Errors-To: admin at elephant-talk dot com Reply-To: newsletter at elephant-talk dot com Sender: moderator at elephant-talk dot com Precedence: bulk From: moderator at elephant-talk dot com To: newsletter at elephant-talk dot com Subject: Elephant Talk #1034 E L E P H A N T T A L K The Internet newsletter for Robert Fripp and King Crimson enthusiasts Number 1034 Wednesday, 18 September 2002 Today's Topics: Pamela Anderson; The Golden Walnut; McLaughlin; dead thread Re: Songs you hate Re: Songs You Hate! Nature don't do loan her next, given her KC preferences? file sharing death Tool not gothic Why Crimson toured with Tool About Crimson in VideoGames Re: 'vinyl' Re: vinyl vs cds Re: complaining Re: thoughts on Doctor Diamond Vincent Gallo's "TCoL" review I'm worried about Nuovo Metal Re: I'm worried about Nuovo Metal Incestuos lot 21st Century Schizoid Band ice-cream File sharing: a different perspective GIG REVIEW: 21st Century Schizoid Band at Crewe ------------------ A D M I N I S T R I V I A --------------------- POSTS: Please send all posts to newsletter at elephant-talk dot com To UNSUBSCRIBE, or to CHANGE ADDRESS: Send a message with a body of HELP to admin at elephant-talk dot com or use the DIY list machine at http://www.elephant-talk.com/list/ To ASK FOR HELP about your ET subscription: Send a message to: help at elephant-talk dot com ET Web: http://www.elephant-talk.com/ Read the ET FAQ before you post a question at http://www.elephant-talk.com/faq.htm Current TOUR DATES info can always be found at http://www.elephant-talk.com/gigs/tourdates.shtml You can read the most recent ten editions of ET at http://www.elephant-talk.com/newsletter.htm THE ET TEAM: Toby Howard (Moderator), Dan Kirkdorffer (Webmaster) Mike Dickson (List Admin), and a cast of thousands. The views expressed herein are those of the individual authors. ET is produced using John Relph's Digest system v3.7b (relph at sgi dot com). ------------------ A I V I R T S I N I M D A --------------------- Date: Tue, 17 Sep 2002 12:47:09 -0700 From: "Scott Steele" Subject: Pamela Anderson; The Golden Walnut; McLaughlin; dead thread >Pamela Anderson on the extended lyrical metaphors of the Sinfield years? I yearn for this. I enjoy anything that has "Pamela Anderson" and "extended" in the same sentence. >Improv: The spice of life. NP: Golden Walnut from Great Deceiver. Right on Brian! PS: Smokin' Granny rocks my world dude. >McLaughlin /m@ 'glaw flin/ or /mik 'law flin/ (if I was being careful) I would defer to Mike Dickson here but since McLaughlin is Scottish I would expect that his name is pronounced McGlocklin. That's how Tony Williams said it, when I saw him in a drum clinic. [ No, John McLaughlin is English, born in Yorkshire -- Toby ] >Vinyl vs. CDs This is an old religious war that is never decided in forums such as these. I hope it dies an early death Toby. - S. np: The Watt from Pedro Show, streaming from www.twfps.com scottst at ohsu dot edu ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 17 Sep 2002 17:07:36 -0400 From: "Jack Bross" Subject: Re: Songs you hate Here are my nominations, only from studio albums -- there are a lot of interesting highs and lows on the live albums, but that's a big can of worms to open up. 2nd half of "Moonchild" is pretty iffy, but it's not worth diving for the Fast Forward button or anything. Also can do without "Devil's Triangle". Although I find the Lizard album moderately annoying in general, there aren't any tracks that draw particular scorn from me. Crummy lyrics don't make a track unlistenable, just hard to take seriously. Ditto on "The Letters" (bad lyrics). "The Mincer" is pretty pointless, but again I probably won't dive for the FF button. I'm not fond of "The Howler" or "No Warning". There are more songs on the "wish it were a minute or two shorter" list, including "Providence" and "Oyster Soup Kitchen...". Mostly, I think that some of Crim's improvs sort of stall out, and while the improvisational process is important, and some of their best tunes were improvised (Trio, Asbury Park...), some of the improvs don't really add up to much. When the written tunes are "bad", they are mostly either dull (but not awful) or have dodgy lyrics. -- Jack Bross ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 17 Sep 2002 17:48:25 -0400 From: jimab at rogers dot com Subject: Re: Songs You Hate! This may be a bit stale, but I fell behind for a bit, and am just catching up. Sorry. The subject for this should more appropriately be: ET subjects you hate. For me, those are the "Songs you love/hate" type. While the "love" type usually elicit more reasoned and articulate responses, the "hate" variety rarely rise above mindless slagging, re: >Lady of the Dancing Water - Gordon Haskell really shows his limits as a >singer in this twee little ballad. I wish I'd known about that before I inflicted such a wreched piece upon those poor souls at my wife's funeral service. After thirty-one years of listening to that song you'd think it would've dawned on me before now. Gordon's "limits as a singer?" Hmm, doesn't sound like the kind of song that demands a Pavarotti to me. Perhaps Gordon's expressed discomfort with the lyrics had something to do with any imperfections, but to me that just adds to the quaint charm of the piece. The rather unusual use of trombone for underpinning (quite superbly executed by Nick Evans in my opinion) is one of those unexpected delights I've always enjoyed about KC. >Prelude: Song of the Gulls - this clumsily written and played mock-classic piece What, pray tell, is "clumsy" about either the composition or the performance? Agreed, it isn't likely to topple Mozart or Beethoven from the pinacles of the classical charts, but it does - at least for me - seem to flow rather nicely. The dynamics in both volume and tempo bring to my mind a maritime image which fits rather well with the title. >sounds like a bad first-semester composition assignment. The voice of experience? >Moonchild - the main theme is actually pretty nice, but the endless and >aimless pitty-pat middle section spoils this song for me. You must have a different version to mine. I've only ever heard two sections; the song part, and an improvisation which does actually end, unfortunately - though if it didn't, then we wouldn't have the wonderful ItCotKC would we?. I would recommend listening to this again, especially the improvisation, very closely as I think there's a lot you are missing. Something that might help would be to listen to it in as close to total darkness as possible (I asked Ian McDonald about this last year, and he said that is very similar to the way they recorded it). An additional enhancement would be some kind of surround set-up, the simplest of which is the third speaker attached across the two positive speaker outputs and placed behind the listener (see Brian Eno's "On Land" for a diagram and explanation). I did this the other day, and it is magical. The "call-and-response" interplay between the three players is a joy to these ears. >Three clinkers out of a 20+ year catalog is still a pretty damn good track record. Agreed, just not those three. James Bailey host: Electric Storm / A Missing Sense CKLN-FM 88.1 Toronto http://www.ckln.fm ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 17 Sep 2002 22:26:38 +0000 From: "Spear man" Subject: Nature don't do >Nature don't do digits! really, wow and that's what I thought I type with....ppppllllbbbblllltttt!!!!!! --spearman ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 17 Sep 2002 22:34:57 +0000 From: "Spear man" Subject: loan her next, given her KC preferences? >...loan her next, given her KC preferences? ozric tentacles--if she loves 'em she's a keeper--otherwise go fishing! ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 18 Sep 2002 17:10:32 -0400 From: "Mark & Josette" Subject: file sharing death For those who may wish to follow this thread... Tom wrote: Where we would almost certainly agree is that authors deserve substantial economic support. It is a serious challenge of the modern era to figure out how to arrange that. The existence and charter of DGM helps to point out that traditional copyright alone has, for the most part, failed to achieve that aim, and even subverted it. (in my opinion, the law provides for that. It's one thing to make one personal copy, it's another completely different issue to appoint one's self a mass media publisher of works he/she did not create. This was amply pointed out by another person in this thread.) To speak to your objection: Making a perfect copy of digital information is not, a priori, stealing. It lacks some essential properties of stealing: for example, it does not deprive the original possessor of that information of their own copy. A popular comparison is to a sandwich: if I obtain your lunch, you no longer have a lunch to eat; if I obtain a copy of your song file, you do still have a copy. (The theft part comes in when a million people download an album and don't buy it. The artist hasn't the money to put bread on the table much less make a sandwich.) Information is not tangible. Our intuitive notions of theft apply to tangible goods. It is easy to make mistakes when applying our intuitive notions of theft to intangible goods. Song files and music notation are, in their essence, information. Copyright "theft" is a complex and historically contingent legal construction based on an analogy that fails in the modern era. ( umm, intellectual property need not be physically tangible in order to be stolen. It happens all the time in Hollywood where someone foolishly talks about their next script and soon three companies are making a similar film. It ain't all that complex, friend) Detailed analysis of copyright laws rapidly becomes nation-specific, long, tedious, and (on mailing lists) tends to generate flames. I won't engage in such discussions on this list. I will point out in passing, especially for the benefit of U.S. citizens, that the constitutional support for copyright law is incredibly non-specific: congress has the right to enact laws granting authors "exclusive right" -- but the meaning of that phrase, "exclusive right" is not constitutionally determined, and must be (and is) continuously reevaluated and balanced with other constitutional guarantees in light of, among other things, the technological landscape and its implications. Arguably, constructing the "exclusive rights" in terms of the rights to copy, modify, and distribute made considerable sense in the era of the (rare, expensive, expensive to operate) mechanical printing press. It made a little less sense when the player piano came along. Less still with the tape recorder and then the xerox machine. With the Internet and computers -- it starts to become absurd, as numerous recent legislative acts and attempts here in the U.S. demonstrate. It is those extreme legislative behaviors that are ultimately necessary to continue to be able to reasonable call song-file sharing "theft". So which is better -- to reevaluate what is meant by "exclusive right"? or to forbid (under threat of arrest and jail) people from assembling chips to form a computer that lacks digital content management features? If you think that prohibition is reasonable, please consider the logistics of enforcing it. The saddest part, though, is the uncivil tone you took with, for example: so it's ok to steal if it's done cheaply and easily? Is that what you'd teach a child? _That_, to borrow your phrase, is a true example of "moral decay": an ad hominem attack in response to a gentle pointer to an alternative point of view. (I'm sorry you took my remarks that way. When discussions become mired in miles of rhetoric it is occasionally useful to "cut to the chase". Apologies Anybody know what ad hominem means? I failed Latin.) I will not follow up on this topic, on this list. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 17 Sep 2002 20:26:41 -0500 From: "Kleist, Nathan J" Subject: Tool not gothic I'm not sure who said it, obviously someone ignorant to the ways of Tool and their music, but I was surprised to hear the band's message misconstrued to such a gross degree. Tool is anything but gothic. Gothic music is depressing, usually tacky, and ultimately wining. Not to say that one style of music is by default bad, it's just that most "gothic" bands lack a serious degree of musicianship and creativity. Tool's music is all about the positives. It's possible that the sound of the music and the look of the videos is something that is too advanced artistically for some to "fully" understand. Art is human and is not always pretty. To dub something appearing to be dark as "gothic" is completely ridiculous. Every song on the new cd is not only beautiful but inspirational. Song subjects include things like enlightenment, human understanding, communication, etc. Not to mention they would never want their music to be categorized. What is a category? If the "prog-rock" bands mentioned were truly progressive I would think their styles would adapt and change with the times. King Crimson touring with Tool not only proves Tool a force to be reckoned with but it also proves King Crimson to be a truly "progressive" band. If progression is truly the goal than why does so much of the "prog-rock" out there sound the same? Tool is doing something completely original. If one is interested in heavy emotion and the undeniable power of natural beauty than Tool is your band. Progression is uncategorizable. Why is similar sounding music then dubbed "prog-rock?" Tool is progressive. I think many bands KC included should take a serious look at multiple sensory appeal of their live shows. That's progression. Tool "is" the state of the art circa 2002. You know us kids have good heads on our shoulders. It's time that everyone take a closer look at what bands like NIN, TOOL, MESHUGGAH, NEUROSIS, RADIOHEAD, THE MELVINS, COLLIDE, etc. are doing. As the times change so does the potential. Just cause you're guys can play fast polyrythmic math rock really doesn't mean they're in tune with what's possible now. Oh yeah, and Tool is not gothic they're beautiful. You're gothic:) ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 18 Sep 2002 00:29:19 -0300 From: "The Necron Stratomailer" Subject: Why Crimson toured with Tool >Maybe it's the spark needed to get God, I mean Fripp, to get in tune with >POP Music? This coming from a Progressive Rock diehard, who's been trying >his best to continually keep up with the all the Prog Rock bands from >around the world since the 70's! Lets hear it for The Flower Kings, >Spocks Beard, Porcupine Tree, and Marillion. These are some great >examples of Prog Rock bands K.C. should of toured with instead of Tool. >Tool is more Industrial Gothic, than Prog Rock and that is what kind of a >band I always thought K.C. is, aren't they? This is my personal belief.... I think Crimso is closer to being jazz expressed through a rock vocabulary (or was it the other way around?) than it is to prog-rock. At least they certainly aren't prog-rock in the traditional way of speaking! About the bands you mentioned... While I like some of them (Spock's Beard is brilliant), I don't think they could withstand playing with Crimso on the same stage, the same night, in the same.... Well, you get it. They are more 'progressive' in the generic meaning of it (the 'progression' of the song) while Crimso's progression resides in their constant recreation of the 'Crimson wheel' (paraphrasing BobFripp?). The bands you mentioned would be perfect for Yes or ELP to tour with (Indeed, Dream Theater toured with ELP and Deep Purple in 1998) (How come no one ever talks about DT?!!! (positively at least...)) Meanwhile, Tool... Call me crazy, but they are the perfect band for the 1990's King Crimson to tour with. You say they are "Industrial Gothic". I think that, out of the genre (I believe that neither KC or Tool could fall in any known genre) they kind of.... stand for the same musical ideals that Crimson does. Their combination of heavy precision, poetic emotion and personal sound and experiments gives them the place that Crimson probably ocuppied back in it's time (although we *could* say that today is *still* Crimson's time). Well... enough babbling. Now, read the next post. It's probably a lot better!!!!!!!!!! I endorse it. Now go. Ciaos..........! PS: I don't want to say that either "progression" (the generic -prog rock- or Crimson -progression as a discipline of life-) is better than the other one. I enjoy Yes symphonies (Gates of Delirium!) as well as Crimso's insane improvisation (THRAK!). I just think they are 2 *very* different bands that stand for *quite* different musical/artistic directions. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 18 Sep 2002 00:30:51 -0300 From: "The Necron Stratomailer" Subject: About Crimson in VideoGames >My last post had two intended topics, but the first one got out of hand, >which made me rapidly forget about the second one. So, quickly, here it >is: a PlayStation video game called Silent Hill exists, and I just thought >I'd mention how incredibly 70's/90's Crimson-esque the background music >is... [etc.] Yes! I knew I couldn't be the only one to notice this.... I never got around playing the game intensively, but from what I played, it seems as the "smartest" horror game I've seen yet (Resident Evil can burn in hell forever). But... ehem! About the music.... There's that bit in the school (not sure if it is after it turns into the "alternative" school) with some music full of off-beat drumming and atonal violin/synth stuff going on... It reminded me awful lots of THRAK (although I wasn't a big Crimson fan at the moment). I join Ryan's club of useless videogame-playing teenage crimson fans. "We'll resist harder 'cause we aren't as many". ^_~ Ciaos........! ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 16 Sep 2002 14:54:48 -0400 From: "Jordan Clifford" Subject: Re: 'vinyl' >Well, the new USA CD is 67 minutes long. The original album apparently >came on something called 'vinyl' for which the maximum playing time was >around the fifty minute mark before the sound quality dropped hopelessly. Thank you, Mike. I do know what 'vinyl' is, I have quite a bit of it in my collection, actually. While I do appreciate the sarcasm and condescending tone, that wasn't my question. My question is about the RE-RELEASE. NOT THE VINYL. With 13 minutes left to go on the RE-RELEASE 'CD' version of the album, I just was wondering why they didn't do more with it. Perhaps they couldn't, perhaps they couldn't save the rest of it. JUST CURIOUS, thanks. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 16 Sep 2002 15:21:34 -0400 From: "Jordan Clifford" Subject: Re: vinyl vs cds >Hazarding a guess from his posting, I must be equally long in the tooth, >but would argue that a well-kept, original pressing of an LP can sound >every bit as good - if not better - than a CD What's the point? I don't see how there is any debate about this topic. Vinyl records have a certain presence and sound, but they don't compare to CDs if you're looking for better sound quality,not to mention all the other advantages. I love my records, don't get me wrong. I very often enjoy the sound of a record over the sound of a CD.. it just feels a certain way. But I'd never tell anyone vinyl is better than CD. >Then again, you also loose out heavily on the art-work side, so it is a >trade-off. How do you loose out heavily? As far as I can see, you get much more. More possibilities for extensive art work, lyrics, and pages full of whatever else you want. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 16 Sep 2002 15:32:42 -0400 From: "Jordan Clifford" Subject: Re: complaining That is a completely ridiculous thing to say. First of all, I DO know what was on the original USA lp, and I DO know what is on the CD release.. that is why I am "complaining". There are 2 bonus songs, and I was told there would be extended/complete versions of each song. After "COMPLAINING" I made a point to say that despite that I am still very happy with it and am very glad I own it. I've never understood people who make comments like that "why are you complaining?". Just because it's good doesn't mean it can't be better. Just because its a new KC Remaster doesn't mean it's perfect. The USA CD version is NOT the same as the USA LP, so there goes you're arguement. You can do so much with a new cd remastered version of an old LP, so what if I expected some more "butterscotch stripes"? As far as I know they could have put some more on, and so far no one has told me that they couldn't. Try to tell me you wouldnt be HAPPIER with the complete version of Easy Money and the "blow" afterwards or Asbury Park? Tell me you wouldnt be out of control with happiness to know that you are holding in your hand the COMPLETE version of an ENTIRE KC show from that time period, with no edits, cuts, or anything else. I didn't EXPECT USA to be that, but I would be HAPPIER with it if it was. that's all. (I was never sure if Nightwatch, or any of the KCCCs are "complete" versions of those performaces , so if they are please don't bother commenting unless you want to tell me personally just to clarify) >I think the appropriate question is: "Why are you complaining?" You know >what was on USA the lp. You buy USA the cd. You get USA the cd, which is >the same as USA the lp. Now you are complaining because the USA cd is not >what you want? >Imperfect analogy: If you buy vanilla ice-cream that is labelled as >vanilla ice-cream, do you have a right to complain that it doesn't have >butterscotch stripes in it? ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 16 Sep 2002 15:48:25 -0400 From: "Jordan Clifford" Subject: Re: thoughts on Doctor Diamond >Ps - anyone have thoughts on the track "Doctor Diamond" off of the Great >Deceiver box set? It's one of my favorite songs from that era. But hey, every song from that era is a favorite song of mine from that era, or from KC in general. I really like the song and I wish it was included on one of the albums. The part in the final verse (i think) when Wetton screams "IIII AMM THE DRIIVER OF AN UNDERGROUND TRAAIN.. CLIMB ABOARD , YES CLIMB ABOARD YOUR LOSS IS MY ETERNAL GAIN" ( i think those are the lyrics, at least) really sends chills down my spine. It's great. I just really dig the song as well. The Live in Mainz Club release has a good version of it too where the violin goes from Improv:The Savage right into that great opening of DD, it's really cool. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 18 Sep 2002 11:46:32 +0100 (BST) From: Kevin Marriott Subject: Vincent Gallo's "TCoL" review Brad Cook wrote (snip): > review: >http://www.drowninginbrown.com/dib_kingcrim.htm I've got no problem with him not liking it, of course (I don't think it's their best album), but notice how 90 percent of the review is about himself, and the *past* (makes good reading, though), with a couple of lines at the end about how *Fripp* and KC are stuck in the past... -- Kev Album reviews: www.deepthought3.supanet.com/music/ ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 18 Sep 2002 07:54:45 -0500 From: "David F. Snyder" Subject: I'm worried about Nuovo Metal > Date: Tue, 17 Sep 2002 03:05:22 EDT > From: VincentDeBoule at aol dot com > Subject: I'm worried about Nuovo Metal > ... > ...I'd like to hear your opinions on this matter Uh, expectatiom is a prison, dude. If where it's going seems downward to you, then move on. I, for one, find the new Crim refreshing. David Snyder ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 18 Sep 2002 08:11:17 -0500 From: wviland at thin-film dot com Subject: Re: I'm worried about Nuovo Metal Vincent, Your troll is hardly worth responding. But, you caught me in a bad mood. You obviously haven't been listening very closely to the last few years of Crimson. I consider the Projects to be among the best ever. TCOL is a great record and a fantastic tour. The Level 5 tour was also outstanding in its own and phenomenal against current musical entertainment offerings. I expect the new record to be a completely new experience, and am personally very exited about it and the tour to fallow. I believe its time for you to "Move On". Wouldn't want you to worry. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 18 Sep 2002 07:28:45 -0600 From: "MSc. Christian Hess Araya" Subject: Incestuos lot In Elephant Talk #1033, Craig wrote: > ..........The Canterbury bands were an incestuous lot. This seems to be a common malady among progressive rockers, who sometimes appear downright promiscuous. Take Tony Levin, for example. The question isn't who has he played with, but rather who *hasn't* he played with. Just yesterday I was reading about this Japanese fusion guitarist, Kazumi Watanabe. Unsurprisingly, it turned out both Bilford and T-Lev have played with him (though I understand not at the same time). Christian Hess San Jose, Costa Rica ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 18 Sep 2002 07:11:22 -0700 From: ira aronin Subject: 21st Century Schizoid Band The tour apparently began last weekend. interested persons can check out the website: http://www.21stCenturyschizoidband.com Jakko Jakszyk is an excellent guitarist---having heard his work on Peter Blegvad's most recent CD (Choices Under Pressure). Apparently he is a nephew of a Giles. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 18 Sep 2002 11:27:52 -0400 From: "Steven Paul Rewa B.S." Subject: ice-cream I like Ago's ice-cream analogy in reference to the CD release of USA and I agree that complaining about the cd length won't likely get us anywhere, but I feel the need to come to Jordan's defence as well. Butterscotch stripes is what we want. We aren't complaining that we don't get what we pay for when we buy a carton of vanilla. We're complaining that the store doesn't carry butterscotch stripes. We buy vanilla because we don't want to go hungry, but that doesn't mean we aren't going to be upset with the store for not having what we want. I guess my analogy isn't any more perfect than yours, but it makes sense to me. Anon, -Steve ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 18 Sep 2002 09:44:08 -0700 From: "Brian Pearson" Subject: File sharing: a different perspective It recently occured to me that compared to the music publishing industry, the book publishing industry has been seriously remiss in protecting its intellectual property. This revelation came when I realized that my town (like many others) has a taxpayer-supported institution called a "Public Library." This institution is the moral equivalent of Napster in that it allows the unregulated, unpaid "borrowing" of copyrighted materials. The library may purchase a single copy of a book (for instance Sid Smith's Crimson history, just to keep this on-topic), then lend it out (sequentially rather than simultaneously of course, this is an analog medium) to hundreds of people, each of whom will read it without paying a penny in royalties to the publisher or author. The majority of borrowers will be entirely satisfied with this arrangement, and may never purchase a single book! This obviously is costing the publishers and authors (not to mention bookstores) millions of dollars in lost sales. The book publishers need to rally together, after the example of the RIAA, and take action to end this egregious infringement. Sue the public libraries for copyright violations, imposing such heavy penalties as to drive them out of business. Petition Congress to abolish these libraries outright, or place such restrictions on them as to insure that the publishers (& maybe the authors, if they haven't signed away their copyrights to said publishers as per standard industry practice) receive fair compensation for the repeated "lending" of their intellectual property. Require libraries to institute a tracking system, whereby royalties are charged to the borrowers for each item borrowed. Unregulated borrowing of copyrighted materials is tantamount to theft. Public libraries are killing the book publishing industry, and cheating authors of their royalties. This practice must be ended, or regulated to insure that copyright holders are properly compensated. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 18 Sep 2002 03:35:28 +0100 From: "john.critten" Subject: GIG REVIEW: 21st Century Schizoid Band at Crewe Excellent gig, very tight, disciplined, yet vital performance, with scope for Ian and Mel, in particular, to stretch themselves. Set list: A Man, a City. Cat Food. Let there be Light. Progress. In the Court of the Crimson King. Formentera Lady. Tomorrow's People. If I Was. Ladies of the Road. I Talk to the Wind. Epitaph. 21st Century Schizoid Man (Encore). Michael Giles was first class, a power performance but not overpowering. Intelligent, firm, yet subtle drumming, plus a lead vocal on one song, and this was vastly superior to his occasional efforts in 1969. Peter Giles gave a most solid and at times inventive performance. Perhaps a little too loud, and there was some distortion at the start of Formentera Lady. Mel Collins and Ian McDonald both seemed to be enjoying themselves and gave some outstanding solos. They complemented, rather than conflicted with, each other and I think there may well be some interesting improvised live saxophonic exchanges between the two in future. Jakko had the most difficult job, after all, most of us were comparing him with both Robert Fripp and Greg Lake ! His singing and guitar work were more than up to the task.Yet despite this, perhaps because he is not a contemporary of the others (and most of the audience), one could not help but feel he was a little out of place, not musically I must stress, perhaps it's just that we remember the others, but we can't remember him. He made a poignant remark, himself, to this effect along the lines of " Couldn't help but notice that there are a lot of posters for tribute bands in this club, well most of the people on stage tonight can pretend to be themselves." Formentera Lady was the highlight of the night for me (despite a shaky start). Mel's soloing was superb. Epitaph was a close second as a supposedly final piece, before the encore 21st Century Schizoid Man which was a tour de force. They might consider 21SM as a penultimate number, before Epitaph.It is a bit artificial to pretend 21SM is not going to be performed, when it is the name of the group. It would then go down equally well when repeated as an encore. To have a future, though, this group must surely have to develop some pieces which are uniqely their own, and intersperse these with their marvellous renditions of KC material. After the gig the band signed CDs etc, and each of them seemed genuinely delighted to talk to, and shake hands with, the fans. The music on the PA system was too loud for anything other than polite exchanges with Mel, but after the volume was lowered, Peter explained to me some of the details behind the recording of the Brondesbury tapes. Jakko told me he would have felt under greater pressure if he were just playing guitar. As he was singing as well, it did not give him quite the same opportunity to worry. Ian signed "Driver's Eyes"( which I had just bought) as well as the 21CSB Official Bootleg CD, and suggested I get Michael to sign it as well, as he had played on some tracks. Michael appeared genuinely appreciative, making strong eye contact, when I told him " I can understand why Fripp said he never knew you to have a bad gig 'cause you were great tonight" The audience was, predictably, overwhelmingly middle aged, almost totally male, and exclusively white. I would recommend all KC enthusiasts to see this band. I've not played the Official bootleg CD yet - but unless I get adverse reaction to this missive, I will post my views soon. ------------------------------ End of Elephant Talk Digest #1034 *********************************