost the entire song.
I will actively seek seats in the front row of the loge at the Beacon from now on though. What a perfect place to see the show from that was.
Agreed, the loge would be better for most shows, and far far better for this show in particular. Well played.
... “there’s a million ways to learn” (which there are, by the way), but ironically, there’s a million things to eat, I’m just not sure I want to eat them all. -- Jeff Berlin
I agree as well
did this for the 2 Phila shows on both sides of the center section aisle. perfect
then I had an 8th row for Allentown and got a bit blown out by the actual drum volume
upstairs is where it's at! esp if there are bathrooms up there. my pissbreak for these (7) 2017 shows has been the first :90 seconds of Indiscipline
2trevorsforlife
Since KC has been touring for a long time now, did they ever make any kind of mention of Wetton and Lake passing away? Not that it's some requirement - it's probably hard to fit into a show where there's zero banter with the audience, and no background images, etc. Just wondering, as I did think of them both during the show the other night.
I have front row balcony tickets, isle seat on Fripp's side, for Sunday night's show in Milwaukee. I believe will be the perfect view. It will be my last concert of the year, as well, Crimson's last show of the year too.
Looking forward to it, I have never witnessed Crimson live.
Last edited by Man In The Mountain; 11-21-2017 at 01:18 PM.
Stray thought. No offense, Starless, but Islands has overtaken you as the highlight of the show. IMO, obv.
There was someone on here who had a big problem with the performance of Starless on this or other recent tours. Now that I've seen the show, I'm wondering what it was. All I can think of is Jakko's vocals, if you don't care for them. Who was it again who said this?
Oh, I forgot to weigh in on the way Jakko sang Indicipline, since I hadn't heard it till Saturday night: I didn't care for it. IMO, it made the words very indistinct, almost unintelligible, and the whole point of the words in the song was lost. The music basically slows to a near halt so you can hear them, or should. I don't really get why Jakko did it so diffferently. Maybe he thought he couldn't approach Belew's idiosyncratic delivery. But Mike Portnoy pulled it off - sort-of - so it seemed like Jakko could have. It just didn't work for me the way it was. I haven't really read previous comments on this because I wanted to hear it live for myself first - I'll try to go back and read them.
Last edited by JKL2000; 11-21-2017 at 12:03 PM.
I'll be waiting for your review, Mart.
It was
The 2017 NY version was also mellower than I would have liked.
... “there’s a million ways to learn” (which there are, by the way), but ironically, there’s a million things to eat, I’m just not sure I want to eat them all. -- Jeff Berlin
Starless is the only track from the 73/74 period where I think Wetton is really missed. I love Tony Levin's work, but he either chooses not to, or isn't able to, produce that same fat, threatening bass tone that (IMO) is an essential component of a performance of the song.
I agree that Starless is where Wetton was most missed - his voice is the only one that really fits that song. Well, Easy Money a little too.
RE: Levin, I actually didn't hear much from him until about a third of the way through the set. It seemed like his stick was hard to hear or he was just being too subtle, but with the standup bass and bass guitar he was much more audible and eventually started to really work it.
Amen.
It was the bass, not the voice, that I missed.
I could feel rather than hear Levin's playing. I think he just really likes the infra-bass register.RE: Levin, I actually didn't hear much from him until about a third of the way through the set. It seemed like his stick was hard to hear or he was just being too subtle, but with the standup bass and bass guitar he was much more audible and eventually started to really work it.
It occurs to me that Levin might be producing ~10 notes each second at wavelengths <100 Hz -- i.e., there's less than 10 cycles before something else is played. Can that possibly be right?
... “there’s a million ways to learn” (which there are, by the way), but ironically, there’s a million things to eat, I’m just not sure I want to eat them all. -- Jeff Berlin
I'll take lots of pictures!
Will be seeing Crim tomorrow night in Ann Arbor. Should be fun!
Where I missed Wetton was on "Lark's II;" Levin's bass was entirely "too subtle." In general, even with eight pieces, the Wetton/Bruford material was a tad "polite," lacking the sheer knuckle-dragging brutality of the original.
Hell, they ain't even old-timey ! - Homer Stokes
Agreed, LTiA2 is where you need the brutality of Wetton's bass. That intro was my phones ringtone for years.
Ian
Host of the Post-Avant Jazzcore Happy Hour on progrock.com
https://podcasts.progrock.com/post-a...re-happy-hour/
Gordon Haskell - "You've got to keep the groove in your head and play a load of bollocks instead"
I blame Wynton, what was the question?
There are only 10 types of people in the World, those who understand binary and those that don't.
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