From elephant-talk at arastar dot comThu Nov 30 12:59:51 1995 Date: Thu, 30 Nov 1995 08:05:54 +0800 From: elephant-talk at arastar dot com Reply to: toby at cs dot man dot ac dot uk To: elephant-talk at anthor dot arastar dot com Subject: Elephant-talk digest v95 #247 E L E P H A N T T A L K The Internet newsletter for Robert Fripp and King Crimson enthusiasts Number 247, Thursday, 30 November 1995 Today's Topics: missing reviews and other Review John Wetton in Germany Re: Recomended if you like... Pictures of a City/Mastoletto technique/B'Boom/etc. MatrickIV and ItWoP KC stuff in Bass Player & Various stuff from ET #246 McDonald and Giles and Earthbound Jeff Berlin EG Records Re: Headcandy re: THRAK medly Levin's "funk fingers" Exclusive David Torn interview now on the web! Gordon Haskell solo? Weird Guitars Pt 2.- Caspar Brotzmann What Marine 475 is about Tamm's book RE: Elephant-talk digest v95 #246 REVIEWS (apologies for some of these missing from last issue) 11/25 gig Levin; Longacre mini-review Armageddon at the Longacre 11/22 :-) 11/27/95 Columbus Ohio Set Gig "Review" Rochester 11/16 State Theater: Free as a Lark NOHOB, Conan, Fripp Biz, More KC @ Longacre, Nov. 25, 1995 Rosemont Theatre, 11/29/95 Columbus Show [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] POSTS: Please send all posts to toby at cs dot man dot ac dot uk The ET archives: WWW Home: http://www.cs.man.ac.uk/aig/staff/et/ Topic Index: http://www.cs.man.ac.uk/aig/staff/toby/et/topics-index/etopics.html FAQ: http://www.cs.man.ac.uk/aig/staff/toby/et/faq.html FTP The Americas: ftp.qualcomm.com, in /pub/et Rest of world: ftp.cs.man.ac.uk, in /pub/toby/elephant-talk EMAIL Send "index elephant-talk" to listserv at arastar dot com [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] FROM THE MODERATOR We have a serious bandwidth problem on ET. The following topics have been judged by ET readers to have been "done to death", so no posts about those please. THE EXPIRED LIST 1. KC on Conan 2. Fripp's approach to fan encounters 3. Things that hit Fripp on the head 4. Larks Tongues in Aspic in "Emanuelle" 5. Why and when people shout FREEBIRD. 6. What substances to ingest prior to a KC gig 7. Who is the best vocalist KC ever had? 8. Are Pete Sinfield's lyricas any good? [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] Date: Wed, 29 Nov 1995 13:04:53 -0500 (EST) From: brat prince Subject: missing reviews and other Hello to Sergei Kantere...I don't have the tape or booklet for you (I was out of the country myself), but it seems we work together, albeit on opposite continents. Funny how that goes. Marc Leonetti: those teasers certainly did give me a chuckle. I look forward to the stories (so you better follow through). As someone rather new to Guitar Craft (I went to the NST course with the Trio) I have to ask about the labelling of a course as Level 1.5-- what's with that? (yes, terribly imprecise question, but I hope you'll indulge me). Peter: I use the New Standard Tuning, but unfortunately was never much with cords (as my background prior to this is classical), so I can't offer much help there. However, if you want to talk about ways to play the scale feel free to email me privately. A lot of the exercises I have been practicing lately are related to the C Major scale, and it would probably only reinforce my understanding of it to give someone else tips on it. -- Racheline Maltese | "My neighbor with no arms wanted reive at phantom dot com | to know how it feels to let http://www.phantom.com/~reive | something go." -Jeffery McDaniel [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] Date: Wed, 29 Nov 1995 19:51:03 +0100 Subject: Review John Wetton in Germany From: removed at users dot request (GW) A short review of a John Wetton - concert in Germany from removed at users dot request / removed at users dot request Last Friday (Nov, 24.) I went to my favorite music-club, the STAR CLUB in Oberhausen (near Cologne, Germany). Guess who was playing there ? It was JOHN WETTON ! The Star Club is not much more than a pub with a stage. I payed 18 Marks (aprox. 12 US-Dollar) and got a seat at a table right in front of the stage, only 3 meters from the lead singers microphone. First a local band played roundabout 75 Minutes a lot of 1980ies stuff, from Saga to Queen (but not Heaven For Everyone ...). After a short break John Wetton and his band came onto the stage. He said some words of welcome (in german) and the show began with "Dont Cry" (Asia). The show was similar to that recorded on the "Chasing The Dragon" - CD (live in Japan), with some changes in the arrangements. John played bass und acoustic guitar (with a "part-time-bass-player" at his side). Beside John and his bass-companion there were 4 more persons on stage (E-guitar, synthesizers, drums and a female background-singer). The sound was more powerful as on "Chasing The Dragon", it was like on "Asia Live In Moscow". For my wife, it was a bit too loud ... but not for me. John played songs from UK, King Crimson, Asia and his last solo- album, "Battle Lines". In comparison with a King-Crimson-gig the music was of course pure mainstream, with only little improvisations. But it was also very emotional for me, because "Battle Lines" was my favorite Walkman-cassette during the summer on the island of Korsika this year. It was great to hear these songs live, and they were performed absolutely great. --------- And there were 3 King Crimson Songs ! --------- First, John announced a "21-year-old, very emotional song". I said "Starless !!" John heard it and replied "later, later ..." , smiling ... The other musicians left the stage and John played "Book Of Saturdays", only with his acoustic guitar and his voice. It was VERY nice ! A few titles later, the whole band played "Starless" (the first part). OK, there is nothing comparable to Robert Fripps guitar - intro of Starless on RED ... but it was beautiful. Finally they played "Easy Money", with the female singers voice in the refrain EASYYY MONEYYYYYYYY .... very good !! The evening came to its end with the encore: "Heat Of The Moment" (half "unplugged", half full-power) and at last "You Are Not The Only One". Two things are left to say: 1) John Wetton seems to be a real nice person 2) Nobody shouted FREEBIRD ..... ;-) Ciao Gerd W. P.S. As somebody mentioned before: King Crimson will play in Bonn, Beethovenhalle, on February 21., 1996. And I will be there !!! :-) :-) :-) [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] Date: Wed, 29 Nov 1995 14:09:38 -0500 (EST) From: "Mark J. Christensen" Subject: Re: Recomended if you like... for any crimsophiles who feel like expanding their musical horizons, i have a couple of cd recomendations: Bartok's string quartets, #s 1 - 6. these pieces permanently changed my idea of what music is and what music can do. truly awe-inspiring. "Free Jazz - A Collective Improvisation by the Ornette Coleman Double Quartet". yes, that's right: *double quartet*! this is a recording of a 37 minute, in the studio improvisation, with one quartet on the left channel and one quartet on the right all interacting and reacting. recorded in 1961 (!) this features some of the best players of the time and some really ground-breaking playing. somebody posted about t.l.'s appearance on richard thompson's "amnesia", and i must agree: it's definately worth picking up (even for the non-t.l. tracks). other recomended t.l. session appearances are "the day the devil" by laurie anderson (on the "strange angels" album) and "crazy american" by syd straw (on the album "surprise"). ".. playing nightly, right here in neurotica. so long!" murkie [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] Date: Wed, 29 Nov 1995 14:01:24 -0500 (EST) From: Gideon B Banner Subject: Pictures of a City/Mastoletto technique/B'Boom/etc. By the way, I noticed Pat Mastelotto (sp?) doing something at the New Haven show that really interested me. I believe that he unscrewed one of his smaller cymbals, picked it up with the end of a stick, put it on one of the toms, and started to play it with mallets or sticks. Anyone else at the show notice this? Does he do this at all on THRAK or B'boom? I know he talks about it in the Modern Drummer article, where he also (I believe) mentions throwing cymbals on the ground to achieve a weird effect. Has anyone seen him do this? How do you mic such a technique? Does he want to be Jamie Muir? Pictures of a City: yeah, I love this song as well. It sounds distressingly similar to 21st CSM, though -- maybe as though they were trying to capitalize on the success that they had with that song by producing a similar song. But this tune goes to show how incredibly tight, jazz-tight, the early incarnation of KC and the Coconuts was. Free as a Bird: someone mentioned that they thought that Belew played "Free as a Bird" at one of the Longacre shows after hearing it on the Beatles special, like Hendrix with Sgt. Pepper. This is not the case -- Belew played the song at the New Haven _before_ the Beatles special went on the air. He said something at the show about having a rare "demo" of the song, or something to that effect. B'Boom: After listening to this song (on THRAK) upwards of twenty times, I still cannot figure out what the hell Bruford is doing in the first part of the song. Pat seems to be playing a constant pattern in three, with Bill playing a constantly changing pattern on top of that. Does anyone know what the pattern happens to be? Tony Levin posting: it might be better, for Toby's sake, for all posts on TL to be sent directly to me rather than to ET -- as I mentioned, I'm going to compile a scattered discography that I'll post on ET. [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] Date: Wed, 29 Nov 1995 15:41:51 +0000 From: khoffman at giantfood dot com (Kurt Hoffman) Subject: MatrickIV and ItWoP Hi, Not to be insulting to anyone, but I always saw the Wake album as an attempt to redo Court without the same players (in some cases). The parallels between those two albums seem to almost go song by song. And the covers as well seem more of a kind. As such, I feel it was one of the few Crimson albums which mostly tread water- not that I don't really like it alot, though. Bad Crimson beats good most other things with alot left to spare. But you asked for an opinion. For me, my favorite of the first four would be Islands, just because they never sounded anything like that again- and look at the baby that that mother birthed. Also, since I'm fairly new to ET, has anyone ever brought up the cycle created by the Cheerful Insanity and Red covers. Try laying the two on the floor, with the bottom front of Cheerful touching the top front of Red and you'll see what I mean (if you haven't already or can't visualize it). I also always thought that it was no accident that Red contained certain "reunion/retrospevtive" music bits and players. Anyway. Hugs + Kisses' Kurt Kurt Hoffman Giant Food Inc 6300 Sheriff Rd. Dept. 770 Landover, Md. 20785 (301)341-8693 [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] Date: Wed, 29 Nov 1995 15:49:35 -0500 From: Bill Wade Subject: KC stuff in Bass Player & Various stuff from ET #246 Just got the new issue of Bass Player...There's a review of Trey Gunn's 1000 Years. It was given a decent rating, but I don't think the reviewer was terribly impressed. Also, Tony Levin came in 2nd behind Marcus Miller (great in his own right) for Bassist of the year. Adam Levin says, re: Primus: >My ears pricked up immediately. They were playing "Sartori in Tangier"! I understand they also do Thela Hun Ginjeet on occasion. "Peter" says: >Hi. I was wondering if any of the guitar players out there have >experimented with Fripp's "new standard" tuning... I still don't have a >good way to play the old major scale or simple chords. I think that's the whole idea- to keep the player from falling back on stock licks, and to force him to create something unique. Anyway, I have tried it, but with little success (and a broken B string). Granted, my guitar skills are few (I'm a bassist), but I'm not sure that's a very big negative with this tuning. matottls at craft dot camp dot clarkson dot edu (Loren S. Matott) says: >I have been hearing all kinds of rumors about a so called prog. rock tour >being in the works. This tour will reportedly feature some of the better >known prog. rock bands (U.K., ELP, and Yes). Has anyone heard anything like >this? Is crimso going to be involved? This rumor surfaces every year, it seems. Since ELP is apparently splitsville (again), only 2 people are confirmed in UK, and Yes is, well, Yes. I'd say the only place such a show will play is in the heads of prog fans. -Bill, who apologizes for the lack of brevity. [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] Date: Wed, 29 Nov 1995 16:09:02 +0000 From: khoffman at giantfood dot com (Kurt Hoffman) Subject: McDonald and Giles and Earthbound Sorry I didn't see the second half of 246 before sending. "McDonald and Giles" is (was?) available as a Japanese import. I paid @24 for mine (the price of Manhattan- wasn't it?) The "Earthbound" that I've seen (all right, I confess- bought) is a very good boot version with the packaging copied to deceive, and "bonus tracks" from a LTIA era show. Given the opinion I read Fripp had re "Earthbound" (lousy quality- should not have been released) I doubt that it will end up as a legitimate release, which is a shame. Aside from that anal/completist side of me wanting it, I happen to really like Mel's blowing on it. So I continue to hope for more gems from the closet of Mr. F. like "Great Deceiver" collection. Also, to Rhea- I think that the cover that you are describing on the shirt sounds like something off of Young Person's Guide. H+K Kurt Kurt Hoffman Giant Food Inc 6300 Sheriff Rd. Dept. 770 Landover, Md. 20785 (301)341-8693 [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] Date: Wed, 29 Nov 95 16:57:33 EST From: david at visix dot com (David Charlap) Subject: Jeff Berlin Nel3 at aol dot com writes: > >Scott Sinner's remarks about "a guy named Jeff Berlin" - A GUY named Jeff >Berlin just happens to be a jazz electric bassist who manages to play >nearly to the level of Stanley Clarke and Jaco Pastorius on four Bruford >albums and two Kazumi Watanabe albums. You need to check these out! Jeff Berlin also filled in for Tony Levin for a few shows of the "Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe" tour. It seems Tony got sick for a while and couldn't go on. Jeff took over. He did a damn good job considering the lack of rehearsal time. (If you get the "An Evening Of Yes Music Plus" CD or video, Jeff's the guy playing bass there.) [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] Date: Wed, 29 Nov 1995 14:01:56 -0800 (PST) From: Sasha Alain Wolf Subject: EG Records Okay, call me wierd, but I have this strange obsession with CD #'s. It all started when I recieved ITCOTKC and the side read "EGCD1". As my collection grew I developed a strange fascination with these numbers. Anyway, I was wondering, does anyone had any information on where I could get a list or catalogue of all the CD's (and their #'s) put out by EG Records? BTW, Is EG Records now defunct? - Sasha [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] From: Jukka Kukkonen Subject: Re: Headcandy Date: Thu, 30 Nov 1995 00:26:10 +-200 Tom asked (in ET#246): Is there anybody who can explain to me the quality of the CD-ROM "Headcandy" from Opal Ltd? Its music is done by Brian Eno. Also RF is participating it as a guest. Is it worths buying? Well I have it and enjoy it sometimes. But do not take it too seriously. = The music is more ambient Eno than VROOOMing Fripp. If you like the = previous Eno/Fripp collaborations, you'll probably love Fripp's Trumpet = Guitar on this one too. There are 5 tracks (totalling about 38 mins). = Fripp is credited as a guitarist and a co-composer on 2 of them. On the = CD-ROM sleeve they advertise: "Imagine a digital kaleidoscope of light and sound...changing visual = landscapes pulsate to the sounds of Brian Eno...surrealistic adventure = that will tease your senses and leave you hungry for more...slip on a = pair of prismatic Headcandy glasses (included), select your favourite = soundtrack, then sit back with open eyes, open ears and open doors...one = should never travel the psychedelic highway alone". =20 If you have seen the VoodooRaver in the new Stones CD-ROM, this is = visually better, with much better soundtrack, with 2 pairs of prismatic = glasses thrown in for free AND Fripp instead of Richards or (w)Ron(g) = Wood on the guitar!Jukka Kukkonen http://personal.eunet.fi/pp/vrooom/ [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] From: tms at oclc dot org (Tom Seelbach) Date: Wed, 29 Nov 95 17:22:27 -0500 Subject: ET post: Columbus concert, Beatles > This may have been posted before, but does anyone know what > Marine 475 is about? Also, is that Adrian speaking on it, > or is it somebody else? Just wondering... > This was probably already mentioned, but this song sounds like an elaboration of the tail end of the Beatles' I Am The Walrus. And further on these Beatles' evocations, Walking On Air reminds me of both Abbey Road's Sun King and the verse of Don't Let Me Down where the lyric is "Nobody ever done me like she done me ...". But even given these associations, Walking on Air, One Time and Inner Garden are strikingly original and stand out as melodically stunning (what a range! what a voice!) - in contrast with some other pieces where most of the "melody" and musical commentary is done by the percussion and "bass" against the guitar ostinato and soundscape. One other comment I would make is about the technique in Dinosaur where Adrian surprises us (our nervous systems) very effectively by singing "I'm a dinosaur" AN OCTAVE HIGHER on the repeat - and in concert (in Columbus, OH) his voice was miked a little higher, relatively, than the CD. My friend and I just lost it at that point - shocked, shivered, jaws dropped, we looked at each other wide-eyed. I didn't think someone could SING that high! Anyway, this same effect - not so scary, but just as delicious - is on Paul McCartney's Ballroom Dancing on Tug of War - near the end of the song - he hits it an octave higher and louder. Columbus concert remarks: friend Gene and I went to focus on Bruford and Levin and ended up watching EVERYBODY! We also fruitlessly tried to discern who played what. Fripp's motionlessness kinda bothered Gene, but I thought it was fantastic - like the center of a hurricane. I tend to be very still when listening to this kind of music - I'm all nervous system - taking it all in and mentally exploring and savoring what I'm hearing and feeling - my neurons are dancing. When the music's finished - I am jumping up and applauding and whooping. I also understand that powerful music hits others differently - the guy next to me was pumping his right leg and our entire section of seats furiously, sometimes whacking my leg, through many songs, and it distracted me A LOT - I wanted THE BAND to rock me, not him. (I don't go to concerts much - once every 10 years, maybe). But I leaned forward so the seat wouldn't keep rocking my back, and I got over it. My impression was that everyone was in guitar and drum heaven for the whole concert - CGT and all. This was a crowd of musicians and music aficionados. Afterwards, out in the street where a gale was blowing furiously, I mostly heard and made comments on the order of "WOW!". Regarding Bruford's comment about prefering to play the songs written for the double-trio. Beethoven's 5th and Bach's T&F in Dminor certainly weren't written for computerized-guitar trio, but WOW, what an arrangement and performance! I particularly liked the low bass rumble that buzzed our seats ("look ma - no bass guitar!") during CGT's set. The final song of the evening was Lark's Tongue in Aspic, Pt.II, and it was one my favorites of the whole evening. Bruford's preference notwithstanding - these six guys could make ANYTHING sound good (even Randy VanWarmer's radio hit 8-) ). --- == Thomas "Tchzschom" Mullay Seelbach (614)764-6447 tms at oclc dot org : "Ain't no more, so I'm a-headin' fo de door!!" [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] Date: Wed, 29 Nov 1995 18:03:34 -0500 (EST) From: "Damon D. Jackson" Subject: re: THRAK medly Nel3 mentions a THRAK medly at the Orlando show, and wonders why no one has discussed it. I did not hear any medly. Did I just totally miss this? I just heard the guys jam! Damon [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] Date: Wed, 29 Nov 1995 15:25:56 -0800 (PST) From: Matthew Sherman Subject: Levin's "funk fingers" Someone posted in the last digest that Levin's first track with the wooden sticks on his fingers was the Peter Gabriel track "Big Time." That piece was actually recorded with Tony only fretting the noted while the drummer hit the strings with his sticks. Tony only developed the funk figers as a way to approximate the sound live on stage. Incidently there is only about 8 measures of the songs which features the drummed bass because Peter Gabriel lost the rest of the track somehow which is a shame considering it took them several hours to perfect for the recording. There is a Big Time dance remix on an import single that features the bass line in the intro without a lot of other instruments and you can really hear the percussive effect. Matt [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] From: aprasad at ccs dot carleton dot ca (Anil Prasad) Subject: Exclusive David Torn interview now on the web! Date: Wed, 29 Nov 95 18:39:44 EST There's an exclusive, in-depth interview with "arrogant ambient" guitarist David Torn on the Innerviews website located at: http://www.carleton.ca/~aprasad/ This interview was conducted in 1990 in support of his _Door X_ album and features interesting and revealing commentary on: - Door X - Cloud About Mercury - His work with Bill Bruford, Tony Levin, Mark Isham, David Sylvian and Mick Karn. - Music industry follies - The plight of the struggling musician - His guitar set-up and other gearhead stuff - Hypnodrones - His early days as a "singer-songwriter" And tons of other useful stuff. Go check it out. Anil Prasad aprasad at ccs dot carleton dot ca [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] From: Craig Dickson Subject: Gordon Haskell solo? Date: Wed, 29 Nov 1995 16:11:51 -0800 (PST) While wandering around in a record store this afternoon, I happened to notice the name "Gordon Haskell" on a CD. Recognizing this as the name of one of King Crimson's early vocalists, I stopped and examined the package for a moment. The cover photograph showed a light-haired man who appeared to be in his mid-40s, which seems reasonable for KC's Haskell in 1992 (the copyright date given on the back). None of the song titles were familiar. Does anyone have any idea if this is in fact the Gordon Haskell we remember >from "Cadence and Cascade" and 'Lizard'? Craig [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] Date: Wed, 29 Nov 1995 20:48:29 -0600 (CST) From: Alicia Sepulveda Subject: Weird Guitars Pt 2.- Caspar Brotzmann Hi there. Heard Branca already. Oh, well, another highly interesting guitarist is Caspar Brotzmann (he's the son of jazz saxman Peter Brotzmann, who is a famous jazz innovator). His awesome power trio is called Caspar Brotzmann Massaker. I've only heard their latest record (Home) and was absolutely stunned by it. While some of his previous albums reportedly suffered from poor songwriting, Massaker effortlessly stretches six great songs to over 52 minutes! Aurally, they are a noisy, raging, but always structured and tuneful monster, and Caspar makes the fullest sound I've yet to hear from just one guitar (no overdubs). He plays rising, crushing crescendoes and leads, leaving perfectly controlled feedback and implied chords to fill out the sound (check out the beggining of Bohmen, the last track). Bassist Eduardo Delgado Lopez was sadly undermixed, but his work is fitting and tasteful. Drummer Danny Arnold Lommen just plain kicks ass, and you can listen to the third track, 'Massaker', to prove it. Mean stuff, indeed. The songs are, I understand, live-in-the-studio versions of older material, which according to CMJ magazine (which gave them a rave review on the same issue they declared the VROOOM EP the pick of the month) 'have grown in focus and ferocity over time'. Fans of innovative guitar music really owe it to themselves to check Caspar out. He's really damned talented! Not only can he play guitar, he's got an appealing bass voice which could make Mike Gira smile (and David Sylvian run for cover) and he sure can write a tune. Which is where 'Merry Christmas', his joint album with percussionist FM Einheit (co-producer of Home and member of one of my all time favorite bands, Einsturzende Neubauten) really fails. Although both artist give great performances (including a truly great chromatic riff on 'Headhunter Song') the vocal-less, loose structures are much too free to provide any real excitement, which is just what we expect from these guys. Skip this one. Argh! Sorry, I promise I'll stop sending this huge posts. Just got carried away again. Anyway, thanks for all. Please send comments direct at asepulvedan at spin dot com dot mx (I'm not Alicia, I'm Pablo!) Later. Pablo Cordero, Mexico City [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] Date: Wed, 29 Nov 1995 22:46:54 -0600 From: penseur at intellex dot com (Ed Poe) Subject: What Marine 475 is about In ET 246, vanvalnc at is2 dot nyu dot edu (Chris Van Valen) wrote: >This may have been posted before, but does anyone know what Marine 475 is >about? The short version, culled from the Tour Book, is that Marine 475 is: "...A Lloyd's insurance syndicate which suffered catastrophic losses for 1989, 1990 and 1991 resulting from Hurricane Hugo, Exxon Valdez and Phillips Petroleum. Several Names [bigwigs at Lloyds, for any who aren't familiar with the term] involved were from the music industry - even honest, God-fearing family men and good guys that you could trust, who had nothing to hide and who were renowned for their probity and sound business practices." - e [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] From: Bradley Stewart Cook Subject: Prog Rock Show Date: Wed, 29 Nov 1995 23:36:48 -0600 (CST) Crimson did a medley with Industry??!!!! How I wish they would have done that at the Houston show. I've only tried to tune to Fripp's tuning once and I busted a string. Can someone who has or does use this please tell me what size strings you use/used? Any tips? Someone mentioned a possible tour with Yes, UK, and someone else. Also, they asked if Crimson might be a part of this. I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say "Are you crazy?!" Can you imagine Crimson putting up with the kind of nonsense that would go on in that kind of tour? If they did join this "Prog tour" by some odd fluke that involved rising tides in Idaho and the alignment of Saturn with Tony Levin's head, then I would pay money to hear the comments Bruford would have about the whole thing. Considering his past comments about "Union" and other musicians involved in those bands I am betting he they would be quite entertaining. ANyone have any comments to the contrary? E-mail me. Brad Cook bsc0150 at tam2000 dot tamu dot edu "Gig 'em....but don't bury em.." [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] From: "Niko P., 2743 (AUWI)" Organization: Uni O., FB Wirtschaftswiss. Date: Thu, 30 Nov 1995 10:22:19 GMT+100 Subject: Tamm's book Hi Crimsoids! Can anybody tell me where to get Eric Tamm's book on KC in Europe? Note that live in Germany (urrrrgh). Bye, NIKO. [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] Date: Thu, 30 Nov 95 00:23:34 EDT From: boganp at alpha dot montclair dot edu Subject: RE: Elephant-talk digest v95 #246 One of my favorite TL sessions, aside from his work w/ KC and PG, is on the Steps Ahead album "NYC"... great playing. Also of interest is his work (with Bill Bruford) on Al DiMeola's "Scenario" (they're only on the song "Calliope", which has some neat drumming and some wicked stickwork) and David Torn's "Cloud About Mercury". Paul [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] REVIEWS [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] >From reive at piltdown dot phantom dot com Sun Nov 26 20:16:19 1995 Date: Sun, 26 Nov 1995 15:16:06 -0500 (EST) From: brat prince To: toby at cs dot man dot ac dot uk Subject: 11/25 gig Because ET'ers rule, one nifty person gave me a pair of tickets to the last NYC show (THNK YOU) and what a show it was..... but first... stupid audience tricks: the people behind me were just not totally clued in, but they knew just enough to get everything wrong. In their (very loud) preshow version of the universe Fripp is a Gurdjieff teacher and "was married to Toyah Wilcox for a while." Can we say, um, not quite. Oh yeah, and when the show started, the chick screamed "rockstars," so much for precision. We were 4th row, way off to the side so we couldn't see PM at all, but otherwise it was a great view. I have to say that watching Trey Gunn play Warr Guitar is extremely enjoyable, it's very pretty to watch. MY fiance has now taken a huge liking to the Warr Guitar... is there a web page on these things? Belew was less chatty than on Wednesday, but personable as always. He had a mishap with part of Frame by Frame, that he tried to correct, but just couldn't, but otherwise was flawless. I really like Frame by Frame so it kinda bummed me out, but in a strange way it amused me too. Fripp is just too good. Perhaps it is his economy of motion that makes his speed and skill so much more astounding, I'm not sure, but there were several times where I just had to stare incredulously, jaw open, at his playing. I am, as per usual, extremely impressed. Bruford just always seems to mellow no matter how hard he's working. And Tony Levin is as always a formidible stage prescence. The CGT was much much stronger this time and in general their playing just sounded crsiper. Stronger audience reaction this time around too. Everyone on stage just looked ike they were having a positively great time and that to me adds so much spark to a performance. My friend Tom who decided to go at the last minute asked me "what was that primus song" in regard to Elephant Talk. Unfortunately, he wasn't joking. -- Racheline Maltese | "My neighbor with no arms wanted reive at phantom dot com | to know how it feels to let http://www.phantom.com/~reive | something go." -Jeffery McDaniel [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] Date: Mon, 27 Nov 1995 10:44:58 -0500 To: "toby" From: "Gordon Emory Anderson" Subject: Levin; Longacre mini-review Concerning Levin: As the studio rock bassist, I'm willing to bet he himself cannot remember all the records he's on. I have not, however, seen anyone mention his work on Amnesia by Richard Thompson. Also, while helping to move an old piano from Media Sound to Top Cat rehearsal studios in NYC back in 84 or so, I remember hearing a pretty, unearthly sound emanating from the open door of a recording studio. Passing by, I saw the silhouette of Levin's bald pate with stick jutting up. Apparently, he was recording a tune sitting in the control room by using the studio itself as an echo chamber. I believe this was a Levin tune that appeared on a multi-artist sampler at the time. I found it amusing that they had us moving a piano down an adjacent flight of stairs while this recording was going on. As for the Longacre, I attended the Tuesday night gig, first row mezzanine. Although I found the town hall gigs slightly fresher, some of the stuff done that evening was more interesting. Although the first couple of tunes were fairly rote, Levin and Bruford really started to get into it. At the beginning of Thela Hun Jinjeet, Bruford would not quit playing that intro, turning it into a fairly extended solo that seemed to amuse Belew quite a bit, who turned to look, waiting for a que to start the rest of the tune. My brother the drummer went nuts: as a jazz drummer, Billford is his idle. Thrak was amazing. When I first heard it on disk, I didn't really get it. But now, I feel it the ultimately expression of this 80s KC abstract-Stockhausenesque-rock-monster sound. It descended into an quiet-ish improv section that seemed like a guided tour through purgatory or something. After it surged upward momentarily, it slunk back down. Soon afterward, Belew pulled it out into nuerotica by starting a low wail on his guitar that rose into the nuerotica siren. I don't know if they had ended this improv that way before, but they came in perfectly. Quite impressive. As for the fans, they were well behaved for the most part. At one moment between songs, the high-pitched hoots of the audience harmonized for a moment into a strange feedback sound. After the encore, some shouted for "Free as a Brid!" Before exiting, Belew said "For a moment there I thought you said Free Bird. I guess he's aware of the gag. As for Fripp, he still has not really taken the kind of role he played in the 80s. I keep waiting for him to take a towering monster solo, a la Sheltering Sky. Except for certain moments, I felt like he could have been replaced with a recording of himself and the effect would have been unoticable, and believe me I'm listening. He of course had some brilliant moments. I also keep hoping I'll hear more from Trey Gunn, who sounds beautiful when he's allowed to come through. As for the sound, I'll still believe these relatively small halls KC plays in NYC are just too small for good sound. When they all are wailing, it sounds at times like patterned white noise, though impressive just the same. [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] Date: Mon, 27 Nov 1995 12:13:45 -0600 To: toby at cs dot man dot ac dot uk From: vanvalnc at is2 dot nyu dot edu (Chris Van Valen) Subject: Armageddon at the Longacre 11/22 :-) Hi all Hope everyone had a good weekend, blah, blah, blah... Let's cut to the chase I had a lot of trepidation prior to the show, as I wasn't overwhelmed by the June 3 Town Hall show (I've seen these guys alot over the years). The missus isn't a big fan of Mr. F (she has trouble differentiating the person from the music). She was snubbed by him several years ago, so I went to Town Hall without her. She was going this time, though. Anyhow, we went to scout out the location of the Longacreat 6-ish(hadn't been there before), and then doubled back for our evening repast. We ended up at MiMi Lee's Noodles & Things(8th Av. at 50th St.--Singapore Mei Fun, a highly recommended pre-concert "substance"!)and went back to the theatre about 7:30. I didn't want to be late because other posts had indicated that the CGT had started some shows early. Anyhow, when we arrived the place wasn't open yet and they herded us like cattle out and down the street. Wer ended up by a metal door and about five minutes later, Adrian pops out the door holding a garment bag and trots down the street, largely unnoticed until he was already out of earshot. Anyhow, we got in, and I was amazed by our seats! Row M on the left aisle was perfect. It afforded us an opportunity to go down to the stage and ogle the gear. By this time the missus was psyched! I had never seen adrian play a Paul before, but a red one was right next to the orange Strat. Tony's basses and Stick were set up, but not the upright. Trey's Warr was not on stage(probably an RF trait of "being one with your instrument"). I told her Bill is up there, Pat is over here, etc, etc...she was really into it. With all this gear she couldnt seee where the CGT would fit until I pointed out the three stools. The CGT came on at 8:03 to a rousing welcome(the place was still about half empty). They played there standard set(Toccata and Fugue in Dm, but no "Schitzoid" break :-(...) Then, suddenly, they were off at 8:30 sharp. I had remembered them doing a longer set in June. They were also mixed up very, very loud. My trepidation welled up again as I anticipated another bad show mix (June was horrible). I figured that the Six Crims would make wall to wall cacophony if they were mixed so loud. The intermission was about 15-20 minutes, with soundscapes filling the background as more and more of the crowd came in. The stage crew broke down the CGT gear and set up the two bass drums. The lights went down at about 8:45-50 and BB and PM entered the spots. I was surpised by BB's change of attire, a neat charcoal grey suit, Yellow shirt(same color as the suit from June) and probably the same tie as June. Pat wore a similar suit with a blue shirt and Converse sneakers. I was amazed by the clarity of sound and my incredible view. The playing was crisp and forceful, yet at the same time had a playful quality. Adrian bounds out and comes up between the drums and spits out the opening chords to Thela Hun Ginjeet and the roof blows off the place! the rest of the band files in and they kick into overdrive. The sound was incredibly clear and all six parts were both distinct and meshed simultaneouslyboth Pat and Trey are now fully integrated in this band. They fullowed with REd and I thing i was almost unconscious with delirium. My general impression which I wrote down is as follows: It was like having sex with Traci Lords while a steamroller is coming towards you. You know you're gonna get creamed, but it feels too good to stop. They never let up. No one was spared. Other things I noticed: During Red, I believe during the second half at one of the reprises of the second main theme, was there a new key change or a modulation? I may be mistaken about this. The improvisation in the middle of THRAK was reaaly wonderful. At one point, adrian scratched his chin while making a scratching noise on the guitar at the same time. The place went nuts! At the end of the improv, I believed it was RF, but I could be wrong counted audibly "2-3-4!" before they began THRAK-ing again. Adrian was very communicative tonight. someone called out something (probably "Free Bird"), but he smiled and said "How about a little Sex instead?" and broke into "SSEDD" The Soundscape after Indiscipline was very beautiful. My impression was "Robert is not really from this world, but from some far off place. The music seemed to transport the whole audience there with him. BTW, I could see him clearly for the whole show. He seemed well pleased with himself. Adrian really hammed it up during Indiscipline. He messed up the words at one point, caught himself, and ran with it. During "I repeat myself", he just kept going until he hit himself on the side of the head to stop it. At another break, he moved the whammy bar carefully, looked at it, admiring that it was "just so". Then he looked up, then looked back down at it some more, and moved it a fraction of an inch and made that sheepish grin that we all love. RF Laughed out loud at Adrian's antics at some points. Robert was really "in the zone" tonight. The geezer really solo'd his ass off tonight. I'm talking god-lile brilliance, and I'm not exaggerating as some might. At some points, all of the Crims gave me cause to shake my head in disbelief. This was one of the best two or three shows I've ever seen. My one disappointment was that from my seat, Pat was mostly obscured by the speakers. I only saw him during the bows and the drum solos. At the end, RF shaded his eyes and scanned the crowd with a beaming grin. After the show, we drifted off into the night, not sure if it was cold or warm, down Broadway to Seventh Avenue, on down to Penn Station, still in awe of the spectacle just witnessed. I don't think I slept that night at all, just replaying and savoring each moment over and over again. It'll have to hold me until they come back. Cheers, CV [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] Date: Tue, 28 Nov 1995 00:27:41 -0500 To: toby at cs dot man dot ac dot uk From: "Jon T. Davis" Subject: 11/27/95 Columbus Ohio Set Hello All: KC finally makes it to Columbus. I was fortunate enough to be in the second row for tonight's show and what a _thoroughly_ enjoying show it was!! The set list (as evidenced by the list given to me by a roadie off of Levin's amp) is as follows: Thrum Thela Hun Ginjeet Frame by Frame Red Dinosaur One Time VROOM VROOOM B'Boom THRAK Neurotica Three of a Perfect Pair Sex Sleep Eat Drink Dream Stix Elephant Talk Indiscipline E1: Walking on Air VROOOM E2: B'Bish Larks Tongue As you can imagine, the first four tunes were HOT. Mr. Fripp was so moved by Thela Hun Ginjeet that he actually rose up off of his stool for the last chord. The B'Boom Thrak section started with a nice trippy soundscape with the drums and bass joining in, building nicely to Neurotica. Belew seemed to be enjoying himself during Indiscipline; he was able to vary the cadence of the words such that the audience was off guard and enjoying his antics; preventing anyone from yelling out "I DID!!" or "I WISH YOU WERE HERE TO SEE IT!!" prematurely. In fact, the audience was generally well behaved but for one individual who thought the sound was too loud (if that can be believed). B'Bish was a percussion solo featuring Bruford, Mastelotto and Belew; the three seemed to be genuinely enjoying themselves, I know I was. Afterwards we were able to talk briefly with CGT as they signed CDs in the lobby. A completely enjoyable evening. By the way, for those who would like more than a half hour set, Paul Richards of the CGT said they may be coming back through Columbus on a different tour in the Spring. JD [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] Date: Tue, 28 Nov 1995 12:04:07 -0400 To: toby at cs dot man dot X-Sender: jtdavis at postbox dot acs dot ohio-state dot edu From: lbh2 at cornell dot edu (bruce higgins) Subject: Gig "Review" Rochester 11/16 King Crimson, Auditorium Center, Rochester 11/16/95 No one has posted about this show, here is a brief synopsis... No surprises in the setlist, save for the absence :-/ of Three of a Perfect Pair. Highlights? There was not a slack moment; even mediocre Thrak tracks like People contained vicious improvisations. Another six months of touring has gotten the band to the point that they inhabit the compositions...they stalk around inside them, kicking at the rafters, re-wiring the circuits, slamming all the doors and windows. Subtle refinements to the setlist have positioned every song to maximum effect. Absolutely *ripping* show. The low point of the show may have been the Indiscipline encore(!?) Adrian rushed through the lyric; while this prevented the audience from stealing his thunder, it drained the tension from the piece. The instrumentals still shredded, though. At one point Fripp broke through the mix playing something so nasty I nearly wet myself. Bottom line: the 90's King Crimson is now road-seasoned and performing at an extraordinary level. I very much hope they continue on... Bruce [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] Date: Wed, 29 Nov 1995 11:53:11 -0500 (EST) From: Nick Bratton Subject: State Theater: Free as a Lark Concert Review, State Theater, Detroit, November 28 1995 The State Theater is quite possibly the best venue in the midwest for a band such as King Crimson to play at. It is an incredibly beautiful building and the acoustics are superb. California Guitar Trio- the opening set was flawless. They played a good mixture of material, including Beethoven's 5th. One of the few opening acts these days to receive standing ovations on a regular basis. King Crimson- points of interest: The opening tom duet by Bruford and Mastelotto was impressive. They were staring straight into each other's eyes, and I could see Bruford counting out the beat. The real coup de grace of the performance was when, in the middle of Thrak, everyone stopped except Adrian, who began playing a piano melody through his midi synth which sounded not too distant from "Fool on the Hill." The resemblance was strikingly Beatles-esque, and when he began to sing, I realized that King Crimson was covering the "new" Beatles song, "Free as a Bird." It was hilarious. I could not help but laugh when Adrian forgot a verse, and hummed into the microphone while trying not to smile. The final stunning blow came in the second encore, when Bruford, Mastelotto, and Belew took the front of the stage and played a frenetic percussion improvisation on a rack of blocks and the two toms. Bruford's solo was sizzling, and later he and Pat really got down on one tom, Pat playing it with his drumsticks and Bill manipulating the sound by using his palms, fists, and fingers on the surface of the drum head. A truly astounding performance. The crowd was courteous for the most part. The token buffoons who invariably shouted "Bruford!" during the improv could not match his endurance with their bellows. This, their 99th show of the Thrak tour, was by far the best I have attended. They played for a much longer time than any previous show I have heard, and according to my friend, "they really jelled." After the show my friends and I hung out with the California Guitar Trio in the lobby. I think it is great that they are so accessible as performers and make an effort to socialize with their fans. They are terrific musicians and their unassuming openness makes me all the more able to appreciate them. Set List: Pat Mastelotto and Bill Bruford: front stage tom duet Thela Hun Gingeet Red Frame by Frame Dinosaur One Time VROOOM VROOOM Frippertronics bit, shortly accompanied by Bruford and Mastelotto duet B-Boom Thrak --!! Free as a Bird !!-- Improvisation Neurotica Three of a Perfect Pair Sex, Sleep, Eat, Drink, Dream Trey Gunn solo Tony Levin solo Stick duet (or Warr guitar and stick duet, whichever you prefer) Elephant Talk Indiscipline First encore: Walking on Air Talking Drum Larks' Tongues in Aspic part two Second encore: Bruford, Mastelotto, Belew: percussion improvisation VROOOM Cheers- Nick [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] Date: Wed, 29 Nov 1995 16:44:57 -0500 From: JJW10 at aol dot com Subject: NOHOB, Conan, Fripp Biz, More I saw KC at the House Of Blues in New Orleans on November 4th and 5th. These shows rank as the best concerts I've ever attended. On the first night, I was about 3 people away from the stage. On the second night (which I think was a better show) I was pressed directly against the stage with my arm leaning on Adrian's left (stage left) vocal monitor. Adrian has a lot of fillings. I know this because my two options were to look directly at Adrian's knee, or look up into his head. If this wasn't the best "seat" in history, I don't know what is. Anyway, there were a couple of things I wanted to mention that I don't think anyone else addressed: 1) In the Thrak improv, Adrian brought out an electric screwdriver. I don't know if he does this a lot (he only did it on the second night), but it sounds like he used it on the live album. 2) Also in the Thrak improv, there was about a full minute and a half of silence on the first night. The entire band stayed completely motionless. I thought it was fantastic, and the audience went nuts, except for a couple of people who were screaming at the top of their lungs "Be quiet! They want us to be quiet!". The next night, I talked to one of the girls who went backstage, and she said she asked Adrian (I think) if they did that so people would be quiet for a moment, and his response was something like "Nah, we just do it for fun". The next night, the silence was about 45 seconds long, but Adrian remained immobile while he played (a la Fripp or a robot) and continued on with it as long as he could (not very long). 3) I could SWEAR that the first night the band played Neal and Jack and Me. I was very excited about it, although the audience reacted as though they had never heard it before. I mentioned it to a friend who was with me after the show, and he said he honestly couldn't remember if they played it. If they did, was that a first for this tour? Ultimately irrelevant, I know, but hey... we thrive on minutia. I saw the Conan show, and I thought it was awful. They looked terrified. Belew barely moved, and Fripp looked completely disoriented. KC is not a band for television. It's a well known fact that television sound is terrible, and there is no bottom end. Unfortunately, the bottom end is very important in the case of Crimson. Having seen them in the best environment possible for a collective three hours probably doesn't help my opinion. As for the banter about Fripp's reaction to autograph hounds and fans.. well, I think Fripp is completely justified in his behavior. Most people on this planet are unsavory in some respect, and based on the conversations I witnessed before and after both shows, I would have to say that Crimson fans are no exception. Consequently, how is Fripp (or anyone) supposed to distinguish you from the jerks? Furthermore, what can you possibly say to Fripp that will benefit Fripp? There is a vampiric nature between the audience and performer, no doubt about it. The music isn't enough, we want more. We want to MEET the guy. Well, it does him no good. It's very, very obvious that he doesn't want to talk to fans unless it's on his own terms, and that's fine. That's how it should be. We should be content with what they (the band) give us. If I ever had the opportunity to meet Fripp (on his own terms) I'd only ask him this: "What kind of fuzz did you use in `73/74?" Incidentally, if anyone knows this, please drop me a note. The first time I played in a club, there were 15-20 strangers who came up to me after the show to tell me how much they enjoyed it. I had nothing I could say to them, other than "Thanks". As a performer, you're in a weird situation. You present a very personal kind of entertainment (assuming you perform original material) for an hour or more, and then people who have been watching and listening to this very personal material come and talk to you (if they like it). You know nothing about them, but they've been listening to this stuff that YOU CREATED, so they have an idea about who they think you are, and you have to deal with them on that level. In the confusion of trying to get your stuff disassembled and trying to get paid, you have people thanking you for an experience you're responsible for but didn't experience yourself in the same way. So you're left only to say "Thanks". There is nothing else to say. I can imagine that after thirty years of this, it wouldn't be too difficult to stop saying "Thanks" and start running in the opposite direction. TECH NOTE: The boys are using Fernandes Les Paul copies. Eric PS Anyone know who that motorcycle belonged to that was parked in front of the tour bus? It was the same color as Bill's drums, but I don't know if that means anything. [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] Date: 30 Nov 95 00:49:02 EST From: "Robert C. Parducci" <76206 dot 3036 at compuserve dot com> Subject: KC @ Longacre, Nov. 25, 1995 I thoroughly enjoyed myself at KC's last show on Broadway. Paraphrasing Adrian Belew, this has been a historic and sometimes hysterical series of dates. Adrian also thanked People for coming out to see the band, especially those who were there more than once. Thank you Toby for a fine, if sporadic , newsletter. Thanks to everyone who posted reviews and set lists. Rather than duplicate these efforts, I would just like to share my thoughts a few days after the fact. I missed KC earlier this year when they played Town Hall, and I thought I was going to miss them at the Longacre. Thanks to ET and a Nobody Beats The Wiz ad I was alerted of the added dates. Two tickets from Telecharge: First row, mezzanine, left; $60 each plus service charge. Nice touch - My name is on the tickets when I pick them up at the box office. My brother, Steve, was enthusiast about going to the show even though he is not familiar with KC. Excellent sight lines of the entire stage. The CGT came out on time and did their bit. Nice to hear the classical arrangements and the Pulp Fiction piece. I'm sorry I wasn't better versed on their original material. Steve thought the CGT was better than what you normally expect from an opening act. I agree. I was a little surprised to finally see what Trey Gunn and Pat Mastelotto look like, since the other players are so familiar to me. A very energetic show from beginning to end. Everyone in the band seemed to be enjoying themselves, each in his own fashion. I believe I was hearing each player clearly. Adrian's voice was exceptionally strong and clear. It always amazes me when a talented musician also has a fine singing voice. That's a pretty neat trick. The band presented a good balance of vocal and instrumental selections. I believe KC could present _any_ material from its catalog, or, improvise from beginning to end, and still have an audience in attendance. The musicianship of these individuals is what makes the show worthwhile. It is a rare thing indeed. Steve was impressed with Fripp's Soundscapes. I'm more a fan of Bruford and Levin (Thank you Tony for World Diary). Overall, the solo/duo/trio spotlights were nice but I felt they slowed things down a bit. Perhaps that was the intended effect? I do not think I would be wrong is stating that KC was generous in the amount and range of material they performed. I mean, haven't they been on the road since '94? These guys looked fresh as daisies (after five nights in New York). This does not happen unless you love what you are doing. Last note(s): I especially liked when Adrian explained how a friend loaned him the demo by John Lennon for "Free As A Bird" two months ago and that he only knew the words written by John. He then performed the song (by request), singing "Whatever happened to, the love that we once knew. Ooh, ooh, ooh..." with hearty approval from the audience. I was very impressed with Adrian's piano-guitar sound and his mellotron-guitar sound which I originally attributed to Robert. Why isn't KC on the radio? (Answer: Read "Hit Men" by Fredric Dannen.) Why isn't KC on MTV or The Box? I think the double-trio is an interesting visual image even before the music starts. Why isn't KC a dance band or why isn't there a remix of KC material available like The Deseo Remixes featuring Jon Anderson? There is so much energy in this music! It seemed like 80% of the audience was in sync with the music on stage, bobbing their head or dancing in their seat. Robert C. Parducci 76206 dot 3036 at compuserve dot com <> You said it wouldn't happen again <> I caught you twice with another guy -Khalife [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] Date: Thu, 30 Nov 1995 01:28:13 -0500 From: JimKlo at aol dot com Subject: Rosemont Theatre, 11/29/95 Just got home from the Rosemont. A memorable night. Last night of the tour, the 100th performance by the double-trio... THE VENUE: Very, very nice. First live "rock" performance there. $6 for parking, while reasonable, ticked me off on top of ticket price. The announcement that "no seating will be done during songs" was not followed at all. THE CROWD: Mostly very attentive. Lots of people got there late to block the view. Did anyone yell "Freebird"? I didn't hear it, though lots of "Fripp, Fripp" and "Bruford, Bruford". Maybe someday they'll learn that silence can be as much a part of the music as the sound is. Kinda rude toward CGT. Lots of combustibles floating around. CGT: Remarkable. "Beethoven's 5th" and "Toccata and Fugue" were wonderful. Thanks for signing my copy of "Invitation". KING CRIMSON: Amazing, truly amazing. Very definitely eclipsed my favorite concert to date, which was Jethro Tull/Gentle Giant way back in the 70's on the "War Child" tour. All superlatives apply. Thank you for a great night for myself and my son and his friends, something we will talk about for quite a while. Hope to see you again in Chicago next summer. [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] From: Rich Subject: Columbus Show Date: Thu, 30 Nov 1995 02:49:15 -0500 KING CRIMSON/California Guitar Trio Palace Theatre Columbus, Ohio November 27, 1995 Set List (from Sound Board) Thrum Thela Hun Ginjeet Frame by Frame Red --------------------------- Dinosaur One Time VROOM VROOOM --------------------------- B'Boom Thrak (no out-head) Neurotica --------------------------------- Three of a Perfect Pair Sex Stix Elephant Talk Indiscipline ****************** ****************** Walking On Air VROOOM ****************** B'Bish Larks Tongue The preceding is copied exactly from the set list currently in front of me (or, as close as I can get with minimal effort - everything is centered on the sheet, and the asterisks are bullets) - any typos or whatnot are the responsibility of KC. The asterisks represent encore breaks; the hyphens, presumably, soundscapes. Larks Tongue is part II, and Sex is, of course, Sex Sleep Eat Drink Dream. The entire list was played. The show opened promptly with CGT taking the stage at 7:30 and departing at 8:00. Never having seen or even heard them before, I was whelmed (the over came later.) Bach's T&FinDm was particularly nice, and Beethoven's was one of the finest fifths I've ever experienced, right up there with Talisker or Tullamore Dew. They did not play The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly, but did the clip from Schizoid Man which reviews of earlier dates have mentioned. The crowd was polite and responsive, and CGT received several standing ovations. By themselves, they were well worth the three-hour drive from Pittsburgh and $23 ($19 + $4 to Ticketm****r) admission. KING CRIMSON followed about twenty minutes later. There was only one highlight to the show. It began when the first band member hit the stage, and ended an hour and forty-five minutes later when the last departed. I couldn't say who came out first or left last, as I was in a 105-minute daze. When Red was finished, my friend Greg turned to me and said "That was absolutely the best - it couldn't get any better than that." When VROOM VROOOM was over, I turned to Greg and replied "You were saying something about Red?" When Thrak ended, I heard "That was absolutely the best - it couldn't get any better than that" and after SESDD, "I'm ready to leave now - I don't think I can take anymore." I agreed, but decided to keep my mouth shut. We stayed. Oh, all right. Red was exceptionally fine. And SESDD must have been recorded on duct tape, as the cd certainly didn't prepare me for what I heard live. >From thirty-odd rows back and slightly left of center, the view was excellent and the sound superb. The Palace Theatre is a beautiful venue with great acoustics; ideally suited for Crimso, and they took full advantage. Elevated in the rear, from left to right, were Pat Mastelotto, Robert Fripp, and Bill Bruford; in the foreground were Trey Gunn, Adrian Belew, and Tony Levin. The only possible flaw to the mix was that RF could have been maybe just a tad louder. The two or three musical mistakes (in toto, not apiece) were only to be expected in a live performance and did not distract. The light show was straight out of 1995 as conceived in 1969. Fabulous. (Haven't needed the thesaurus yet, but we'll see.) All of the spontaneous banter and antics (AB commenting "Anybody get hurt?", TL bending the tail of the bass, etc.) were less than so; no one said or did anything I hadn't read about from previous shows. All six musicians were in fine form. RF seemed a bit restrained. As he was backlit for almost the entire show, it's difficult to determine with someone who traditionally plays guitar seated. BB is more of a finesse drummer than ever, leaving a healthy part of the heavier percussion to PM. TL was often smiling, TG was taciturn, and both were otherwise indescribable. Adrian was the real surprise. Having followed nearly his whole career (Zappa, Bowie, KC, Bears & solo), I noticed a startling change: just when exactly did the smiling, fun-loving, happy-go-lucky singer/guitarist turn into the mysterious, sinister, brooding figure who's fronting Crimso? AB has transformed himself into, with the possible though unlikely exception of Greg Lake (whom I never saw with the band), the first real front-man KC has ever had. To quote the oft-repeated 'word-of-the-evening', "Awesome." The crowd was appreciative and very well-behaved. The applause was, I swear, thunderous. The numerous standing ovations were followed by everyone reseating themselves as soon as the band once again commenced to play. I heard no shouted requests, and when (during a soft portion of Stix) a voice from behind yelled "Bruford!", a quiet response came from several rows in front "Let's calm down, now, he'll get to it." As far as I could tell, the event was not sold out. My seats were obtained Sunday morning for this Monday show, so this was only somewhat of a surprise. I would hazard no guess about the total attendance. As the old sucker-bet goes, 'there were between ten and twenty-thousand people there.' Hey, there were more than nine people in my row. None of which comes even close to describing the evening. Orgasmically, you had to be there. Especially when it lasts the better part of two hours. I have been attending concerts for almost twenty-three years, and Crimso concerts for the same period. I saw them tour Larks Tongues in '73, Starless in '74 (the Pittsburgh show from The Great Deceiver boxed set, disk three), Discipline in '81, and Three of a Perfect Pair in '84. Of the 187 different events I've seen (including Led Zeppelin, The Who, Genesis and so forth), I have never before felt justified in saying "That was the best show I've ever seen." Until now. Special Kudos to the gentlemen from Meineke who, at five minutes after closing time, reattached my exhaust pipe in less than 10 minutes (and charged me only $10), thereby permitting us to arrive in Columbus (a lovely city) with a full quarter-hour to spare. Thanks, guys. Robert Fripp (quoted from the program): "When music appears which only KING CRIMSON can play then, sooner or later, KING CRIMSON appears to play the music." This is apparently true. Richard Karma [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] 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 [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][]