Reply-To: toby at cs dot man dot ac dot uk Sender: toby at cs dot man dot ac dot uk Precedence: bulk From: toby at cs dot man dot ac dot uk To: toby at cs dot man dot ac dot uk Subject: Elephant Talk #203 E L E P H A N T T A L K The Internet newsletter for Robert Fripp and King Crimson enthusiasts Number 203, Thursday, 29 June 1995 Today's Topics: '95 tour gig reviews Missing Gig Reviews Comments on seeing KC! Re: Elephant-talk digest v95 #201 Unknown CD re. Marine 475 Re: music between CGT & KC Fripp in DC Live In Argentina/Glenn Branca beatlesque sounds Indiscipline release Youngest attendee at a KC concert Youngest KC attendee King Crimson Live Video Re: #1(2) Elephant-talk digest v95 #202 Elephant-talk digest v95 #202 Elephant-talk digest v95 #202 Fripp/Sylvian and KC live recordings KC on Vinyl! Crimson on Video: *WHERE?!?!?!?!?* Re: Subscriber numbers Vancouver show 23 JUN 95 How Does Belew Play? Adrian Belew does Harry Nilsson KC & Bad Company more Sleepless/ screen savers/ Nov. dates? Fripp, kc south, etc.. Tour booklet notes Red Again? THRAK RANT Pamela Fripp; SF (6/24th) Re: youngest KC concert attendee California Guitar Trio course and... CGT/Fripp Sighting Brings New Meaning to "Industrial" First post/B'Boom/Tippet Re: Elephant-talk digest v95 &202 Acoustic Adrian Belew GIG REVIEW: 6/24/95, San Francisco GIG REVIEW: KC, San Fran, USA 6/26 [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] Please send all posts to toby at cs dot man dot ac dot uk The ET archives: WWW: http://www.cs.man.ac.uk/aig/staff/toby/elephant-talk.html FTP: The Americas: ftp.qualcomm.com, in /pub/et FTP: Rest of world: ftp.cs.man.ac.uk, in /pub/toby/elephant-talk EMAIL: Send "index elephant-talk" to listserv at arastar dot com [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] Date: Mon, 26 Jun 95 16:36:18 BST From: Toby Howard Subject: '95 tour gig reviews/LOCG Live in Europe Thanks to the amazing editing efforts of Daniel Kirkdorffer we now have a canonical collection of the gig reviews posted to ET. It's at http://www.cs.man.ac.uk/aig/staff/toby/et/gigreviews95.html. I received the new 'League of Crafy Guitarists Live in Europe' CD today. It is stunning. Toby [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] From: E#KIRKD at ccmail dot ceco dot com Date: Wed, 28 Jun 95 08:28:34 CST Subject: MISC: Missing Gig Reviews To all concert attendees: In compiling the gig reviews for the current tour from ET postings, I have found that we have no reviews of the following shows: 5/1 Dornbirn, Austria 5/4 Florence, Italy 5/6 Zurich, Switzerland 5/10 Munich, Germany 5/11 Stuttgart, Germany 5/30 Quebec City, Canada If there are people out there who attended any of these shows and would like to send in a review that can be added to the archive, please send them to me and I will include them with my next update. Daniel Kirkdorffer e#kirkd at ccmail dot ceco dot com --> Marketing idea of the summer: a "Where's Robert" picture book. Perhaps Tony Levin would like to put it together. ;) [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] Date: Sun, 25 Jun 1995 10:16:20 -0700 (PDT) From: kclarke Subject: Comments on seeing KC! I saw KC last night in SF. My most lasting impression is that if KC's goal is to make lots of noise, then they were fully successful. If KC's goal is to make music, they were somewhat less than successful. If I were with someone at the show who wasn't familiar w/KC, I would explain the band as a group of some of rock's best musicians, who work a lot in other areas for other people and projects, but get together as KC to see what happens when you throw great musicians together, and let them play what they want to play. I'm not sure that the whole was greater than the parts, however. While there were individual cool things (Levin, Bruford, and Mastelleto particularly), and Belew's singing was impressive, I didn't really see something transcendent emerge. Geez, I have low expectations, don't I :) When they were all playing full bore, what came out seemed closer to noise than music... This was the first time I saw Tony Levin, and I was very impressed :) There's a lot that doesn't come across in an album photo, that comes across watching the guy play. Wow! They needed to give Tony *more* room to do his thing! I dunno, I guess he came the closest to displaying 'heroics'. Heroics seem to be a bad thing on the guitar in KC these days. Other than a few heavily midified backwards AB solos, there was not much of anything. Guess guitar-wise they're favoring ensemble-style playing. Has Fripp banned himself from solos (sort of like banning cymbal use for Bruford)? I don't know how much 'legal' issues (copyright, ownership, etc.) comes into play for KC choosing their setlist, vs. 'new standard tuning' issues, personnel issues, and choosing songs that work well w/6 musicians. I would have loved to see more variety in their non-Thrak song choices though. Particularly more from 80's Crimson, and maybe some more of the mellow 70's Crimson (no mellow 70's Crimson was chosen, just Red/LTIA type stuff). So overall, OK, but I see room for improvement their next time through :) \|//////////////////////////////// \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\|/ - ====== kclarke at ccnet dot com ===== http://www.ccnet.com/~kclarke/ - /|\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ //////////////////////////////////|\ [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] Date: Sun, 25 Jun 95 12:06:01 PST From: "Sean Finn" Subject: Re: Elephant-talk digest v95 #201 > "j.serdy" said .. > > why not bring back I talk to the wind or fracture or cat food! god I > would love to see adrian do cat food. that would rule. --------- ... wouldn't a Cat Food/Big Electric Cat medly be great fun?! (But do you think that we can get KC to do it before the CGT grab the idea?) ;-) -- Sean [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] Date: Sun, 25 Jun 1995 21:38:33 -0400 From: Mark2u at aol dot com Subject: Unknown CD I just saw a listing for a CD called ROBERT FRIPP: Eleven Improvisations (US), ($24.95). This is the first I've heard of it Does anyone recognize this title? What are the contents? What is the quality? Thanks! [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] Date: Mon, 26 Jun 95 10:57:11 BST From: cbackham at uk dot mdis dot com (Clive Backham) Subject: MISC: re. Marine 475 In ET #201, Robert Bruce wrote: >... --so that Marine 475 would be a syndicate writing Marine insurance. > >... It would be fairly easy for someone currently working at Lloyds >to find out ... whether Robert or Adrian are "names" on the listed >syndicates... Can anyone shed any further light? My understanding of the situation is as follows: After the original founders of EG (David Eindhoven & John Gaydon?) had left, the new owners (whose names I cannot recall) branched out into all kinds of non-musical business. In particular, various EG directors became Lloyds Names, and suffered major losses. I believe that these losses were a major factor in the collapse of EG. I should emphasise that this information is gleaned from reading only Fripp's side of the story. I would seriously doubt that Robert Fripp is rich enough or greedy enough to be or have been a Lloyds Name. Whether the numbers in Marine 475 are genuine syndicates is hardly important to their use in a piece of music. My immediate guess is that they'd just be numbers that seemed to fit, but then again knowing Fripp's penchant for accuracy.... Background for non-British readers (the following information is gleaned >from reports in the UK news media; I have no inside knowledge). The way Lloyds of London works is that the insurance underwriting is done by syndicates. Each syndicate comprises a collection of arbitrary "rich" people, known as "Names", who agree to *unlimited* liability. Each syndicate is offered various risks that it may choose to underwrite. Until about 10 years ago, being a member of such a syndicate appeared tantamount to having a licence to print money, but recent disasters (eg. Exxon Valdez, Piper Alpha, Space Shuttle Challenger) have effectively bankrupted quite a few Lloyds Names. Subsequent investigation has *allegedly* uncovered some dirty dealings: some names are claiming that the management of Lloyds deliberately steered certain very high risk deals towards particular syndicates, whilst holding back the safer deals for the "inner circle". Mind you, it seems that Lloyds has a history of failing to realise what it might be getting itself into, so perhaps it was all just a cock-up rather than a conspiracy. For example, some companies have insurance policies that were written many decades ago, paid for with a single premium and valid in perpetuity, which cover them for any and all health consequencies of their activities. Asbestos manufacturers are among them. Clive Backham McDonnell Information Systems, UK email: cbackham at uk dot mdis dot com [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] From: "Mathews, Thomas J." Subject: RE: music between CGT & KC Date: Mon, 26 Jun 95 09:12:00 EST >From: terry kroetsch f >The music I heard between CGT and KC in both Toronto and Ann Arbor >was NOT Tony Levin - not even close. Is sounds to me like some >muzak/quirky Crimsonoid stuff. I would love to know what is really is - >is there access to this music? After the DC show I asked AdrianB if his instrumental solo album was coming out soon. He said it would be delayed until later this year but that it was playing between bands that night. So perhaps we've been getting sneak previews without knowing it. Maybe somebody out there has a pre-release copy and could tell all. tj [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] Date: Mon, 26 Jun 1995 09:41:07 -0400 From: tjb10 at cornell dot edu (tom) Subject: Fripp in DC Hello, fellow Crimheads My friends were always telling me "Fripp is God". I would Admit that the man is good, but calling him God is making a commitment; it is saying that Fripp is the end all and be all guitarist. I wasn't ready to make that step until I saw the KC in DC show. It was during Sex Sleep Eat Drink Dream when Robert stood up right in the middle of his shredding solo. He was a little bit exposed in the light, so I looked him up and down, and then I looked at his hands to see them work their magic. Only I COULDN'T see them. His hands were moving so fast, they were just a blur. Combine that with live soundscaping, other tricks I saw him perform on stage, and the wexcellent music he has recorded in the past 25 years, and I am ready to agree: Fripp is God. Whew! God and Prog-Master Bruford (form an old a.m.p. thread) on one stage. Its almost more talent And excitment than one fan can handle. Tom Barbieri Thomas Barbieri ____________ tjb10 at cornell dot edu |__ \ 108 Sapsuckerwoods Rd Apt.2A, | | | o | Ithaca, NY 14850 _ | | | < 607-257-6294 | |_| | o | "I know this is true, because |_____|____/ I dreamed about it two nights ago." - - Jon Anderson [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] Date: Mon, 26 Jun 1995 11:09:00 -0400 From: feathers at gate dot net Subject: Live In Argentina/Glenn Branca With all the excited reviews of recent King Crimson gigs, I'm left wondering how the material on the upcoming _Live In Argentina_ disk compares. I'm sure that they have gotten better and developed a better musical relationship with each other since those early gigs. I certainly hope that they are taping things from this tour for another live album, or (gasp/shudder) a video! On another notes, I reently got _symphony no. 6_ by Glenn Branca. He seems like Fripp's soul cousin for the 90s. this music is dense. A true wall of sound made by ten guitars a bassist and a drummer. Kind of minimalistic, and not quite as exciting as an instrumental 'Thrak' but worthwhile nonetheless. Later, and thanks Toby. [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] Subject: beatlesque sounds Date: Mon, 26 Jun 1995 14:01:58 -0400 (EDT) From: "Albin Michael Rose" In the previous Elephant Talk, a similarity was pointed out between the gentle flowing drums of "Walking On Air" and the Jimi Hendrix Experience's drums on "May this be Love." I would suggest a greater similarity--not specifically in the drums, but rather in the chords, the melody, and the general "vibe" (if you will) of the verses--with the Beatles' "Don't Let Me Down." I, for one, keep hearing John Lennon coming in with his "Nobody ever loved me..." line somewhere in the first repitition of the melodic line. Further, on the topic of Beatlesque sounds in this, the most digitally streamlined record by a band born in '69 I've ever heard, I'd like to add that there's /something/ about the VROOOM coda (aka the Marine track on THRAK) that feels Beatlesque. Maybe it's the twanginess in AB's guitar, maybe it's the way the relentlessly descending chord progression feels like the loping keyboard/strings line in "I Am the Walrus," maybe it's the way impending chaos contrasted with repition feels like the ending of "I Want You (She's So Heavy) /and/ the orchestral bit from "Day in the Life." It could be a combination of all these factors. Actually, I thought I might be alone in thinking these thoughts until a friend mentioned he played the VROOOM ep for his dad & his dad's friends (local blues/jazzer types who gig in the area & have for a while) and /they/ felt a vague Beatles vibe there as well. Odd... One last Crimso thought before I leave--upon first hearing the VROOOM ep, months ago, It occurred to me that the title track could've been called "Larks' Tongues in Aspic Part Four." Think about it--big crunchy chords alternating with soft tension builders in the first part, reminiscent of moments in One & Two, and /then,/ for me the clincher, the second part (now called the coda) has the same menacing plod that the slow fadeout portion of LTIA 3. Granted, these are elements that appear in a variety of Crimso tunes (a friend has pointed out similarities between Vroom & Red that are just as valid), but with a big opening piece, a long instrumental piece, a "here we are again" STATEMENT piece like /this,/ it could have fit very well to tie it thematically by naming it LTIA 4. My suspiscion is that the high number of onomatopoetic titles is due to a general attempt to keep this incarnation straightforward, simple, mobile (if you will) and alive for a stretch by not taking titles quite so seriously. It could also be that I think about this sort of thing far too much. AMR rosealbi at student dot msu dot edu * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * "life's like a jigsaw, you get the straight bits, but there's something missing in the middle" ---A. Partridge [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] Date: Mon, 26 Jun 1995 11:38:35 -0700 From: tntmusic at halcyon dot com (Kevin J. O'Conner dba Tinty Music) Subject: Indiscipline release According to one of the new release bulletins published in Japan, "Official Bootleg: Indiscipline - Live In Argentina" will be released on July 21 in Japan. (Label/catalog no. info: Canyon International PCCY-00795, 3,800 yen - at that price, I hope it's a double!) Kevin Kevin J. O'Conner d.b.a. Tinty Music P.O. Box 85363 Seattle, WA 98145-1363 vox: (206) 632-9369 fax/modem: (206) 545-2868 e-mail: tntmusic at halcyon dot com k dot oconner at genie dot geis dot com zzs32874 at pcvan dot or dot jp. Check out the Tinty Music band page on IUMA! http://www.iuma.com/IUMA/band_html/Tinty_Music.html [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] Date: Mon, 26 Jun 1995 11:50:50 -0700 From: tarkus at powergrid dot electriciti dot com (Ed and Linda FitzGibbon) Subject: Youngest attendee at a KC concert Hopefully, I will have the youngest attendee at a KC concert! If all goes according to plan, my husband and I will be at the San Diego show the day before our daughter is due. This will be our daughter's eighth concert :-). Wish us luck that we make it there! [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] Date: Mon, 26 Jun 95 12:06:17 PDT From: dwight at pentasoft dot com Subject: Youngest KC attendee My bid for the youngest attendee: At the Seattle concert, I was _only thinking_ about making love to my wife with intent to conceive. We still haven't done it, and may not, until our next lifetimes. So, beat that, suckers! Dwight [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] Date: Mon, 26 Jun 1995 11:43:26 -0600 From: Erik Anderson Subject: King Crimson Live Video I would be interested in obtaining any live concert footage from the current tour or from any previous tours, no matter how old. Please reply in person if you have any cool video footage. Cheers, Erik Anderson [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] Date: Mon, 26 Jun 1995 16:49:11 -0400 From: WarrM at aol dot com Subject: Re: #1(2) Elephant-talk digest v95 #202 Hi All, Not to disappoint you Beth and Mike, but my wife is 10 weeks pregnant. Mark Warr [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] Date: Mon, 26 Jun 1995 14:27:08 -0700 From: rpeck at pure dot com (Ray Peck) Subject: Elephant-talk digest v95 #202 >>> ... the band consists of six, well-seasoned performers >>> ... who have, over the years, collaborated with just about >>> everybody who was anybody on the progressive rock scene, >>> including ... Foreigner, and Bad Company. > >Anyone else get a good laugh outta this? I'm still pondering which of the 6 >folks they mentioned actually collaborated with Foreigner or Bad >Company. Foreigner: Ian McDonald Bad Co.: Boz Burrel [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] Date: Mon, 26 Jun 1995 14:30:10 -0700 From: rpeck at pure dot com (Ray Peck) Subject: Elephant-talk digest v95 #202 >From: terry kroetsch f >Subject: Music between CGT and KC > >The music I heard between CGT and KC in both Toronto and Ann Arbor was NOT >Tony Levin - not even close. Is sounds to me like some muzak/quirky >Crimsonoid stuff. I would love to know what is really is - is there access >to this music? There was a mix of stuff played in SF, including some stuff from the new Tony Levin (with Shankar). I'll bet a nickle that the stuff that sounded like pseudo-Stockhausen-played-on-a-sampler was from the upcoming Belew "Guitar as Orchestra" release. We were also treated to some Soundscapes that didn't sound like 1999. Here's betting that it was from the upcoming "Live in California" release. BTW, there is precedent for this: after the second SF CGT/Soundscapes show in SF a while back we were treated to rough mixes of Thrak (no, not Vrooom). [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] From: KIM PRICE Subject: Fripp/Sylvian and KC live recordings Greetings ETers, I'm one of the fortunate few who was in attendance at the Fripp/Sylvian show at Massey Hall, Toronto, Nov. 1,1993. From the front row of the balcony,(almost the same seats I had for KC a few weeks ago. I want to see them again -soon-!) it was a wonderf Canada's national radio service, the CBC, broadcast an hour of the show a few weeks later. I'd be glad to trade tapes of this radio show with anyone who has anything similar (radio shows, etc.) I also ran into a 12" vinyl single w/two mixes of "Sleepless" at the used store yesterday. Does anyone know if these are on CD anywhere in the world? Another question (or two). Is the entire "USA" album (except for "Asbury Park", found on "Frame by Frame") to be found on the "Great Deciever" box set? If they are there, (where?) do the tracks "LTiA2", "Lament" and "21st Century..." contain the Eddie Anyway, thanks in advance for any info. See you on Stickwire and here. P. S. Please use the e-mail address at the end of this post. The "From" address at the top is temporary as my regular server is down for a couple of days. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ "Also Thrack Zarathustra!" ------------------------------------------------------------------------ J. P. Hovercraft aka jprice at trentu dot ca [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] Date: Mon, 26 Jun 95 17:45:28 CDT From: "Michael R. Hobaugh" Subject: KC on Vinyl! Hi all, I walked into a used record store Friday and found Wake of Posidon (sp?), Lizard, Larks Tongues, Red, and Starless and Bible Black on used vinyl. REALLY clean used vinyl. I had only heard these albums on CD before, and interestingly, some of the mixes are different. On The Devil's Triangle, the "fog horn" sound at the end of the first section is much more muted on the vinyl. Do any of you know how much Fripp changed in the mixes between the original LP releases and the CD releases? Did he (and the rest of the band at the time) do the mixes on the original releases? Lastly, do any of you know of large LP clearing houses in the states that might have other of the releases on vinyl? Michael Hobaugh hoba at midway dot uchicago dot edu [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] Date: Mon, 26 Jun 1995 16:53:40 -0700 (PDT) From: Andre LaFosse Subject: Crimson on Video: *WHERE?!?!?!?!?* Apologies in advance if these questions are already time-worn topical cliches long since left for addressed and clarified. 1) I keep seeing references to a TOAPP live vid. Where do I find it?! Is there an outlet from which it can be ordered? 2) In the _Yesyears_ video, there's a brief section wherein Bruford describes his leaving Yes to play with Crimson, and there are a few second's worth of footage of the Wetton-Cross-Bruford lineup playing "Easy Money." Is this footage available in any even remotely commercial form? These questions make me wonder: What are the chances of DGM putting out Crimson on video? Tony Levin did say that footage of the _Thrak_ sessions had been cultivated, and Paul Richards said that one of the first gigs on the current tour was being filmed. Is DGM willing and able to release both archival and new Crimson footage? Burning questions... --Andre LaFosse [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] Date: Tue, 27 Jun 1995 12:17:33 +1300 From: james dot dignan at stonebow dot otago dot ac dot nz (James) Subject: Re: Subscriber numbers From: "Dudley A. Horque" >I sure hope that Robert and company notice that there are over ten times >as many ET subscribers in Australia than in Argentina. >We have missed out for far too long. 8-( Hell, even us Kiwis outnumber the Argentinians on the list 2 to 1! Peace, Fernando... I know it doesn't mean there are twice as many NZ Crimson fans, but it does mean that we are surely numerous enough to warrant a royal visit! C'mon guys! Surely you could tack Oz & NZ onto the end of a tour of Japan & Asia? Soon! Please? James James Dignan, Department of Psychology, University of Otago. Ya zhivu v' 50 Norfolk St., St. Clair, Dunedin, New Zealand pixelphone james dot dignan at stonebow dot otago dot ac dot nz / steam megaphone NZ 03-455-7807 * You talk to me as if from a distance * and I reply with impressions chosen from another time, time, time, * from another time (Brian Eno) [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] Date: Mon, 26 Jun 1995 17:15:57 -0700 (PDT) From: Jason Lake Subject: Vancouver show 23 JUN 95 I just wanted to throw in my two farthings worth about the show: great. I'd have to agree about the mixing problems, but it would have taken a lot more to spoil things. The CGT was warmly received, Crimso got immediate standing O's, and there weren't too many idiots in the audience. The light show was admirably sufficient. I had the opportunity to do a phone-in interview with Tony Levin the day before, and to chat with him briefly during the aftershow. I felt a bit silly because I ended up asking Bill Bruford to let Tony know I was there; Bill was kind enough not to use my head for a kick drum :-) Pat Mastelotto spent a fair amount of time talking to the aftershow crowd, as did Bill. These guys love what they do. I did keep my merchandise brochure, so here's the address for the person that asked for it in the last ET. KING CRIMSON OFFER BROCKUM 1690 East Race Street Allentown, PA 18103 _World Diary_, BTW, is a great piece of work, excellent musicianship in a relaxed mode. Great restorative powers. Tony put a lot of effort into the packaging, which is beautiful and jewel box-free. The address for ordering information is on the ET homepage, so order. KC seems to be having a great time on this tour, and I wish them continued success. Jason Lake :-| Have a day. [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] Date: Mon, 26 Jun 1995 19:27:14 -0500 From: eclark at mail dot utexas dot edu (Industry) Subject: How Does Belew Play? I've recently began learning how to play the guitar. I've been listening to KC for a while now and always have known that Fripp and Belew were great guitar players. Now, with a little better knowledge of the guitar, I have a new appriciation of them both. But theres one thing that puzzles me, how does Belew play a fretless guitar. I mentioned this to a freind of mine who knows more about guitars that I do. He thought maybe Belew uses a bow. I've never seen KC perform, only heard them, so I thought I'd ask those who know. Thanx in advance -Erick ============================================== Erick Clark AKA Industry <> See My Art and Design Work @ http://uts.cc.utexas.edu/~erick/index.html [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] From: lantz at PrimeNet dot Com Date: Mon, 26 Jun 1995 18:21:56 +0000 Subject: Adrian Belew does Harry Nilsson In ET #202 Lee S. Kilpatrick (Mr. Breeze) wrote: >Adrian Belew does a song, though I can't recall its name or the name >of the album. Well a friend of mine has it but I can't recall the CD name. The song is "Me and My Arrow" which was recently a part of a Plymouth car commercial (not AB's version) and also the music to a cartoon from many years ago. Bill [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] Date: Tue, 27 Jun 95 00:48:42 PDT From: Alan=Jackson%infosys%marlow at banyan dot BV dot TEK dot COM Subject: KC & Bad Company It wasn't one of the current line-up guesting for Bad Company, but Mel Collins. He played on their first album before joining Kokomo, who made three great 'white soul' albums, and even cahrted in a minor way with 'A little bit further away'. A versatile man: progressive, heavy, soul...... Alan [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] Date: Tue, 27 Jun 1995 10:07:19 -0400 From: ThadKirk at aol dot com Subject: more Sleepless/ screen savers/ Nov. dates? There were two more versions of Sleepless available on a 12" 45 rpm that I qpicked up at the time TOAPP came out. A "Specially priced maxi-single". It has an instrumental (it does have SOME vocals) dance mix (5:45)and a long dance mix which includes all the vocals(7:07). It was put out by Warner Bros./EG #0-20193. Mixed by Francois Kevorkian. If you have the After Dark module called Logo you can simply copy and paste the group photo images that are available for download from AOL or C-serve and make screen savers out of them. Who knows dates for November gigs? I can't say how much I love the Great Deceiver box set. I hope the Argentina stuff sounds that good. What I've heard from the Dino. single is EXTREMELY compressed sounding. No dynamic range. Has anyone contacted FreshAir at WHYY dot ORG about getting a Crimson appearance? Enough for now. [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] Date: Tue, 27 Jun 1995 08:11:51 -0500 From: fpaul at wimsey dot com (Frank Paul) Subject: I just read my first post to ET - boy did I get it wrong!! (I guess I was in a state of post KC concert stupor and wasn't thinking straight). At the Vancouver, BC show the band did NOT, of course, play "One More Red Nightmare" - I got that confused with "Talking Drum" (which they did play). And of course, I got the stage directions totally backwards - Trey was stage L not stage R (not that that's a really majorly important fact or anything). Anyways, am I going kukoo or does anybody else out there hear a slight influence of Holger Czukay/Can on parts of the Sylvian/Fripp collaboration "The First Day". In some of those longer spacier jams on the album I almost feel like I'm listening to "Flow Motion" or something. I started to consider the band as a possible influence given David Sylvian's past work with Holger Czukay. Frank Paul Vancouver BC (fpaul at wimsey dot com) [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] Date: Mon, 26 Jun 95 14:30:44 EDT From: KOMO1 at CARVM8 dot VNET dot IBM dot COM Subject: Fripp, kc south, etc.. Got a question re: RF....which of his albums would you suggest to a relatively new KC fan (Ive got Thrak and Discipline). My taste in KC?! The more intense, experimental and/or virtuostic the BETTER!!! Also, of all the other KC releases which would u suggest...ive been leaning towards either RED or LTiA...thanks for the time and opinion!!!! Oh yea...almost forgot....there are (according to KC mgmt) tenative plans for KC tour stops later in the year in the southern US. Im in Tampa. YEA! Nick K [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] Date: Tue, 27 Jun 1995 09:31:53 +0800 From: John dot Lukes at Ebay dot Sun dot COM (John Lukes) Subject: Tour booklet notes Even with the aid of a magnifying glass, I'm having real trouble reading Robert Fripp's Biographical essay in the concert/tour booklet. Has anyone transcribed or is anyone planning on transcribing it into a more readable format or has anyone tried photocopying or scanning it in order to tweak it (enlarge, change contrast levels, etc.) to make it more readable? I'd really appreciate getting it in a more legible form. Email response directly to me, in order to protect E-T (the digest). I'm NOT looking to violate the letter or intent of copyright laws for I have no purpose in mind other than READING what Mr. Fripp has taken the time to write to the purchaser (I paid for mine) of the concert booklet. (Note the disclaimer in the preceding statement.) Anyway, my dinosaur eyes are having enough trouble seeing 12 to 14 point type, this days, let alone the 5 or 6 point, sans serif, white on and silver very illegible, but very cool (from a purely design aesthetic) notes in the booklet. This is no way is meant as a slam/flame of the booklet....I think it's well worth the price, if you're a fan. It's more a lament of the effects of aging (aggrevating by too many hours in front of a workstation monitor, over too many years). -JOHN [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] Date: Tue, 27 Jun 1995 09:21:54 GMT From: Mike Dickson Subject: Red Again? Glenn Astarita wrote : > Just imagine if the original "Red" trio was the latest flavor of KC ? Now > don't get me wrong I'm perfectly satisfied with the current lineup. Just > trying to visualize in my head what the sound would be like... What would > they sound like ? I'm not about to speculate on the question as to how they would have sounded now, but I recall Fripp being interviewed on BBC Radio One some years back when he said that, had the CotCK line-up remained intact up to 'Red' then that record and all others in between would have sounded exactly the same as the released versions. (I presume he was making his 'Crimson is a separate entity' point here) -- Mike Dickson [Team OS/2], Black Cat Software Factory, Musselburgh, Scotland mike at blackcat dot demon dot co dot uk - Fax 0131-653-6124 - Columnated Ruins Domino [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] Date: Tue, 27 Jun 95 13:02:33 PDT From: emud at brookscole dot com Subject: THRAK RANT First, I need to preface this by saying that I am the guy who slammed VROOM and THRAK when they initially hit the streets (Fripp: Belew's Errand Boy, etc.) Remember me? I'm the one who's been following KC excitedly since '81 or so, when Fripp pretty much inflated the envelope of progressive rock music by including a crafty synthesis of intricate Gamelan, pre-ambient isolationist trance-funk and breathtakingly complex algebraic interplay. I was most intrigued by Fripp's seeming break with (or at least non-reliance) on past Crimsonology; all of the music was fresh in vocabulary and attack, and the instrumental technique use by all the players, although familiar to anyone familiar with Red-era KC, was not just a re-hash of the tried and true, or even just incrementally getting better and better; it was *evolving* into a completely new, intellectually and physically muscular animal. Essentially, Crimson was keeping my interest in Prog Rock alive, even after they faded away in '82 or so (I know, I know, they did two more albums after Discipline.... I guess. They were under contract, you know....) Fripp taught me how to listen to other forms of music, as well, and I have happily been chipping away at Ambient, Intelligent Dance and Global Electronica for some years now, all the time keeping an eye out for what RF will do next... I was, then, among the enthused and excited throngs when I heard about the reform, then, two or so years ago. In light of Fripp's evolution, his Guitar Craft achievements and forays into Ambient, IDM and North African musics, and with the prospect of the virtuousity of Trey Gunn against the know stature of Master Levin, and two drummers and the possibilities of mindlowing polyrythms...!!!! Well, perhaps you can see why I had such high hopes... So, when VROOM and THRAK came along, I was certainly dissapointed. The band's current material did add bulk to the King Crimson repertoire, but did nothing to develop the vocabulary of this or any other music. My complaints were then, as now, were that this was commercial, safe, retro-grade product, and that the band, as an entity, was veering uncomfortably close the bilgepump/regurge of the bloated rockpomps of yesteryear (I won't mention names, but Yes, Genesis, Moody Blues and Pink Floyd come to mind pretty darn quick.) So I held tight my tongue, and to to my tickets for Sunday's show at the Warfield in SF: I have heard countless reports that Crimson is a completely different animal in the flesh, and that what I would hear in concert would only enforce and expand the recorded materials. Gig Review: First, let me say that the acoustics in the balcony at the Warfield were pretty sad. I have better definition of sound coming from the speakers of my (factory) Toyota Corolla speakers. It was almost pure mud. As has been reported, the band was entirely professional, arriving on stage quickly after the unimpressive and needlessly loud performance by CGT had ended: Adrian even said that they were enjoying the show immensely: gee, that made me feel so good... I'll not give a setlist here: I did not write anything down, and the selections went pretty much as has been already reported on this group. I don't mind the predictablity of selections as much as I detested the prefabricated, canned, unadventurous performance of individual selections. The band just about faithfully reproduced the playing of each part of every piece from the new material, and tried to keep up with themselves on older, more intricate numbers like Frame By Frame and Elephant Talk. Red was another verbatum snapshot of previously recorded (and previously HEARD!!!) material, and the only surprise-- that is, the only time I had to venture a guess as to what would come next-- was the segue into the Talking Drum which in itself was a nice treatment, with a little bit of vicious-yet-shallow guitar work from Adrian. (Was it B'Boom where Adrian came out and did a bit of percussion on his guitar? Why? I mean, it's kind of a funny break, but it was pointless and even sloppy. Again, maybe it was just the acoustics, but it didn't seem to fit together very well.) The first encore involved THRAK, which is growing on me as one of those seminal, dischordant, sub-tonal careening guitar themes for which Crimson (I think) will be remembered-- they really could have based an entire show around this. There is enough meat to shred, and enough undefined space within the structure of a piece like this to take off and improvise and expand and GIVE PEOPLE SOME MUSIC THAT THEY CAN'T HEAR ANYWHERE ELSE. This concert provided virtually nothing of added value past what's already available on disc. Fripp Rant: Gosh, I'd really rather have saved my $60 and listened to the CD's I own of the band, for all the unique sounds I heard that evening. Oh well, now, at least, I can say I've seen the band live, have seem the Great One center stage, fat and calm and uninvolved, with little or no apparent involvement with actively making this canned, anacronistic music. Why pretend to make a significant contribution to this type of music by throwing in intense washes of obtuse, soundscapes, Mr. Fripp? For all the scarce, sublime and obscure noise you emitted, why did you bother to show up at all? Fine, if you don't want to work, if you think that this great, rolling ball of discipline and virtuousity has such tremendous momentum that all you have to do is ride atop it in your stretch leggings swathed in mysterious shadows, then at least let someone with the talent, will *and* enthusiasm (like Trey Gunn, perhaps) to get a string in edgewise? (And what the fuck is with your finally waddling over to the stage where you could at last be seen only to waggle your brilliant little fingers at little ol' faithful us in final, obligatory farewell??) With all the wonderful music King Crimson has given me, I suppose I can't say I was ripped off, generally. This experience has been quite valuable, actually-- it has made it ok for me to close the book on this band. I will always cherish the material I currently own as long as I can remember or listen to it. It's just that I have no more illusions about Crimson's viability, vitality, or integrity as a band. King Crimson is not forgotten: just gone. Larry Molmud [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] Date: Tue, 27 Jun 1995 15:19:40 +0800 From: John dot Lukes at Ebay dot Sun dot COM (John Lukes) Subject: Pamela Fripp; SF (6/24th) Forgot to mention that a small group of us were standing around chatting upstairs at the Warfield Theatre when Pamela Fripp appeared in our midst and visited with us for a couple minutes. What a kick she is! Besides her very charming good humour, she thanked me for supporting the band and pointed directly at the tour booklet I had under my arm. The power of gratitude is beyond measure. My feeling for her human heart and for that of her brother and his bandmates was increased many times over just in that apparently "small" gesture of thanks. And having been thanked, I want to say that I'm all for the band making "GOOD" money on this tour. They deserve every dollar, IMHO! In fact, the more the better! Why? For one thing, my wish for their success is one small way I can "thank" them back for such a great show. And for another, their financial success on this tour will help bring about more band activities (recorded and/or live) in the future. Regarding Pamela Fripp: what a wonderful person she is! For those that noticed Robert shading his eyes to scan the audience, then (on more than one occasion) waving and smiling at someone in the audience, as well as nudging other band members and pointing and waving -- I believe I can say with reasonable assurance that he was waving to his sister, Pamela. And, by the way, this is all the evidence I need that Robert Fripp is, in fact, a warm-hearted, genuine human being. So to "H" with those that condemn the man for not doing backflips (figuratively or literally) on stage for your visual entertainment. He does more than enough sonically and energy-wise, as it is, but now I have no doubt his heart pumps crimson blood like the rest of us. (No emotionless android, he....) By the way, the latest genetic research indicates that *all* homo sapien sapiens are more closely related than any two mountain guerrillas or chimpanzees are related. We are, quite literally, all brothers. So to my six Royal Crimson brothers (in-and-out of the spotlight), thanks for a fantastic show. Good roads, fair weather and see you again sometime, I hope! -JOHN (off-and-on since "In The Court..." -- definitely ON, now!) [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] Date: Tue, 27 Jun 1995 20:21:41 -0400 From: MFISHER at VARIETY dot CAHNERS dot COM Subject: Re: youngest KC concert attendee >> From: Beth Ustas Spellman >> >> Well, I think I may have the youngest KC attendee... >> >> I was at the Boston show 7.5 months pregnant, I think that is probably >> going to be hard to beat (unless you don't count babies until they are >> born!). > >Not to disappoint you Beth, but my wife was 5 months pregnant at this >same show. :) > >Mike You know, if this line of reasoning continues, I'm likely to nail my girlfriend in the parking lot before the show on Saturday and have you all beat... [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] Date: Tue, 27 Jun 1995 21:22:43 -0400 From: strthry at afm dot org Subject: California Guitar Trio course and... Organization: Amer. Fed. of Musicians Date: Wed, 28 Jun 95 03:18:10 EST Hello All: 1. An Introduction to the New Standard Tuning will be presented by the California Guitar Trio, August 18-20 in West Virginia. Those interested should contact Debra at: 72130 dot 1345 at compuserve dot com 2. Many references are made to Robert Fripp's alleged distance from his audience. However, of all the major rock guitarists of his generation, Robert is the only one who has made himself widely available, sharing his experience, insight, and approach. This extends even to putting his name (and himself, and his reputation) on the line publicly, in concert, in part to give students and aspiring professionals a chance to experience something of the life of a professional musician under conditions most of us could not generate for ourselves - an act of great professional courage. - String Theory [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] Date: Wed, 28 Jun 1995 01:22:57 -0700 From: edumark at ix dot netcom dot com (chris hoard) Subject: CGT/Fripp Sighting Brings New Meaning to "Industrial" Well it's already a jolly, peachy, once in a decade summer, and all but... This Crimlist is just being whipped up into such a voluminous dump of characters by the tour and all the carryon... Someone tell the King to pack his bags and head back to the hills of Kashmir before I have to go buy another hard drive! My modem's overworked, and I'm going to have to quit my job just to find enough hours in the day to read all your posts... Okay, I'll stop my moaning, and actually venture out into the night--and check in to the Wiltern to see what all the cyberbuzz is about. **** AND YOU'RE NEVER GOING TO BELIEVE THIS ONE... It's a beautiful sunny day in the murder capital of Orange County, and there's an election running today to up the sales tax. Some say this is to pay for junk bonds swindled from the county's ample coffers (the coffers, in defiance of quantum theory have now become a gaping singularity, threatening to suck in all matter--so long as it qualifies as a financial asset). Now this tax hike is reportedly opposed by the area's most rich, conservative taxpayers--among the wealthiest crew in the Western world, these folk, one presumes are really anarchists--in that they advocate simply handing all county employees and government functions their pink slips--save for the military. I guess they figure they need a few missile launchers and helicopters to protect their riches, but the rest is fluff. Anyway, this place is a financial paradox, as well as a cultural paradox. It's the richest county per-capita in the world's fifth largest economy, (California), and it's former Treasurer is in the slammer, and trash collection is perilously poised on the precipice of 'privitization." There are gated communities up in the hills owned by wealthy white suburbanites, serviced by their brown-skinned, low wage servants. Down below in the smog sits Santa Ana, a city made famous by the rock group Steely Dan. In Santa Ana most people speak primarily the language spoken when California was first settled by Europeans--Spanish. But on the outskirts of Santa Ana, the newer Orange County is in evidence--there's industry--warehouses, small hi-tech businesses, sushi bars, and incredible taco stands. Wall Street has apparently turned a trick on them all--rich and poor--and if the new sales tax passes--we all fork over a few more pennies every lunch hour to ensure some nameless, faceless, malevolent financial institution remains solvent in some distant megalopolis. So what, you may ask does any of this have to do with ET? Well, so me and Emilio are cruising at a snails pace down the 55 (which is all about anyone manages on the 55 unless you're extremely lucky, or driving on the shoulder). We're talking about a beat-up Ford (kinda like the stretched out one on the inner sleeve of Thrak...). And guess what? Now Emilio and I work for a big computer distributor, and we have to make a delivery in Santa Ana so that some bozo can demo some kind of King Crimson screen saver software on various sized monitors. And what do we hear? "Emilioo--you hear that noise?" I ask. "Sounds like traffic--a couple of big rigs... no wait! What's that?" "That's what I mean, dude--you do hear it." "Yeah--like a Pleiadian beamship doing maneuvers with a sqaudron of Blue Angels from the El Toro Air Show--only it's coming out of that warehouse. Shit, I dunno if we want to get to close too that place." "Have you heard 1999?" I ask. "Isn't that kinda weird--I thought you were gonna loan it to me--but remember, you listenned to it, and had some kinda hallucination--and then the next thing you told me was you were going to loan it to your boss." "I did?" At this point we notice the parking lot is full--so we find a parking place next door, and Emilio grabs the big box, and we start approaching this big white warehouse and the sound gets LOUDER and L O U D E R. "It's gettin' LOUDER" says Emilio. "You know what it is, don't you." At precisely this moment a beat-up Datsun pick-up truck pulls up with a squat midde-aged Latina driver in a worn uniform. "What's that sound?" says Paulo. "Frippertronics," she replies, non-chalantly. "Go in and check it out--it's a concert." Paulo's eyes bulge, the pickup pulls away. "Fripp's in there?" he pants, propping up the monitor box. "Maybe he's gigging the premiere of his screen-saver," I say. So we walk into the front desk--I say "delivery for Mr. Perry." The guards wave us on--the sound gets louder, weirder. We make our way through a maze of office cubicles--through a conference room with large, empty potato salad containers. A CD player is in a wall unit, with a copy of Thrak resting atop. Then we're through the next door... It's a large distributor warehouse. CDs and posters stocked to the ceiling. There's thirty or forty people in the room--and toward one wall adjacent the loading dock, sits one Fripp, tweaking knobs and pushing pedals as much as playing his guitar. WHAT A SOUND. Almost every one in the room was mesmerized--the intercom buzzing in occasionally brought a new meaning to the "industrial" genre: "PEDRO ORTIZ, PICK UP 2-1, PEDRO ORTIZ, 2-1." Fripp's rig wailed the mechanized banshee orchestra, drowning the din of the nearby freeway. Next up, the CGT. "Yamanashi Blues," a couple others--killer rendition of Morricone's "good the bad the ugly." Fripp standing to the side, enthusiastically applauding his students. Next up, Fripp with a monster soundscape solo piece--the CGT looks on, attentive. Finally, the CGT break into a very contrapuntal crimsonesque piece--that just screams for a Fripp solo (alas no such luck). Still the CGT manages a completely orchestral range of sounds coaxed from their three ovations with, for the most part, basic electronic enhancements. A stunning little show, obviously immensely satisfying for this warehouse crew having an after 5PM break from the usual overtime. The CGT layed down new thresholds of virtuosity with their trio arrangement of JSB's "Tocatta and Fugue in D. Minor." Superb, powerful. These guys sound as if they've already made it in the bizzz. Fripp thanks the audience with a few choice, kind words. Reviews his King Crimson screen saver software on a large monitor located right by one of the bay doors. Lots of impeccable KC art-work never before released (far as I know). A tall skinny guy is standing in the crowd--looks familiar--he comes up to take a bow with the other musicians at the end--Trey Gunn. Fripp is relaxed, gracious. A line of 25 or so is formed, some carrying copies of Lark's Tongue on vynil, others, promotional posters for Red... All in all, a special occasion at Abbey Road Distribtutors. Emilio, of course, is floored by the performance, and lines up for his Fripp autograph. As for myself, like I imagine many other Californians, in the space of a few moments, just blocks from the sterile office where I slave away, within a short span of the day I move from the ridiculous to the sublime, and back again... --San Cristobal de Hordisco So's me and Paulo drivin [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] Subject: First post/B'Boom/Tippet Date: Wed, 28 Jun 1995 12:36:10 +0100 (BST) From: "A.P.Cabral" Dear Crimheads and Schizoid men: This my first post to ET. I'm a Crimson fan since I listened S&BB, in the end of seventies. I'm doing PhD in Oceanography, here in England since last October (I come from Brazil). Fortunately I could attended the KC show at Royal Albert Hall. After this brief introduction, I have some news and some questions to arise: 1- Today I received from Discipline Global Mobile the "B'Boom" CD. The double CD recorded live in Argentina. Called the official bootleg. I have order from DGM last May. The art cover has the KC/double trio symbol in dark green, with the name "King Crimson" in yellow. Tracks: Cd 1: VROOOM; Frame by Frame; Sex,sleep, eat, drink, dream; Red; One time; B'Boom; THRAK; Improv-TwoSticks; Elephant Talk; Indiscipline Total time: 55:33 Cd 2: VROOOM VROOOM; Matte Kudasai; The talking drum; Lark's..II; Heartbeat; Sleepless; People; B'BOOM (reprise); THRAK Total time: 48:22 I didn't have time to have an accurate listening yet. But as a first "reading", it seems brilliant. Most of songs seems to be played slightly different when compared to the Royal Albert hall show I attended. As soon as possible I will send more impressions about that. For anyone who has interest in ordering: Discipline Global Mobile, PO Box 1533 - Salisbury, Wiltshire, SP5 5ER - UK Email:73064 dot 1470 at compuserve dot com. Obs: I have no involvement with DGM. It's just to help..... 2-I had a pleasure to attend a Keith Tippet concert here in the University. He played with Paul Dunvall (I don't if it's spelling correctly) on sax. It was very very interesting. A lot of improvisations and some bits remembered me be the Tippet sounds on Cat Food, Prince Hupert and Happy Family. If someone want details please email me. 3- Next saturday a guy named Gosdon Haskell will play in a pub closer to university. I'll check if is the same GH from KC "Lizard" album and "Cadence and Cascade" song (ItWoP version). 4- Question: I was listening the song "Bolero" in the Frame by Frame box set (It's the last song of the CD 2, I think). The song stops at 6:43. After that some seconds of silence and at 7:12 some conversation begins, certainly during some rehearsal or studio recording. Mr. Fripp (I think) discuss some things with the band (meanwhile I can listen cello, violin sounds). In the Mr. Fripp counts 123 223 and the CD ends. Did someone already notice that? It sounds like Lizard or Island rehearsal. Sorry for the long post. Thanks Toby and all for keep the ET newsletter. "Eat it and come back for more", Sinfield on "Cat Food" Cheers, Alexandre Cabral Univ.of Southampton-Dept.of Oceanography Email:A dot P dot cabral at soton dot ac dot uk [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] Date: Wed, 28 Jun 95 09:43:10 EST From: "Segal, Adam" Subject: Re: Elephant-talk digest v95 &202 Re: the mention of Foreigner and Bad Company as Crimso-related bands. My guess is that they are talking about not just the current line-up of Crimso. Ian MacDonald, of the first Crimson incarnation, was later in Foreigner. Boz, of mid-period Crimson (Islands, Earthbound), was later in Bad Company. Since Fripp played with these people in Crimso, I guess that makes those bands connected to Crimson Aesi [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] Date: Wed, 28 Jun 1995 23:53:14 -0400 From: jhm at beat dot pdial dot interpath dot net (John H. Moore) Subject: Acoustic Adrian Belew Coupla folks asked about how to get Adrian's acoustic release. It's available by mail from his management: Hal Bernard Enterprises PO Box 8385 Cincinnati, OH 45208 (513) 871-1500 $15.00 Usual disclaimers apply.... Cheers, John ___________________________________________________ John H. Moore jhm at beat dot pdial dot interpath dot net vox: 919.382.1918 Chapel Hill, NC fax: 919.309.0957 [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] Date: Tue, 27 Jun 1995 14:52:34 -0700 From: michaelz at zoka dot com (Michael Z.) Subject: GIG REVIEW: 6/24/95, San Francisco Organization: A Loose Affiliation Since there hasn't been much posted in a.m.p. about the recent San Francisco shows, I thought folks might find the following SF Examiner review of the 6/24/95 show interesting. The Royal Return of King Crimson Barry Walters EXAMINER STAFF CRITIC Mon, June 26, 1995 KING CRIMSON is one of the few progressive rock groups that actually deserves the term. Its musical direction has nearly always moved forward and its sound is grounded in the darkness and heaviness of rock. As a result, the group led by master guitarist Robert Fripp has never achieved the mainstream popularity of such lesser talents as Yes, Emerson, Lake and Palmer, and Jethro Tull, bands that took themselves so seriously and now sound like pretentious hippie kitsch. So the prospect of a King Crimson reunion concert Saturday night at the Warfield (the first of three consecutive evening shows) wasn't as frightening as other dinosaur cash-ins. It was guaranteed that the new, extended Anglo-American lineup of Fripp, guitarist-singer Adrian Belew, bassist Tony Levin, drummers Bill Bruford and Pat Mastelotto, and Trey Gunn on stick (a huge, many-stringed guitar) would offer a wealth of excellent musicianship and a minimum of nostalgia. Because the band follows few trends and rarely records the kinds of songs that album rock radio loves to ram down your throat, its music is less bound to the memories of a specific time period than most bands of comparable vintage. Millions of adult rock fans hear "Roundabout" by Yes and remember going to college, that special night on the beach, the first time they got stoned, whatever. Few can get the same misty-eyed buzz from hearing King Crimson's "Larks' Tongues in Aspic." The old fans nevertheless packed the Warfield Saturday night. Some probably took to King Crimson in the early days of "In the Court of the Crimson King," its hit debut. Others undoubtedly came on board with the band's 1981 reunion album, "Discipline," which gave King Crimson a second brief round of semi-popular success. Few looked as if they were recent converts. King Crimson is an old-school cult band, the kind favored by people who like guitar extravagance without the usual heroics and can afford expensive stereos capable of capturing the carefully rendered nuances of every last peculiar note. There were plenty of peculiar notes to be heard. Although the new King Crimson CD, "Thrak," wonders off into melodic Beatlesque territories, the overall sound is dissonant, dominated by strange chords, unusual tunings and a deep, thunderous bottom end. The band performed much of "Thrak," mixing the set with the lighter "Discipline" material and avoiding the early stuff. The set was in keeping with the band's ever-changing tradition: Little sounded dated. A comparable band today would probably be comprised of computer keyboard programmers and would undoubtedly be labeled "ambient" or "intelligent techno." Although the live instrumentation was limited to various forms of guitars and drums, the technology at work was at times spectacular. Fripp and Belew would pick at their guitars and you'd swear you were hearing the sounds of violins, clarinets, synthesizers and percussion. There were more sound-bending computers at work here than at your average Paula Abdul show. Despite all the musical and technological know-how, the show wasn't exactly high on passion. One of the most inventive guitarists to come out of the rock era, Fripp quite literally stayed out of the spotlight. He sat on a stool in the background, in the dark, and let Belew have most of the solos. Nothing he played was the least bit showy. This lack of grandstanding is typical of Fripp, who has arguably played his most amazing solos in the most unexpected contexts - records by David Bowie, Brian Eno, Blondie, even techno-dance acts like the Grid and the Orb. But the result Saturday night felt more like Belew's band than Fripp's. King Crimson plays the Warfield Monday night. İMon, June 26, 1995 San Francisco Examiner, All Rights Reserved, Unauthorized Duplication Prohibited. [Reprinted without permission.] ------------------------ Michael Zelner Oakland CA USA e-mail: michaelz at zoka dot com [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] The views expressed in Elephant Talk are those of the individual authors only. Elephant Talk is released for the personal use of readers. No commercial use may be made of the material unless permission is granted by the author. Toby Howard, Elephant Talk editor. http://www.cs.man.ac.uk/staff-db/toby-howard.html toby at cs dot man dot ac dot uk [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][]