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 #1131 E L E P H A N T T A L K The Internet newsletter for Robert Fripp and King Crimson enthusiasts Number 1131 Sunday, 22 June 2003 Today's Topics: the first ambient recording.... Re: KC in The Hague, bad idea (IMHO) Crimso DVD King Crimson in Vienna King Crimson in Stockholm Sweden Re: Two drummer band Re: Great Fripp Solos King Crimson not prog rock shock Re: Rock Percussion (veering off topic to BMG) The Sheltering Sky 2 King Crimson covers, done REALLY differently set list for Moscow concert Interview with the Artist vienna concert cancelled again GIG REVIEW: 08.06.03, Finlandia Hall, Helsinki, Finland GIG REVIEW: June 12, 2003 at the State Central Concert Hall, Mo ------------------ 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, 10 Jun 2003 07:18:40 +0000 From: "Spear man" Subject: the first ambient recording.... >the first ambient recording ever made was (No Pussyfooting) by Fripp/Eno. that's a nice sentiment, but certainly john cage's composition of 4'33" on the printed page was the first ambient 'recording' --and perhaps the longest given that it continues to play..... ;) --spearman ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 11 Jun 2003 13:06:40 +0100 From: "Russell Whitworth" Subject: Re: KC in The Hague, bad idea (IMHO) Since Mr Grumpy won't play for his home audience, and I don't fancy spending a lot of money to travel just to see someone who doesn't want to perform... I had rather resigned myself to not seeing King Crimson this time around (and possibly not ever again). However, Christian Skina's post, which was intended to be rather negative towards the North Sea Jazz Festival, has actually encouraged me! I get to see Crimson, but also I get to see a bunch of other excellent musicians who most definitely DO want to be on stage and have their music heard. I'm booked and going! It also solves the problem of how to drag a reluctant female audient - my wife - along. "Let's go to the North Sea Jazz Festival" sounds a lot more exciting than "Let's go to the Netherlands to see King Crimson, since they don't want to come and see us"! > The thing that I dont like about the North Sea Jazz Festival The Hague is > that during 3 days a salad of jazz bands are presented one after another, > like in a cow auction fair. The programme seems quite well arranged, in my opinion. >The price of the ticket: very high! One has to buy a ticket for the whole >day just to see one band. 55 euros for a day ticket. That buys me four full shows on the Saturday night... not bad. How much does it cost to see KC in other countries? >Then, the running from one theatre to another It's all in one venue, and the programme I've mapped out allows me 30 minutes between each show. >, be lucky to have the band of > your choice not playing at the same time with another favorite one. True... but I've seen Pat Metheny enough times already, and have no interest in Van Morrison (another Mr Grumpy... wouldn't those two make a great double-act?) so I'm happy to go for something more obscure this time. >The "party" atmosphere, sometimes people standing, drinking, smoking >(joints, of course) - is not to everyone's like. I agree... that could be irritating. > Let alone the hardcore jazz >fan attitude which may hit u in the face. Who, me? I've never hit anyone in the face! :-) >Television, flashing cameras, the festival allows that or at least Ive seen >it happening. Im not sure Mr Fripp will enjoy that very much, if he's the >same concert Fripp I've known for years. That could be an interesting challenge for him, I agree. But he has also stated that when he agrees to play a festival or as a support act, he also implicitly agrees to accept the house rules rather than KC rules... so I hope we don't get any tantrums. >Im afraid I'll pass this one, with great regrets. If I was wrong about all >this, I'll regret twice ;-) "We'll let you know..." :-) ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 12 Jun 2003 00:29:33 +0100 From: "DAVID TATE" Subject: Crimso DVD Dave Allen enquired as to the possibility of DGM producing a DVD for 70s Crimso along the lines of the just released Led Zep DVD. I agree with this and when I learnt about the Led Zep project the other day, I wrote to DGM explaining that I would find a similar disc of 69 and 70s Crimso more than twenty times more interesting. I have no reply and no way of knowing if the message has been passed on to the movers and shakers, but I exhort those of you who would like to see the same to write to them yourselves. There simply must be archive footage available and if it is unstable and needs renovation, then it is the duty of DGM to do it. We are talking Crimso here! The most significant musical experience in the history of Rock. So get writing! D ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 17 Jun 2003 14:55:53 +0300 From: "Slobodan Kajkut" Subject: King Crimson in Vienna Hello! I just wanna say that this is the second time that famous band called King Crimson Cancels the concert in Vienna one day before it!I wanna send a message to Fripp and the rest of the crew that they should take care of their fans that expect to hear their music for such a long time but they are second time very dissapointed!Don't you have a respect? Slobodan,Vienna ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 09 Jun 2003 22:32:31 +0200 From: Per Wilhelmsson Subject: King Crimson in Stockholm Sweden Hi all! I've been lurking on ET for a while but now I really need to post this! Wow what a concert they performed in Stockholm, Sweden last Friday! They almost blew the roof off the China Theater and got great response! And they were called back on stage twice! Belew seemed quite overwhelmed afterwards! I don't know the order they played the songs of the set but these were some of them: Soundscapes The Power to Believe I: A Cappella Level Five The ConstruKction of Light Facts of Life ProzaKc Blues Elektrik Happy with What You have to Be Happy with The Power to Believe II Dangerous Curves Dinosaur Deception of the Thrush Larks' Tongues in Aspic, Part IV Encore 1: Some Trey Gunn solo thing with Belew off the stage (unknown to me I'm afraid) Elephant Talk Encore 2: Frame by Frame Red Does someone know the correct set list?? Thanks! wilhelmsson_per at nospam dot hotmail dot com (Please remove the nospam and the period after it.) Per Wilhelmsson Phone: (+46) 08-612 23 38 Professorsslingan 45-501 Mobile: (+46) 0707-63 23 25 S-104 05 Stockholm, Sweden ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 9 Jun 2003 21:35:27 EDT From: NCir213855 at aol dot com Subject: Re: Two drummer band Maybe it was just for show. On a Jackie Gleason show in the mid 60's, rock and roller Wayne Cochran (spelling?) did a few rockers of the time with a band featuring two drummers, a horn section, two gituarists, a bassist, and some female singers. The man moved liked James Brown while the band played with 100% energy. Even Jackie Gleason said "Are they somethin' else or what?" Of course, this has nothing to do with Frippertronics, Crimson, or TPTB, but I hadn't e-mailed for a couple of years so what the hell................. Irreverently yours---------Nick ("put more jalapenos on that") Ciraulo ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 10 Jun 2003 11:41:23 -0500 From: Scott Ranalli Subject: Re: Great Fripp Solos Let me indicate a correction to my post on the June 6th newsletter: "Don't Blame It on Love" (from Along the Red Ledge by Hall & Oates) does NOT feature a RF solo, as I remembered (the mind is the first thing to go). I've listed to again and it's actually a duet with a keyboardist. I think it's Todd Rundgren, who is listed in the credits and this sounds like the style he used with Utopia from this period (check out the Swing to the Right album). ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 11 Jun 2003 12:16:23 EDT From: GORTAY at aol dot com Subject: King Crimson not prog rock shock There is a new compilation album out in the UK called "The Best Prog Rock Album in the World Ever". Its the latest in a series from Virgin/EMI entitled "The Best (insert name of spurious musical genre) Album in the World Ever". I happened across it in the new release section of the local record store and I couldn't wait to see whether "Schizoid Man" or "ITCOTCK" had been chosen for inclusion. Guess what. No King Crimson at all. Now, call me old fashioned but I don't see how you can have "The Best Prog Rock Album in the World Ever" and not have the Crimsons on. But I have a theory as to what happened. Record Co: "Hi is that Bob Fripp? We're putting out "The Best Prog Rock Album in the World Ever" and we wanted to know if you'd prefer Schizoid or ITCOTCK to be on it". Fripp: "The term Prog Rock is an out-moded adjunct from a former era that does not reflect the on-going evolution of this Fripp or the forward looking mutative process that is, or was, or might be, King Crimson. Furthermore your projekct does not seem representative of our current or future aspirations in the market place. Furthermore I'm fed up of taking the blame for 'Pictures at an Exhibition'. In view of these considerations I'll send the wife to live in the jungle for a week and give you her #25,000 fee to keep us off it". Record Co.: "Done." The track selection is, to be frank, bizarre. There are all the usual suspects, VDGG, ELP, Genesis, Gentle Giant, Tull, Hawkwind and BJH. There are a couple of nice inspired choices such as Matching Mole's "Oh Caroline", Man's "Keep On Crinting" and Rare Bird's "Sympathy". But then we also have Roxy Music, Frank Zappa and Be-Bop Deluxe. Oh, if anybody is in touch with Roger Dean, tell him to sue the sleeve designer. Yes, alright I bought it. I was weak and foolish and I shall no doubt burn in Hell. Just don't tell anyone. This has not been an advertisment. Gordy. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 11 Jun 2003 15:04:33 -0600 From: "Nick Bennett" Subject: Re: Rock Percussion (veering off topic to BMG) On the topic of multiple drummers & percussionists, I strongly recommend that those who enjoy percussion-heavy music catch Blue Man Group on tour. This is their rock show (in support of the current album, The Complex), and leaves out a lot (but not all) of the performance art aspects of their NY, Boston, Chicago, and Vegas shows. The musical arrangements for the current album and tour (as well as their tour with Area:2 last year) owe a lot to the Vegas show, which has a larger band than the others, including two drummers (not counting the Blue Men themselves, who often pound on drums and other devices), guitar & bass, and (frequently, but not on every song) Stick, baritone guitar, steel guitar, and keyboards; the touring show adds even more drums, as well as vocals (I was a bit suspicious of The Complex's use of the bring-in-a-different-guest-vocalist-for-each-song gimmick, but it actually works pretty well in this case). Highly recommended! ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 13 Jun 2003 13:39:50 +0200 From: "Julien Laurencelle" Subject: The Sheltering Sky 2 Hi everybody ! Recently, I have re-listened to Discipline and simply realized that The Power to Believe (part II) could easily be The Sheltering Sky (part II) ! It is so based on the same structure and sounds... (with some differences). I just wanted to add my point in the "similarities" serie... In fact, The Power to Believe is IMHO a kind of "best of KC" album, but with a lot of innovation in sound and a great amount of energy. By the way, it is my fav. Julien Laurencelle ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 14 Jun 2003 01:01:40 -0400 From: Benjamin Adler Subject: King Crimson covers, done REALLY differently http://artists.iuma.com/dl/DOKAKA/index-1.html This is Japanese a cappella. ALL of it. They do Schizoid Man, Fracture, and LTIA 2. FrippiBobbert should have some guts and invite this guys (or is it guy) to perform with him, or instead of him. (That's meant in jest, btw) ________________ Please read http://www.appropriateapocalypse.com I write for them ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 15 Jun 2003 13:16:19 +0400 From: "Andrei Turusinov" Subject: set list for Moscow concert hello, ETers! below is the set-list for Moscow concert on June 12 sounscapes starts at 18-45 and Fripp continue it for 40 minutes with a short break between wheh the looped sound still sounscapes with Fripp himself and the stage. the performance itself starts at 19-30 1. TPTB a capella 2. Level Five 3. Prozack Blues 4. ConstruKction of Light 5. Facts of Life 6. EleKctrik 7. TPTB part 2 8. Dinosaur 9. One Time 10. Happy with what you have to be happy with 11. Dangerous Curves 12. Larks` Tongues In Aspic Part IV / Coda time 20-50 - first encore: 13. Deception of the Thrush 14. Three of the Perfect Pair (Belew acoustic) 15. Frame by Frame time 21-10 - scond encore: 16. Elephant Talk 17. Red the end 21-21 cheers andrei ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 15 Jun 2003 16:05:41 -0700 (PDT) From: stan funicelli Subject: Interview with the Artist So, tell me, Doctor; did you find that formal training interfered with your development? Undoubtedly, Terry. The classes were too structured. And they didn't have anything to do with what I was trying to accomplish. I had to find my own voice, I had to do it my way." So, did you read a lot about the human body and surgical procedures? Ha, ha, ha. No, Terry. I did no reading. I can't read. Reading is too structured, the ideas are dead. They can't express my feelings, they don't allow me to follow my vision, what I want to do with my surgeries. So, then, how do you do a surgery? Well, first I find an idea I want to express. Then I find a patient, one that we might call "sick," if you follow my meaning. Then I assemble a team to work the machines, you know surgery has gotten so technical these days. Me, I prefer to rely on the tried and true, the traditions of the people - hitting knees with hammers, squeezing a persons wrist while I look at my watch. These have always been enough for me. Yeah, I've always wondered why they press down peoples' tongues with those kinda popsicle sticks? Why do they do that? I doubt if anyone really knows anymore, the technique is so shrouded in history. But I think it comes from long ago. In the middle ages they used to push the tongue down out of the way so they could see if any imps were living in there in what we call the throat tract. With most people now they do it out of a sense of ritual. But it's very useful to see whether anyone has cavities. Wow, a holistic approach. Exactly. Most people think only dentists are interested in the oral hygiene of their patients. But even when I do brain surgery I find it connects me with the whole patient, it gives me an emotional understanding to serve as a basis for my work. Exactly how is that? Well, this is where who I am is different from who you are and where my work comes from. Ok, so let's get back to doing a surgery. Right. So we have a "sick" patient that I think I can work with. I should tell everybody here because this is radio that you made those hooky things with your fingers when you said - I'm making hooky fingers here - "sick." Yeah. So, surgery. First I try a couple of standard things, things that work in most situations. I take out the tonsils, maybe the appendix, do some exploratory surgery until I get a picture of what I want to do. Supposing someone just want a rinoplasty. I don't work on animals. No, a nose job. Oh. See that's an example of what I'm against. Why make it so mysterious? I mean we all have the same bodies. We all learn the parts of the bodies using common terms - throat bone, head bone, tongue bone. Why should I have to figure what part of the body is like a rhino. You see, the "educated" doctors equate the rhino's horn with the nose! As if that's all a rhino is. It's demeaning to the rhino. It's a stereotype. They don't understand the whole animal, it's hopes and dreams and favorite foods. It's absurd. But to answer your question, sure I still start with the tried and true. It's my signature style. It's what sets me apart from the hacks. Are all your operations successful. I mean, do you always get results. Sure everything results in a result. But that's why they say medicine is more art than science. You can't always know what will happen. Some things just don't work. But you have to follow your vision and see if you can get it right next time. But one way or the other, good or bad, you have to be true to who you are and use the materials, the sick guy in this case, to do what your inner sense... I mean, there are some operations I've done that I don't like. But you keep on plugging. Well, I want to thank you for talking with us. My pleasure, Terry. That's what it sounds like to me to hear most pop, jazz, or world musicians talk about music. It's not that they are uneducated or rely on improvisation or the style of music. All musics of all cultures started without training or models, made up, or improvised on the spot. It's more a hostile defensiveness, a willful ignorance that equates innocence with purity or authenticity. And then there is the curious narcissism of our age where we all demand to be recognized as artists of something, that all activity is a sign of creativity and that creativity is self-expression and that self-expression is the stuff and substance of art. The problem with rejecting formal education is that you have to re-invent the wheel. The untrained musician spends years finding the chord progressions and teaching himself to play them. He could learn the progressions in a half hour. He could spend the next years learning to expand his control over them, building unique music. Instead he winds up claiming cliche as success. Ok, so some cliches have become overworked because they're powerful, effective, and flexible. But others are simplistic, a stereotype, an excuse not to have to think. >From time to time I get a new guitar student who taught himself a few chords and now wants to learn a specific song. Most often it's "Stairway to Heaven", actually. Not a particularly difficult song but it requires a certain group of techniques, both right and left hand. I explain that I could take the next six months teaching them that one song, or we could spend six months studying the techniques we need by learning other songs, simpler and graded, so that in six months he can learn the song in an hour. And it always works. By that time they usually see how simple pop styles are and learn them on their own, often after only one playing. After all, the studio musicians that back up most soloists get hired because they can read the music and get it right the first time. As for reading music, those who knock it can't do it in the first place. It's like asking a five year old what's easier, talking, or reading. The written word can be read with a great variety of expression, emphasis, and emotion. Reading music allows for even greater expressiveness than reading words. Look at the tortures of emotion opera can express. And imagine a symphony orchestra or even Tom Jones' backup band not being able to read. Think of the great works that are written, works by Bach, Beethoven, Gesualdo, Berio. I've got a library of books. How long would it take to memorize just one. And would you trust the work of a playwright who couldn't read, or the work of an airplane mechanic would couldn't read the manuals, or the work of a President who couldn't read his speeches? Well, I guess there's an exception to everything. Stan Funicelli ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 17 Jun 2003 16:38:29 +0200 (MEST) From: rikki dot nadir at gmx dot net Subject: vienna concert cancelled again after cancelling last year's vienna concert at the very last minute, this year crimso cancelled it a day before. surely somewhat of an improvement, but sad nonetheless. the explanation given, however, is downright annoying. the band found the stage to small for their equipment, it is stated. apart from the fact that such things clearly ought to be checked in advance, please let me state the following: i did eventually manage to catch crimso at the last concert of the last tour last year (in london) &, on that occasion, had a very close look at their gear, especially as i was somewhat bored by the per- formance itself. being quite well acquainted with the stage of the "planet music", the venue where the concert was to take place, i would like to state very clearly that the equipment would EASILY fit in there. the "planet music" management, in a mail, thus called the band's preposterous claim "nonsense", & entirely rightly so. "planet music" also called the crimso managment (& its unprofes- sional way of dealing with commitments) "unreliable", a term which i find somewhat mild, but nevertheless entirely justified. for the record i would like to state that it is not wrath or anger that made me state what i just wrote (& neither major disappointment; after the so&so concert in london i had long hesitated to go and see the band a 2nd time & decided to do so mainly out of interest in adrian belew's singular ability to play intricate guitar bits & simultaneously sing so very well) but mainly indignation at such behaviour from a band who keeps on stressing how important it finds to be respected by the audience but, very obviously, doesn't much care to show similar respect for it. a lot of people planned to come (or did come) to see crimso from quite far away (including other countries such as hungary, slovakia, or the chec republic), something that apparently doesn't count for much in the consideration of the band & its manage- ment. i find this annoying & uncivil & i find it inacceptable to be told fairytale excuses such as the one offered on this occasion. i for one will certainly not be able to read any of mr. fripp's complaints about audience-misbehaviour with much understanding or sympathy any- more, given the above-mentioned disregard towards same audience. (i intended to send a copy to crimso's official website, by the way, but it appeared to be offline). -- rikki nadir "smash the system with the song!" +++ GMX - Mail, Messaging & more http://www.gmx.net +++ Bitte lacheln! Fotogalerie online mit GMX ohne eigene Homepage! ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 12 Jun 2003 22:27:11 +0300 From: Eino Keskitalo Subject: GIG REVIEW: 08.06.03, Finlandia Hall, Helsinki, Finland Here's my attempt at recounting the Crimson gig in Finlandia Hall, Helsinki, Finland, eight of june 2003. Setlist: Soundscape TPTB I/Level 5 The ConstruKction of Light Facts of Life ProzaKc Blues The Power To Believe II Dinosaur Elektrik Happy Dangerous Curves Larks' Tongues in Aspic IV The Deception of the Trush Oyster Soup Elephant Talk Red The show sold out way before it was officially announced. I was very fortunate to get tickets from someone who couldn't go, so thank you, Mikko. There's more than 600 kilometers between Helsinki and Oulu (where I live), so most of the day was spent sitting in the train. But who knows how many chances one gets to see King Crimson perform, and I'm very glad I made no effort to miss it. During the single year I have been a young, earnest and male crimhead I've probably spent as much or more time reading, from various sources, about King Crimson, the members and the music than actually listening to the music. I have to say that this definitely came in the way of simply experiencing the music. I am in a slight envy of my girlfriend - young, increasingly earnest, very female - who was so much less miseducated about what was going to pass, more open to the music and indeed ended up enjoying the show better than me. But I did enjoy it, very much. The show had some fantastic moments for me, and some lasted for significant portions of the set. The beginning was one; Robert walks in to the opening tape of smoochy Elvis tunes - the audience collective notices him midway walking towards his stool, and erupts in a huge applause just as he passes behind Pat's kit. Lights stay up and the audience countinues chittering away. Fripp starts blending quiet soundscapes to the Elvis music, which, along with the audience gradually fades out as the soundscapes fade in. The washes get loud, grand - it is a beautiful preparation for the Crim proper. A few minutes in the lights go down, rest of the Crims walk in to an applause, Ade does the TBTP refrain on his vocal synth and off we go, into Level Five. It is such a powerful piece, and the beautiful, ascending lead Fripp plays midway through quite completely takes my breath away. The next four pieces don't have such an impact, as my hearing is impaired by my overconsciousness. Level Five it could not resist, unfortunately, the beautiful TCOL it can, to an extent. It remains beautiful. Facts of Life and ProzaKc Blues are next. During FOL, I feel as if I was missing the bus - the song is there, I like it on the album.. it's just not happening. And ProzaKc Blues I've not learned to like, and still don't. I feel, as silly at it is, some frustration. Facts of Life and ProzaKc Blues also suffer, to my ear, from the unclear guitars and vocals - sound was not perfect. Trey and Pat had great sound, and I loved hearing Trey so well. Guitars were not as clear, although distinguishable. Ade's guitar solos and vocals tended to cause distracting and even painful feedback. The loudness was a bit of a disappointment - my hearing dropped a notch, but it came back soon after the concert and didn't leave my ears ringing. Not a bad sound, but from earlier gig reviews, I had quite high expectations. Next, The Virtuous Power Circle. One of my favourites pieces in the KC catalogue mostly simply passes by me. Ade's intro guitar synth and electronic percussion (minus the melodic bits) do the synth thing and jump out of the mix, sounding kind of isolated. I do like what I'm hearing, but it feels.. truncated. Short. It should build up into a beautiful mellowness, instead it starts, lasts, and is over. Fortunately, during Dinosaur I and the band meet again on the same groove. The loud stuff is crunchy, and the middle part quite enjoyable. It's a great song, well executed. Off we go into Elektrik, which again lets me forget who I am and what I was thinking. A certain drum sample of Pat's also does the aforementioned "synth thing" during the piece. Nothing else makes me make notes in my head. The loud, distorted guitar descendings catch me by surprise. Beautiful. Happy is another suprise - it starts superbly and sounds like the most coherent song (as in "has singing") so far - until the sound problems backfire and vocals cause feedback. Still good, very good - Ade opts to only sing the choruses once, leaving the other halves instrumental which gives power to the song. Definitely not an inferior Crimson number. Dangerous Curves has unfortunate problems with both sound levels and timing of the beat loops (which are fine for the rest of the evening) and only really gets going happening halfway in when Pat kicks in with the acoustic drums. The dissonant chord is vectorized into Larks' IV. Splendid, especially the wordless coda, in it's simple, yet grieverous beauty a perfect ending for what has passed. I'm feeling pretty elevated by the music at this point. Applause, bows (Fripp assumes the role of a support musician tonight, choosing to stand in the shadow. There were a few flashes, despite the checks for cameras. It's curious..), standing ovation. The encores are a bliss. For Trush, I'm overexpecting an Experience, but it comes off lovely none the less. Actually, I think, if someone has heard TPBT part 3, but not Trush, the music could seem like an odd choice for the first encore. You won't know there's going to be a beautiful solo, and you don't know how marvellous it would sound if there was some silence before it. You will choose to cheer and applaud, won' t you? I suppose the silent bit here and in Dinosaur are voluntary, and tonight, the audience chooses to fill both with applause and cheering, which actually seems just as well. Maybe I'm overthinking it again. Well, few manly roars for Red were roared, of course, during the intro. A dry comment from an audient: " Shut up." Oyster Soup follows. I've never got this song, it has sounded like a self- indulgent mess of polyrhythmics to me on the (live) record. But tonight's the night. It's just soooo groovy, soooo goood. And I knew it would be. So good. More standing ovation, announcements (I think they we're at this point). They leave, to come back. Time for oldies but goldies. Elephant Talk and Red flow like good wine, intoxicating. There is little to write home about, you had to be there. And then off to catch the train. Bought Thunderbird Suite from the busy merchandizing table. Reflecting, although I was feeling a pretty low after Level Five until the middle of the set, even that part of the show seems great now. Trey was not only a pleasure to hear, but to watch as well. This guy is a phenomenon. Inflatable tusks were a riot. Hmm, what else. I don't mind that I was " overprepared" for the music, I just hope I can see them again some day. That's all. --Eino ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 17 Jun 2003 15:45:42 +0400 From: Erik Dean DePoy Subject: GIG REVIEW: King Crimson June 12, 2003 at the State Central Concert Hall, Moscow GIG REVIEW: King Crimson June 12, 2003 at the State Central Concert Hall, Moscow Having last seen Crimson live on Broadway, my level of anticipation for their first ever show in Moscow was understandably high. Luckily, I was able to score a fourth row seat online soon after tickets went on sale. This seemed a good omen, as I had fourth row seats for both of the shows at the Longacre Theater back in 1995. The ticket was attached to a leaflet that advertised an autograph/photo session with Adrian, Pat and Trey at a downtown record store the evening before the show, and thanks to a public holiday I was able to leave work early and attend. (I had been to the Epitaph signing at HMV in New York in Spring 1997 and met the members of the 1969 band, so I knew the routine.) There were maybe 100 fans waiting in a rather uncomfortable line, as it was hot inside and we were kept waiting for an hour while a press conference was held. It did, however, give me an opportunity to chat with some fellow Crim fanatics. Eventually the trio showed up, and despite having purchased new copies of Heavy ConstruKction and The ConstruKction of Light, we were told the band would only be signing one item. Now it's a good thing I'm not an autograph hound, otherwise I might have been sorely disappointed. Probably like this one guy who was visibly upset upon learning that Fripp would not attend. He apparently had no interest in meeting anyone else. I should also mention the guy who brought along an LP of Red to be signed, an album none of the musicians we were about to meet had played on (!). Maybe he thought Fripp would show up, but I knew that wasn't going to happen. Anyway, about ten minutes after the line started moving there I was - face to face with my musical heroes Adrian, Pat and Trey, who were seated around a small round table in front of a backdrop group photo from the middle of the Heavy ConstruKction CD booklet. I noticed that most of the fans said little, other than maybe hi or thank you, perhaps due to the language barrier. I, on the other hand, apparently surprised them when I said "So you guys finally made it to Moscow!". Pat said, "You speak some pretty good English! Where are you from?" He must have thought I was Russian, but I told them I was from New York and hadn't seen them live since they played on Broadway. I then asked if they had done any sightseeing, and Pat said "No, we're fried, we just played last night". I jokingly told them to go get some sleep and Adrian laughed. After telling them I'd see them in the fourth row the following night I walked away...only to discover that Adrian hadn't signed my CD booklet. While chatting with Pat and Trey, I must have spaced out and forgotten to hand it to him. Oh well, maybe I'll get it next time they're (hopefully) in town. In any event, I would like to thank the band for taking time from their busy schedule to meet us. In March I saw 21st Century Schizoid Band at the State Central Concert Hall within the monstrous Rossiya Hotel within walking distance of the Kremlin on the banks of the Moscow River. As it turned out, this was also where the "real" King Crimson would be playing this evening. So I basically knew what to expect - a relatively formal concert experience with strict ushers, no smoking and somewhat disorganized beverage/vending service. After waiting in line a good while and quickly gulping down some champagne, I made my way to my seat. And there was Fripp, off to the far right playing Soundscapes to the still-lit hall as the crowd filed in. Having gone to the show alone, I briefly chatted with the guy next to me, who had flown into Moscow from Kiev, Ukraine just for the show. After the lights went out a round of cheers went up, and an announcement was made regarding Fripp's aversion to photography. Thankfully, the request was honored, or if it wasn't, at least Fripp did not halt the show, as he had at the infamou s Soundscapes show I attended at The Bottom Line in New York in December 1997. There was a palpable sense of excitement amongst the many people in attendance who had never seen this incarnation of the band, much less any other. I thoroughly enjoyed the set, especially the moment when I distinctly felt the presence of the King enter the hall. It occurred during the section leading into the final verse of One Time, and Fripp stretched it out beautifully with Soundscapes while Adrian, Pat and Trey held themselves motionless in reverence. The other highlight in my view was Larks' Tongues Part IV, which had my jaw agape the whole time. Adrian was simply amazing and blew us all away with his guitar gymnastics. Although I heard the set list heavily favored recent material, they did play older numbers such as Dinosaur, Frame By Frame, Elephant Talk and the finale Red. Adrian even gave us an acoustic rendition of Three of a Perfect Pair, which was very nice to hear indeed. We were also treated to several of the new numbers, including Dangerous Curves, Level Five, Elektrik and Eyes Wide Open, as well as material off their previous album, such as ProzaKc Blues and The ConstruKction of Light. Pat and Trey's improv section served as an experimental bridge of sorts during the middle of the set. The show ended with the band members all accepting bouquets of flowers. This was a nice gesture on the part of the crowd and a fitting way to end the evening as the band walked off the stage in single file. To sum up, my first (and hopefully not last) experience of the latest line up was a memorable one. I can only hope the band decides to release a recording of the show, as they did after the run on Broadway. And for those of you waiting to see the band as they continue their trek through Europe, a memorable treat lies ahead. ------------------------------ End of Elephant Talk Digest #1131 *********************************