Errors-To: et-admin at blackcat dot demon dot co dot uk Reply-To: et at cs dot man dot ac dot uk Sender: et at cs dot man dot ac dot uk Precedence: bulk From: et at cs dot man dot ac dot uk To: et at cs dot man dot ac dot uk Subject: Elephant Talk Digest #381 E L E P H A N T T A L K The Internet newsletter for Robert Fripp and King Crimson enthusiasts Number 381 Thursday, 29 May 1997 Today's Topics: Sinfield's lyrics Tone: Where's the beef? lyrics observations from new subscriber Epitaph in Canada Re: Elephant Talk Digest #378 An Interview with Michael Giles (excerpt) ET'ers band in the Northeast Guitar magazine transcript of 3oaPP Miles Davis and Robert Fripp November et al. King Crimson BBC TAPES PossProg still with us? NBC likes KC A whole mess of things great page ... Electric Wetton in So Cal ------------------ A D M I N I S T R I V I A --------------------- POSTS: Please send all posts to et at cs dot man dot ac dot uk To UNSUBSCRIBE, or to CHANGE ADDRESS: Send a message with a body of HELP to et-admin at blackcat dot demon dot co dot uk, or use the DIY list machine at http://www.cs.man.ac.uk/aig/staff/toby/et/list/ to ASK FOR HELP about your ET subscription: Send a message to: et-help at blackcat dot demon dot co dot uk ETWEB: http://www.cs.man.ac.uk/aig/staff/toby/et/ (partial mirror at http://members.aol.com/etmirror/) You can read the most recent seven editions of ET at http://www.cs.man.ac.uk/aig-bin/newslet.pl THE ET TEAM: Toby Howard (Moderator), Dan Kirkdorffer (Webmeister) Mike Dickson (List Admin), and a cast of thousands. The views expressed herein are those of the individual authors. ET is produced using John Relph's Digest 3.0 package. ------------------ A I V I R T S I N I M D A --------------------- From: marco dot passarello at sottovoce dot it (Marco Passarello) Date: 22 May 97 13:59:00 -0100 Subject: Sinfield's lyrics Organization: PeacePoint BBS +39-2-344074 Peter Sinfield wrote the lyrics of "Run with the Fox", a Christmas song written and played by Chris Squire and Alan White at the beginning of the Eighties, while Yes were disbanded. "Run with the Fox" can be found in the boxed set "YesYears". It's a nice song. Bye! Marco Passarello --- Blue Wave/RA v2.30 [NR] ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 22 May 1997 12:12:46 -0700 (PDT) From: Jonathan Screnci Subject: Tone: Where's the beef? In response to the Et'er who criticized the current Crimson Guitar tones, bravo. Of course, this is a subjective thing, as is all musical criticism. That being said, here's my 2 cents. Admittedly,the main reason I buy Crimson records is not to marvel at their "Dark Side of The Moon" production quality. It's for the musical content. I think every record since Red leaves a lot to be desired, sonically. Though I enjoy listening to Thrak, I can't help wishing the tones and the quality of the recording sounded better. As to the overall sound of the record, there is a digitized sheen that glosses over the whole record like a sickly sweet frosting. Anyone that's recorded in the digital domain, and especially directly to DAT can identify with this. Bottom line, analog recording enhances warmth and bottom end and digital the highs and mids. The more digital processing gear you add into the mix, either to create the tone or to mix the thing, is going to add what I like to refer to as "digital desensitization" of the sound. It's hard to keep it from sounding one dimensional,hollow, brittle and slick. Though the music may have plenty, the sound can end up having no "balls"(= warmth and low end). Just A/B Thrak with something far less imaginative like a Stone Temple Pilots Record and you'll hear a dramatic difference. In my opinion, the best way to get a distorted guitar tone is to plug a real guitar into a real amp and record it directly to tape replete with feedback, overtones and all the rest of the sonic nastiness. Playing through effects setting #13 marked "Rock Distortion" on your digital rack mount does not produce a sound of comparable depth and quality. Again, A/B the solo in "Baby's on Fire" with any distorted guitar tone on Thrak and just try to tell me you think it sounds better. If you want to use digital gear to create a sound that has nothing to do with any guitar tone, then I can understand using the stuff. But if your trying to simulate tones that just sound better with a guitar and amp, why bother. Of course every artist has to follow his own muse. But I for one dream of the day I walk into the concert hall and to find Robert with his Les Paul plugged into a stack of Marshalls, Adrian into a Fender Twin, and Tony Levin with an old Fender Jazz Bass and an SVT. The almighty clattering sound would be beyond belief. Hey, but what do I know, I just a drummer. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 22 May 1997 18:17:47 -0400 From: Ramsey Kurdi Subject: lyrics It is interesting that the posted responses to the question of lyrics has to do with them either being merely acceptable, not necessary, or downright offensive. In my opinion, the lyrics of KC are an equal part of the experience, not an accessory. In fact, I think they are so good that they come close to Stravinsky's idea of high art - one in which music, words, and motion are combined. I would love to see KC do such a thing. If anyone knows of any sort of animation, or non-concert video that KC, or Fripp has written music for, please let me know. My address is rlkurdi at erols dot com - thanks... ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 22 May 1997 15:57 -0800 From: "Nancy Mack" Subject: observations from new subscriber as I don't have a computer at home, and my company finally entered the 90's and got me hooked up to the Internet, I have just discovered ET and have been speed reading the last seven issues. great stuff here- amusing & informative. one question though- why would anyone want to compare RF or KC with anyone?? an artist should stand in his/her own right .... too much comparison going on here. I saw KC's Thrak tour in San Diego and was surprised to find that I was among the very few women in the audience. I have been a fan for many years.. My date cancelled at the last minute and I ended up going by myself, which caused a lot of comment among the men seated around me. One guy kept asking me- "you really like Crimson? Really?" The California Guitar Trio was awesome and my jaw was in my lap the whole time.. Then KC came on- Bill Bruford didn't stop grinning the whole time, I think; Tony Levin fantastic as always, Adrian Belew quite talkative and personable, while RF stayed darkened and mysterious back in the shadows. After the encore he came forward and peered into the audience, searching for someone/something? I still wonder. What a great show (acoustics not too good, but I soared for a week afterward). I have my tickets for G3, here in San Diego August 2. I'm looking forward to that, and hope I won't be by myself again. it's a very laid-back outdoor venue, with comfortable grassy spots to kick back on. Should be a good show- can't wait to see Mr. Fripp again, also, Kenny Wayne is a very talented kid. thanks for a great newsletter nancy nmack at chromiumgraphics dot com ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 22 May 1997 23:39:41 -0400 From: Joe Goswami Subject: Epitaph in Canada Having recently purchased the 2 CD version of Epitaph. I was vey impressed. Having heard the Frame by Frame versions of the bootleg performances. Epitaph somehow has better sonics. The fact that all of these recordings exist is a miracle. The BBC tape of Epitaph sounds better than than studio version on INCOTCK. If the Holy Grail (as its described) is ever found of the Filmore East performances, the world will be a better place. King Crimson and I have a strange connection. The Filmore West gig on this boxed set was of the Dec.15/69 gig. Funny, that was the day I was born. Also after seeing their gig at Massey Hall 2 years ago here in Toronto (vey well excecuted) I wound up in hospital the next day of a sudden respiratory attack and almost died! Mars is quite the track. Better than Emerson, Lake, & Powell! And I'm a biased ELP nut! ------------------------------ ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 22 May 1997 23:35:30 -0400 From: TL Subject: Re: Elephant Talk Digest #379 >Hi there. >Anyone out there know how easy or >difficult it is to get your hands on a mellotron, and whether they are >hideously expensive or not? >Regards, >James. Hideously expensive to buy? or to keep running? ... Tom Lewis Athens, GA ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 23 May 1997 20:15:16 +0200 From: Calyx/Big Bang Subject: An Interview with Michael Giles (excerpt) The following is an excerpt from a phone interview I recently conducted with Michael Giles. It will be published in the next issue of my magazine Big Bang (more info at http://www.alpes-net.fr/~bigbang/bigbang.html), translated to French. It covers Mike's career to this day. Here is the first part of the interview, which deals specifically with his days in King Crimson. By the way, if anyone has one, I would need a picture taken at one of the recent London or New York presentations to illustrate the article/interview. Anyone who can help is welcome to contact me. A. Leroy * * * * AN INTERVIEW WITH MICHAEL GILES (EXCERPT) Q : What is the significance for you of having these tapes released almost thirty years after they were recorded ? A : Yes, it's twenty-eight years ago... I'm really proud of it actually. I think... I'm amazed at how adventurous and how... dangerous the music was. And still is. I haven't heard anything like it since. I'm quite surprised, cause a lot of the music on there we never heard at the time. These tapes have been found, which were taken from the desk and various bootlegs. At the time we never got to hear them, they didn't seem to be available, or they just got put on one side. So, for me, I'm quite amazed by what we were doing... Q : Is this the reason why you've been reuniting with the other members of the band for these presentations in London and New York ? A : Yeah... I'm giving it my full support. I'm very pleased that Robert has decided to put it out. And also that David Singleton spent so much time and energy making it sound good. Q : Let's go back in time... What had you been up to, musically, prior to King Crimson ? A : I'd been playing all over the country, in different bands, none of which got anywhere. My brother and I, we just got so frustrated... We decided we really wanted to go to London, and do something different. So we went to London, where Robert was. But my name first was as session musician. And since that time I've probably made... about forty albums, as a session player... Q : Did you see King Crimson as "the last chance to make it" ? A : Mmh... Sort of. It's not really "last chance", it's more like, you know, "let's get on and do something". That was the intention. To make some powerful, adventurous new music that hadn't been done before... and make our mark on the world, musically. Q : It's easy to feel the frustration behind a song like "Schizoid Man"... A : Yes. As Robert says... We were all, all of us, no matter where we came from, what Ian was doing before, everybody had been in bands, Robert was playing in a dance band in Bournemouth, everybody had been doing things which were unsatisfying. And somehow we created an opportunity to do what we wanted. And that wasn't, really, to play anybody else's music. So we didn't go for music that sounded like blues, or jazz, or rock, or... Led Zeppelin, or Rolling Stones... We didn't want to be like any of the other bands. We wanted to find out what we were like, what we could create. We were just... coming out and being ourselves. Instead of operating within boundaries that other people had created. We decided to do away with those boundaries. Q : What was your personal contribution to the band's musical style ? A : That's an interesting one, actually, because... I did quite a lot of the arranging. Fitting different sections together, tempo changes, all sorts of things like that. I actually acted as a bridge between Robert and I. So it was no so much composition, it was presenting musical ideas at each rehearsal. Q : Do you have good memories of that particular year, 1969, which in retrospect seems like a very special year, musically and culturally ? A : It was ! We were always... We weren't involved in the hippie movement, or the flower power, or drugs, or "Swinging London". We were somehow outside that, just concentrating on the music. But of course, we played, and we had access to all sort of situations that "Swinging London" was doing. But we didn't come from this environment... Q : Yet King Crimson quickly became a 'hip' band... A : Yes... There was a sort of... underground cult following, which came from nowhere, and grew and grew... It was quite surprising to us all, because all of us had spent, probably, the previous five to ten years without it. So it was quite overwhelming... overwhelming and humbling. Q : Do you look back at this period as some sort of "golden age" for rock music ? A : I think it was. I mean, in this country, there were a lot of pirate radios, and a lot of different music being played, on the radio and also in clubs. And everything opened up. It was very good... All sorts of music came out that just wasn't there before. Q : Would you say people were more open-minded, and had a longer attention span than nowadays ? A : That's true. There was a lot of concerts and club dates, there was quite a few bands that played and the audience just sat and listened, they didn't dance, and they had a longer attention span, yes... I can remember bands like Soft Machine, which was far more complicated music. There was a lot of good music, and audiences were very attentive. Q : Do you think this may have had anything to do with... illegal substances ? A : Hmm... Maybe. I had no contact with it. I still don't know anything about drugs, or who takes them, or what happens. But it could have been... drugs, yes, part of it. It would have helped audiences to... get more from the music. Obviously it made them more receptive. Q : Moving on to that fateful American tour in late '69, how do you look back on the reasons that led to you and Ian McDonald leaving the band ? A : Hmm... I can't speak for Ian, but it's probably, his reasons are probably similar to mine. Just the pressure of being on the road, touring, the time spent waiting in airports, waiting in hotels, waiting, waiting... and only playing for a couple of hours. It's a strange way to live... And I'd recently met my next future wife, I was coming out of one divorce, moving into a new marriage, and being in a rock band on the road was not really, I didn't think, a very good way to start a new relationship. Plus the fact of all that time... on the road, and waiting around... I thought could be much better spent writing and recording, and doing other things... Q : Was there a point when you discussed this with Robert and Greg, and put forth the idea of maybe making King Crimson more of a studio-oriented band ? A : Well, I don't think I wanted a studio band, but the... The rise of King Crimson was so fast that, to me, it felt as if it was going out of control. And it was going so fast that I couldn't keep up with what was happening. I think the other thing was that we didn't communicate very well, and we didn't sit round the table and talk things through. And I'm not really sure why we didn't. I think if we'd had done that, and we'd actually talked round the table, and all of us felt as if we were involved, and reached some agreement, it might have continued. And Robert said before that it might have been a good idea to have three months off to recuperate and take stock, then get back together... But that didn't happen. Q : Why didn't you decide to rejoin when you played on In The Wake Of Poseidon ? A : I think... It's difficult, because it was only a couple of months or so, after we'd split anyway. It wasn't really long enough to make a decision to get together or... It wasn't long enough. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 23 May 1997 14:49:39 -0400 From: future perfect Subject: ET'ers band in the Northeast Hi ET'ers! My band will be playing some shows in the Northeast (we're from Florida) and I would like to invite any ET'ers out to the shows. We are playing are called 'Future Perfect'..and play a mixture of prog/ambient music..imagine Soundscapes with female vocals. Our dates are at our web page below, as well as some more info. And of course we'll have to play some Crimson songs! See ya there? Dave -- ********************************************************************* 'Future Perfect' - progressive art music - visit our website at: http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Lofts/8082 'Music is a mirror of who we are.' - Robert Fripp ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 24 May 1997 15:12:09 +0100 (BST) From: dinosaur Subject: Guitar magazine transcript of 3oaPP Hi there. I was just wondering whether anyone had the copy of Guitar Magazine ( I think it is August 1995) that has a guitar transcription for Three Of A Perfect Pair. I read that Krimson themselves used this tab in order to quickly learn the song for the Thrak tour. I have been wanting to play it, but can't work out all the interlocking guitar patterns. I'd be really grateful if someone might be able to photocopy the relevant pages and send them to me. If anyone can help, please email me. James. *--------------------------------------------------------* jAMES bEARD - http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/2511/ the university of kent @ canterbury It's only talk. *--------------------------------------------------------* ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 24 May 1997 09:50:29 -0500 (CDT) From: "R. CUDNEY" Subject: Miles Davis and Robert Fripp Recently there have been some posts in this digest talking about whether or not Robert Fripp can be considered the Miles Davis of rock, or to be analagous to any other jazz figure. I think that Robert Fripp can be clearly seen as a counterpart of Miles Davis. To begin with, Miles Davis is not famous chiefly for his playing, even though he did create three trumpet playing styles. Thus an analogy based on this is not the most essential part, although it can still be made. Robert Fripp as well can be seen to have created three guitar playing styles: the metallic guitar parts so common in the '70s, later labeled frippoid or frippian, the rhythmic interlocking guitar parts of Discipline and Guitar Craft, and frippertronics/soundscaping. Also, both did a great deal of experimentation with electronic effects: Miles Davis played his trumpet with a wah-wah pedal, Robert Fripp on November Suite commands virtually a full orchestra with his guitar synth. The focus of the analogy between these two players rests instead on their accomplishments as bandleaders. Robert Fripp claims not to be the leader of King Crimson, but he is the one that hires the players and gives general directions. This is the same role Miles Davis played in most of his classic ensembles. He hired the players that he wanted, and then gave directions, then freedom. Some of his band-mates have played large parts in the music, just like Adrian Belew in Crimson. What they do with their bands is analogous also. Both have given their players directions in innovations with the instruments they use: Miles Davis was the one who first convinced Chick Corea and Josef Zawinul(or maybe just one of these, I'm not sure) to play electric piano. Robert Fripp first directed Bill Bruford to use electronic percussion(Again, I think). Also, Miles Davis even set up a 'double-ensemble' just like Robert Fripp has done in the latest king crimson release. On Bitches' Brew he had two bass players, three keyboardists, three drummers, as well as some other instruments. Their general approach to their music is also similar, encouraging collective improvisation of varying degrees. Some of Miles Davis' most famous albums were almost purely spontaneous, others were just very free takes on previously conceived songs. One specific analogy can be made along these lines: Miles Davis and his nonet invented cool jazz, Robert fripp with king crimson invented prog in '69. Each did not do this alone, having band-mates who played large roles, Gil Evans for Davis, Sinfield and McDonald for fripp. I think it can be said that both Robert Fripp and Miles Davis have both, in their various ensembles, influenced the directions of rock and jazz respectively several times each. ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 24 May 1997 10:02:33 -0500 (CDT) From: "R. CUDNEY" Subject: November et al. Just yesterday I received The November Suite in the mail along with That Which Passes. I shall avoid comment on TWP, since it has already been reveiwed, and delay comprehensive review on TNS until I listen to it more. However, I will say that TNS seems to be the best soundscape album he has yet released. An hour long, it contains great variety in mood as well as sound. With his guitar synths, Robert produces sounds from flutes to choruses. The tracks weave in and out between the Green Park Suite and the November Suite. Both releases have excellent art and liner notes. However, the notes of both releases raised some questions bout upcoming releases. In the notes to TWP, it is said that Soundbites is available by mail order, and comes with a box for the four '95 soundscape CDs. I had read elsewhere that Soundbites was cancelled, and the box they have available definitely only has room for three CDs. Is this information out of date, or is it an announcement of something new? The notes for TNS were even better, giving details of the performance itself, as well as more about the philosophy of sound-scapes and their recent evolutions. It contains some cryptic statements, such as that 'the gates opened' for the first time at a performance at Southbank. I would guess that this means that he finally entered a zone where something seemed to be telling him what to play, but it is a very interesting statement in any case. According to the catalog that comes with Epitaph, the Gates of Paradise will be taken from the Southbank performance. However, according to a phone rep I talked to, tGoP will be five CDs, not two. I await this release, hoping that all five CDs will be from beyond the gate. The one song from tGoP on the sampler is, I think, the best soundscape track Fripp has yet released. A phone rep from possible productions also told me about another release I have heard nothing of in here, a two-volume 1999. Presumably this would be the source for 2006 on the sampler. Supposedly, this release has no definite release date yet. I would much appreciate it if some readers could provide some more information about the upcoming releases mentioned here. ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 24 May 1997 21:01:48 GMT From: Geraldo dos Santos Tavares Subject: King Crimson BBC TAPES Dear friends, This is my first post ,although I've been reading ET for a long time. I 'd like to tell to ET that I have a tape from BBC "In Concert" with King Crimson Larks"Tongues in Aspic era (isn't bootleg !!!!I friend of mine have a original disc from BBC). The sound is very good,and the musics are: Easy Money/Lament/Book of Saturday/Exiles/The Mincer/ The Talking Drum/Lark's Tongues in Aspic p.II/21st Century Schizoid Man. I can trade it (I prefer to trade more than to sell). I am a YES fan too,and I am looking for the following bootlegs( accept TAPES): 1- YES- "on Digital reels" 2- YES- "The Alternate Generator" 3- YES- "We Make Believe" 4- YES_ "The perfect Union" I am looking for the LP or Tape from KG - "Earthbound" too. Somebody can help me??? Finally I want to Talk that I think the ET Fantastic!!!! Best Wishes! Geraldo dos Santos Tavares From BRAZIL. e-mail gst at supridad dot com dot br ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 25 May 1997 13:01:12 -0400 (EDT) From: JPRICE at TrentU dot ca Subject: PossProg still with us? Hello ETers, I noticed that Rockslide is back on-line, although in greatly reduced form. The PossProd area is there, but PossProd doesn't seem to be responding to e-mail, including orders. Anybody know what's happening? I'm twitching to get Vols. 3 & 4 of "Epitaph". J. P. Hovercraft aka jprice at trentu dot ca "aLSO THRaK ZaRaTHUSTRa" ------------------------------ From: "Andy Gower" Subject: NBC likes KC Date: Sun, 25 May 1997 14:43:45 -0700 I was watching some 3 on 3 tournament on NBC on Sunday. During some fancy montage of the slam dunk competition, what was being played but Mr. Belew's "Op Zop Too Wah". This is the second time I have heard KC-related music on a NBC sporting event. The other was during the Atlanta Olympics in which California Guitar Trio's "Punta Patri" (I think) was being played during another montage. It's only a matter of time before King Crimson performs 21st Century Schizoid Man at the half time of Super Bowl 2000! Eagerly waiting the delivery of the 4 disc Epitaph. Andy Gower ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 25 May 1997 19:37:57 -0700 From: Sam Shindler Organization: Action Media Subject: A whole mess of things Well, here's my first post in 5 months. I got back from Israel (without my Discman or my old copies of ThrakAttak, Discipline, Damage, or Essential Fripp & Eno, stolen from my room) and the ET site was the first thing I checked out on-line. Glad to see it's grown and prospered! Several thoughts on things Crimson came to mind while I was away: 1.) How much better would THRAK have been if it had been recorded and released >after< they had toured for a while? If they had pared down some of the filler (like "Inner Garden," the Codas, and one of the VROOOMs), replaced "B'Boom" with "Prism" or "Elevens,", gone further with the guitar sounds (as many ETers have bemoaned recently), and played with the aggression and tightness that they developed while touring, THRAK might have been the Crimson studio album for the ages. 2.) Who's doing what on "The Sheltering Sky" on DISCIPLINE? I assumed it was Fripp strumming the chords at the beginning and end while Belew played the squeaky leads, and that Fripp was doing most of the "cloudy" stuff in the midsection while Belew played the single-note ostinati and got squeaky and melodic again as it went on. Right or no? 3.) Would any fretless guitar players please tell me if sustain is a major problem? I'm intrigued by the idea but I figured it would be like trying to play a cello with a pick. How do you compensate for the lack of sustain? 4.) Would any Stick players answer a few questions please: Can you run a Stick through a guitar effect processor and amp, or is bass (or, heaven forbid, keyboard) gear necessary? Is there any place where a Stick may be rented? I'm determined to get my hands on one but I think I'll be short the $1900 or so it would require for quite some time. 5.) Absurdly trivial question: How is Fripp on the Stick? I've read that Trey Gunn started off by borrowing Fripp's Stick, and as several ETers have said, in so many ways, it would seem to be the perfect instrument for him. Maybe we should start a fund to buy him another one? 6.) How is the Crafty C-G-D-A-E-G less "arbitrary" (Fripp's word) than the old E-A-D-G-B-E tuning? Just some thoughts. Anyone going to the G3 shows, I look forward to your reviews. It's coming to the Meadows (Hartford, CT) but the idea of 7 hours of virtuoso shredding makes me nauseous, even if Fripp is opening. Peter ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 27 May 1997 02:21:49 -0400 From: Mat\mas Polanco Organization: RdC Subject: great page ... =A1Qu=E9 gran p=E1gina!=20 (what a good page!) I m from Chile, Sudam=E9rica, a enjoy the fripp material... very good. Now a have a question...: Do you know anything about some courses that Robert Fripp is goin to give here in Chile?=20 cause i see something in a magazine, but i not quite sure if that is real .... If it is... i m goin to take the courses !! If know anything about this .. please let me know ...=20 Thanxs in Advance Mat=EDas Polanco PD: Sorry ... my English is a little weak i think ... ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 26 May 1997 23:53:58 -0700 (PDT) From: Robert Cervero Subject: Electric Wetton in So Cal To supplement the Wetton "unplugged" I heard in San Francisco, I caught the two west coast shows with Wetton's entire electric band, at the Brick-by-Brick in San Diego (May 23) and Progfest in LA (May 24). (I wasn't the only Wetton/Crimson nut there; at least three others caught the same three shows.) In San Diego, Wetton followed a Zepplin-inspired metal band with its own local following -- an interesting contrast to say the least. San Diego was a powerful performance in a small club that rewarded everyone there with a close-up view of the act. Wetton's backing band was rock solid, especially the drummer. Besides the musicianship, what also impressed was the sheer length of the set -- around an hour and 40 minutes. Word was that the San Diego gig was a warm-up for the next night's Progfest in LA, but you never would have known. These guys were flat-out rocking throughout the night. (At Progfest, Wetton Lamented that the San Diego show stunk; I felt the opposite.) The highlights of the San Diego show for me were Starless (a real emotional high, with a great crescendo ending), In the dead of night (brought back memories of the UK shows I caught in 1978), Thomas's drum solo (this guy can play -- John mentioned he has played with a lot of drummers, "some great and some not so great", and that Thomas is "the best", with all due respect to Mssrs. Bruford, Palmer, and Bazzio, I'm sure), and EZ $. Midway through Easy Money, Wetton blew a bass speaker, at which he calmly laid down his bass, picked up his acoustic guitar, and proceeded to transition into a funky, acoustic oriented finale to EZ $. Though only around 30-40 people were left in the club at 1:00 am when Starless and Heat of the Moment closed out the set, these were largely die-hard fans with tons of enthusiasm. By comparison, the Progfest show was somewhat disappointing. I'd guess about a third to a half of those at ProgFest were Wetton fans and the rest were there to see other acts. The set was surprisingly short, less than an hour. For the first few songs John was undermiked, and the guitar was way too loud, consuming much of the sound. Some in the audience complained, and they never really seemed to get the mixing boards right. The greatest crowd response came from Rendezvous 6:02 and Starless. After Starless played, the front stage was packed with ravid fans going nuts. There were obviously a lot of "seasoned" prog rockers on hand who were moved by Starless, myself included. The concert hall was littered with folks standing, clapping, and stomping for an encore. Wetton and company came out with Heat of the Moment to close the set and that was that. My biggest disappointment was that only two Crimson tunes were played -- Book of Saturday and Starless. For a crowd of prog-rockers from yesteryear, Wetton should have played fewer contemporary ballads and Asia songs and more hard-edged stuff Crimson and UK. He would have tore the place up had he done a song like Great Deceiver for the encore. I've been waiting to see Wetton for 16 years since last having caught his Asia show in San Francisco in 1981. It was a long wait, but having had the chance to see his show three times over the past five evenings made the haitus well worth it. Let's just hope there's not another 16 year interlude between his next westcoast tour. Boy, 1997 has been a bumper year for old-time Crimson fans like me -- first the Epitaph playback and now a nice dose of Wetton-era live Crimson.....now if only the current line-up could get back on the road again! ------------------------------ End of Elephant-Talk Digest #381 ********************************