Errors-To: admin at elephant-talk dot com Reply-To: newsletter at elephant-talk dot com Sender: moderator at elephant-talk dot com Precedence: bulk From: moderator at elephant-talk dot com To: newsletter at elephant-talk dot com Subject: Elephant Talk #765 E L E P H A N T T A L K The Internet newsletter for Robert Fripp and King Crimson enthusiasts Number 765 Wednesday, 15 November 2000 Today's Topics: NEWS: King Crimson/food drive in Toronto GIG BIZ: Philly KC tickets for sale GIG BIZ: 10/21 Boston Coast to Coast Question Re: Guitar Comparison, Oz tour & odd timing! Re: Really pissed at Fripp KC reinvention Hard-working Orchestra on "Islands" KC on 100 Greatest Hard Rock Bands Re: Bruford & Brand X Bill Bruford CD for sale, musical info recourse This audient who seems to be really angry at Robert Fripp. A Flame Of Elephant Passion The Crim on VH-1 Fripp -Wyatt connection VH1: KCrimson sighting Tony Levin concert on Internet GIG REVIEW: Asbury Park, NJ Nov 11th, 2000 GIG REVIEW: Armageddon Part 2 NYC Supper Club 11/1/00 ------------------ A D M I N I S T R I V I A --------------------- POSTS: Please send all posts to newsletter at elephant-talk dot com To UNSUBSCRIBE, or to CHANGE ADDRESS: Send a message with a body of HELP to admin at elephant-talk dot com or use the DIY list machine at http://www.elephant-talk.com/list/ To ASK FOR HELP about your ET subscription: Send a message to: help at elephant-talk dot com ET Web: http://www.elephant-talk.com/ Read the ET FAQ before you post a question at http://www.elephant-talk.com/faq.htm Current TOUR DATES info can always be found at http://www.elephant-talk.com/gigs/tourdates.htm You can read the most recent seven editions of ET at http://www.elephant-talk.com/newsletter.htm THE ET TEAM: Toby Howard (Moderator), Dan Kirkdorffer (Webmaster) Mike Dickson (List Admin), and a cast of thousands. The views expressed herein are those of the individual authors. ET is produced using John Relph's Digest system v3.7b (relph at sgi dot com). ------------------ A I V I R T S I N I M D A --------------------- Date: Tue, 14 Nov 2000 19:54:28 -0500 From: Diane Subject: NEWS: King Crimson/food drive in Toronto Greetings from Toronto, The King Crimson concert on November 24th at Toronto's WAREHOUSE will also be an evening of food collection for the less fortunate. In conjunKction with the DAILY BREAD food bank, donations of cash and non-perishable food items will be gratefully accepted at the entrance. Donors will receive a ticket towards a draw for a copy of the new CD 'the construKction of light'. In anticipation for your participation, Diane word of mouth leads to food to mouth food for thought leads to food for life ---------------Artemis' Websight---------------- http://www3.sympatico.ca/djb.artemis/artemis.htm good things come to those who wait but not to those who hesitate for if your choices are made too late then others will decide your fate ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 14 Nov 2000 11:44:38 -0500 From: Dom Peruso Subject: GIG BIZ: Philly KC tickets for sale I have two extra (go figure) tickets for the Friday, Nov. 17 th KC show in Philly. Anyone wishing to purchase (at face value + Ticket Master fees), either individually or both, should contact me privately via email. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 14 Nov 2000 12:48:02 -0500 From: Craig Griffith Subject: GIG BIZ: 10/21 Boston Well, it looks like those of us in the Boston area might have to make a choice Tuesday night between seeing Pierre Favre (of Prism fame amongst KC fans) and the Crimson King himself. That show is at the David Friend Recital Hall at 921 Boylston St, is free or nearly so, and also at 7:30. Alas, I've got tickets for that night, so I'll have to miss Favre. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 13 Nov 2000 19:19:33 -0500 (EST) From: "Michael J. Bennett" Subject: Coast to Coast I am seeking a copy of this frippertronic chonicle on cd. Does anyone have this, and would be willing to burn me a copy? I have it on cassette, but play the heck out of it, and would like to have a cd copy. I will reimburse any expense. Thanks a lot! ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 14 Nov 2000 01:08:05 -0000 From: Eduardo Barredo Subject: Question Have anybody of you listen to the latest King Crimson Album called "Heavy Construkction - Live in Europe 2000" ? I saw that record yesterday and what I found is that it has 2 live CD's but there is also a third CD that seems to be recorded in studio, does anybody has any comments about this? Please Email me if you know what the third Cd is about. Cheers Eduardo ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 13 Nov 2000 19:46:01 -0600 From: "Grant Colburn" Subject: Re: Guitar Comparison, Oz tour & odd timing! Tony Greig wrote: In ET 759, Grant Colburn wrote, >> "Performer" is a questionable title to give Fripp. He doesn't perform, he >> plays guitar, and he probably plays guitar as well as ANY guitarist that >> exists today. Could he outplay Vai or Satriani or Van Halen? Probably but >> you won't know for sure because I'd guess Fripp has little interest in such >> competitive ideas. >Yes, Fripp does play guitar! As well as any guitarist that exists today? He >plays the guitar as best he can at the given moment! >Comparison or competition is really a none event in my book and the absurd >comments about other guitarists are really pointless and irrelevant! So >pointless and irrelevant that I really should not be drawn into this reply >at all, but I cannot resist! Maybe you should have tried harder? >There is no comparison or competition going on >anywhere! They all do what they do and no doubt enjoy it most of the time. And you're accusing me of being pointless and irrelevent? >> Chances are though if you asked Vai or Satriani how easy >> it would be for them to "cover" Fripp's playing, especially on new works >> like TCOL, FraKctured or Lark's IV they'd be a bit stressed! >Chances are if you ever mentioned this sort of mindless drivel to either of >them, you may get a different response than you can imagine! Mindless drivel? You do realize I was commenting on someone else's post don't you? >The above mentioned guitarists are, as most people reading ET would be aware >of, very good players indeed! Would they be at all interested in covering >Fripp's playing? Maybe to jam along with, use as a practice lesson or even >as an exercise etc, who can tell? Exactly, who can tell? Again you're point is........? >Would they be stressed about it? It may be easy for them. I mean, it really >is a pointless comment! To which you seemed to find it necessary to post a pointless response. Do you REALLY think that Fripp's playing would be "easy" for ANY other guitar player? ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 13 Nov 2000 20:12:04 -0600 From: "Grant Colburn" Subject: Re: Really pissed at Fripp RKTreemore wrote: >Despite finding the new Crimson album unlistenable the two times I put it on, I >brought an open mind to the first Detroit show. Hmmm, if you found the new Crimson album "unlistenable," you may have wanted to take that as a sign that perhaps this band and your personal vision for the band no longer coincided.... >I'm sorry to report >that I was not impressed with the band. I found myself saying things that >I never thought I'd say at a King Crimson concert, like that I was bored >and that it lacked energy. I realize this is a different version of the >band and that it's not going to be like the same as the past. Bad gigs are possible by ANY players. Surely the 80's Crimson had their share of low energy gigs as well. Why would you blame this energy on the players rather than the night? >That's fine as long as it's interesting, but I found this lineup to be lacking in the >qualities I've come to expect from King Crimson. Very disappointing, and >very sad. So much for that "open mind" :-) >I found very little of the new material engaging, while the older material >missed the mark. You're sure you weren't at a Ricky Martin concert or something? >Adrian spent a good deal of time banging on electronic >percussion while the others droned on; he was far less lively than in the >past. The only time I remember him banging on electronic percussion was during FraKctured. You may not like FraKctured but "droning" would seem to be one of my last choices of a word to describe it. >Trey is a fine musician, very talented, but he simply does not >have the presence to hold down that position himself. As opposed to who, Boz? >Pat is a great guy >and did a fine job in the last version when there was a second drummer to >push him but I'm sorry to say that he's just not up to the task of being >the lone drummer in King Crimson. If it's the music that is limiting his >play, then the music is to blame. I'd almost agree with you there. I do think that Fripp chose Pat just for his ability to write a good part and stick with it more than Bruford's constant free improvisations over set compositions. My own take would be that Pat plays more with the band rather than Bruford who seemed to enjoy playing against the band >And we know who is responsible for the music, and the band. Here I thought it was the band's good fairy. :-) >Six years of his crazy R&D and Fripp lays a leaden turkey on us. I hope >you come to your senses, Bob, and realize that you had a great thing going >until your ego became more important than the music. Hmmm, anyone else feel a "time to move on" comment coming? ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 13 Nov 2000 23:45:30 -0300 From: "jose poggio" Subject: KC reinvention Hi crimsonites (the green & the others)! Just an elephant thought for this night: I dont know why it happens that some crimsonites dissaprove the last KC work TCOL. I could admit that this release is not for everybody, despite it has elements from all KC incarnations, because it is a re-invention of KC and it may take some time between an hour to an eternity for somebody to get in to it really. Anyway I think that every true KC fan has an obligation of attitude. This attitude should be: Well, this time i am being abnormally late in getting into this shit, but I am sure that the moment will arrive when i will see that this opus is magnificent in its own, despite i dont like some specific part, blablabla". If this time arrives and the listener does not find it marvellous but he is able to form an opinion with objective criticism based in a true openned listening attitude it will be great. What is not good is to vociferate critical opinions based in superfluous emotions. One of KC most extraordinary values is eclectism and eclectism demands from a listener a very trained listening discipline. TCOL is without any doubt the expresion of KC reinventing themselves and will give tons of musical ideas for the next decade as it happened from 1969 with the first release ITCKC, it happened again in 1981 to 1984 with the discipline era, that gave enough food for the 80s an 90s cats of the music world (dance, hip-hop, tecno, funk, altenative, etc)and again is happening and will happen again with the projekcts and TCOL.And Fripp does really know what he is doing. With the projekcts experience he realised that the traditional bass was not longer necessary and also discovered that the polirrythmic melodies developed by the v-drums by one side and Pat's style from the other side, ARE a main value for the 2000 KC reinvention which goes further beyond the limits of Bill's jazz drumming. well, thats simply my two cents for today, cheers, jose ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 13 Nov 2000 21:49:11 -0500 From: "Martin Miron" Subject: Hard-working Well, this must certainly be the hardest-working newsletter in show business. Twenty issues in October alone, and eight in the first twelve days of November. Hats off to you, gentlecrimpersons. ciao, Marty Miron "A nod's as good as a wink, to a blind horse." ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 14 Nov 2000 00:09:16 -0500 (EST) From: Darryl Subject: Orchestra on "Islands" Hello Crimsonauts, Just one thing I wanted to bring up; I've been listening to the 24-bit remaster of "Islands" alot lately, and I wonder why the members of the orchestra that play on 'Song Of The Gulls' aren't credited? Does this mean they were paid for the performance but don't receive any royalties from, say, the 30th edition remasters? Darryl P.S. Thanks Toby for adding my last post, even though I realized later that my title wasn't so hot (which you replaced). Keep up the good work. "King Crimson was the only band were a drummer could play in 11/8 and still stay in a decent hotel." -Bill Bruford ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 14 Nov 2000 00:11:30 EST From: "Luigi Giugliano" Subject: KC on 100 Greatest Hard Rock Bands You won't believe this but I was watching a special on VH1 called the 100 Greatest Bands of Hard Rock. I figured the bands expected on there would be Metallica, Black Sabbath, Nirvana, Iron Maiden, Motley Crue, etc. which mind you I like them all. But what I didn't expect is how much more ground they would cover. I watched the first 20 bands (100-80) and I couldn't believe that King Crimson made the list at 87! It showed footage of the 80's lineup live, the Larks' Tongues line-up playing "Easy Money", a brief interview with Fripp, plus Alice Cooper describing KC as THE new supergroup when he first heard "Schizoid Man", and producer Steve Albini (Nirvana) saying how innovative and daring Fripp's music is. Ironically at 86 it was Foreigner with Dimebag Darrel and Vinnie Paul of Pantera talking about how much they dig Ian McDonald's saxophone playing (!!!). I think they should've placed them the other around. But I'm not complaining. It's great that VH1 finally gives recognition to the really great bands for a change. Even Yes made the list at like 92 or something. Keep an eye out because they're gonna repeat this all week. Luigi Giugliano SCRUTINIZER981 at hotmail dot com "There's no way that what I do can fit within a corporate format. In the United States, radio is a cultural embarrassment. Most of the music that's broadcast is harmful to your mental health." -- FRANK ZAPPA ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 14 Nov 2000 08:08:01 +0100 From: "Markus Gnad" Subject: Re: Bruford & Brand X Jason told us "During this early period, Brand X were in the rehearsal studio next to a band from San Francisco called Automatic Man, led by Santana drummer Mike Shrieve, with Bayete (keys/vocals), Pat thrall (guitar) and Donny Harvey (bass)." Yeah, and Pat Thrall later joined Asia. (I think mid-90's or so) ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 14 Nov 2000 13:58:26 +0600 From: andrew Subject: Bill Bruford CD for sale, musical info recourse Hello Please take a look at my item, currently at eBay auction: Bill Bruford Gradually Going Tornado http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=498705973 I would like to recommend musical information recourse All-Music Guide where one may find who, when and with whom played or worked. The URL is: http://www.allmusic.com/ Best regards, Andrew Loban Novosibirsk, Russia ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 14 Nov 2000 02:23:39 CST From: "Trey Five Winds" Subject: This audient who seems to be really angry at Robert Fripp. You know, it seems to me that there are some very big holes in Mr. Treemore's review. I thought, since everyone else was looking at the negativity of the post or wondering just why he decided to post this, I thought I would take a VERY CLOSE look at the whole post itself. So, if this entertains or interests you, please...by all means, come along for the ride.... "Despite finding the new Crimson album unlistenable the two times I put it on, I brought an open mind to the first Detroit show." Why? If you knew that the new material was going to be the majority of their concert, and you didn't like it, why did you go? In the hope that it would be better live and onstage? And why did you only listen to it TWICE? Was it really that unbearable? Couldn't you have tried it a few more times? Just to be REALLY SURE? I am sad to say I just don't have that much sympathy for someone who wishes to subject themselves to a presentation of something they don't like. I believe all of us here reading this would say you've wasted your money, though I could not speak for anyone here. I know I think that. "I'm sorry to report that I was not impressed with the band." Well, by all means, don't apologise for having an opinion. "I found myself saying things that I never thought I'd say at a King Crimson concert, like that I was bored and that it lacked energy." Well, if you were bored with the new album, then you knew it was coming. King Crimson's recorded history certainly bears this out. And by the way, did you think of the fact that your talking during the concert might have negatively affected the event in question? Just a thought... "I realize this is a different version of the band and that it's not going to be like the same as the past." Well, there's one for perception. Or is it stating the obvious? "That's fine as long as it's interesting, but I found this lineup to be lacking in the qualities I've come to expect from King Crimson." Well, we all know the Heartless Raging Venal Leader's response, so I won't waste your time there. But this comes back to a more fundamental question: Who has ever stated that King Crimson had to do things to suit YOUR expectations? And has who ever said that a band must KEEP the same qualities as they started out with or developed into? "Very disappointing, and very sad." Doubtless the reason why you're sharing all of this with us. Misery loves company, after all. "The Majestic is a disgusting pit with poor acoustics, and in this case no seats. Why Fripp chooses to play there I have no idea, after all his rants about the European tour." I believe all of the members of King Crimson can attest to the fact that any control over picking venues for a tour is far from being com- pletely in their hands. Diary entries support this, as well as the per- sonal live performance experiences of both myself and others of my former professional acquaintance. Hence, you may want to do a bit more research into that before pointing fingers. Just an observation. "My wife scammed a few chairs so we'd have a place to sit and rest, but we found ourselves sitting most of the time because there wasn't much interesting to see on stage." That's extremely interesting, seeing as how this was supposed to be a CONCERT, in which the main objective is to HEAR the music. That you get to see the musicians should make little, if any, difference. This isn't a KISS concert after all. And thank God for that (though maybe you would have preferred a show like that to this doubtlessly boring one that you knew was going to be this way). "Usually at Crimson shows it's a matter of having TOO MUCH to see such that one show is not enough." Refer to my comment above in reverse logic. "I've traveled long distances to see this band on many occasions in the past, and never missed a show in Michigan in 20 years. This time I didn't even go to the second show only an hour's drive away; nothing at the first show made me want to go back." So, did you post any POSITIVE reviews of these shows that we can refer to for comparison? Marketing strategists love this kind of stuff. I would theorise that IF in the last twenty years you did post any reviews of the shows you've attended, they would either directly reci- procate praise at the same rate of the venom you are unleashing here, or the reviews are probably unremarkable, such as "Went, loved it, go see it, love, Treemore." But I would be willing to put money on the bet that you probably didn't bother to post ANY reviews until now. The old "Consumer Rights" thing again, I fear. "I found very little of the new material engaging, while the older material missed the mark." Funny...the "older material" seemed to hit the mark for you over the last twenty years up until now.... "Adrian spent a good deal of time banging on electronic percussion while the others droned on; he was far less lively than in the past." So now we're criticising the way Adrian LOOKS and APPEARS onstage. Is there no leaving this poor man alone? Were you one of those who wanted to see him go? I wonder... "Fripp had a couple interesting parts but it was not enough to carry the load." Yeah, it's a shame that this criticism pretty much blows the roof off of that other "truism" that Fripp IS King Crimson. Must be pretty dis- appointing for certain other readers (or "fans") of this list to find out otherwise, huh? "Trey is a fine musician, very talented, but he simply does not have the presence to hold down that position himself." Then he must not be a fine musician if he can't even hold down the position for which he was enrolled. Darn. "Pat is a great guy..." Supposing you would know from personal experience; have you told him lately? I'm sure he could stand to hear it after this WONDERFUL REVIEW you've just written to him... "...and did a fine job in the last version when there was a second drummer to push him but I'm sorry to say that he's just not up to the task of being the lone drummer in King Crimson." Again, why apologise for having an opinion? You must have really hurt Pat's feelings. Why are you doing this to such a great guy? First you offer a back-handed compliment to soften the blow of other criticisms, then tell him he's only half the drummer King Crimson needs. I would suppose you would suggest that maybe the electronic pads could be the other half then? Seeing as how that other great guy Bill isn't there... "If it's the music that is limiting his play, then the music is to blame." You mean YOU DON'T KNOW? You were there, WEREN'T YOU? Isn't this what you have been trying to say? Then why not just say it and get on with it? "And we know who is responsible for the music, and the band." I fear more criticisms to the fearless Mr. Fripp once again. Oh, please, DO go on... "A good buddy and fellow huge fan of Crimson had the same reaction as me: Fripp's ruined the band." Here's a hint: This isn't your buddy's review. And he doesn't need you to speak him mind for him, I'm sure. "And for what? For his bloody huge ego, that's what. He didn't want to play with Bruford any more, but instead of telling him straight up Fripp creates this huge diversion of "projeckts" that was designed to tire Bill out and make it look like he wasn't available or resigned." I'm glad that you were able to witness the entire feud in full and am able to inform us of this from an experienced and objective perspective. It is indeed rare to hear from "fans" of the band who are privy to these sorts of exchanges. And to think, we've been hearing about that famed tendency for Englishman to privately discuss (or correspond) on these things. I wonder how much Bill payed you to leak out this highly-sought, vitally needed information. Probably a good tuppence worth, eh? By the way, I've got some nice ocean-front property in Arizona to sell you. Real cheap too. "A similar kind of thing happened with Tony Levin, although the Fripp clones insist otherwise because his diary is gospel. I'll post a translated interview from Poland next time that will provide some clues that what Robert writes is not the whole picture." Well, it's been an issue or so of ET (at least, by the time this makes it there) and I HAVE YET to see this "translated interview." I'll bet Bill is paying you for this little service too, eh? Or is it Tony? "Six years of his crazy R&D and Fripp lays a leaden turkey on us." You know, I've yet to see an animal naturally made of lead. I have yet to see a CD made of lead either. And wasn't R&D supposed to be the point of all the ProjeKcts? So that you could actively HEAR the music developing? Well, if so, then this means that you knew their new album would be "unlistenable" for about, oh, SEVERAL ALBUMS NOW! AND YOU STILL BOUGHT IT! Now that's gluttony for punishment! "I hope you come to your senses, Bob, and realize that you had a great thing going until your ego became more important than the music." A personal plea to bring back the Crimson of the recent past...or just an admonishment from someone whose expectations weren't met....didn't we (and RF) already cover this? You know, I can't stand reviews that aren't at the very least OBJECTIVE. Now I could be wrong here, but it seems that this review certainly doesn't seem to honour the obligation of being objective -- more like an airing of personal grievances. I sincerely hope that King Crimson and Robert Fripp didn't scar you for life. Perhaps you and Bill ought to get together with Tony for tea and discuss it, eh? Inviting other OBJECTIVE commentary (EVEN the objective ones I DON'T agree with) and best wishes to all, Trey Five Winds ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 14 Nov 2000 11:11:49 +0100 From: Gnad Markus Subject: A Flame Of Elephant Passion WOW! Dennis Wiens' recent observation on audience and performers is probably the best post I ever read in this forum. Great, man! Go on rocking! Markus ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 14 Nov 2000 09:16:50 -0500 From: "Brown, Ken" Subject: The Crim on VH-1 Hey to start so cliched but,...... Don't remember this being mentioned before, but last night VH-1 in America was doing part of their top 100 bands thing and the Crim came in at 87 (or 88). They, of course, played 21CSM over which many lesser musicians commented on! Steve Albini had the best quote saying that Fripp was always trying to do something new (obviously he had not heard the TCOL!) (ouch that hurt, but with FruCKtured and LTIA4 the new CD does look back at past Crims more then almost any other Crim cd except ITWOP) Anyway while talking about the band they showed pictures of said band. None of the original band that recorded 21CSM was shown, mostly from 80Crim. Guess it was the Sleepless video cuz Levin had his yellow bass. They did show a bit of Wetton Crim playing Easy Money, even a shot of Jamie Muir. They end with Indiscipline bit including Tony on Stick. And a bit of a Fripp interview with him commenting about going where the music takes one. Even more bizarre then that: Tool was the band before them (there have been a lot of Tool references here ) and Foreigner was the band in front of them. The band that Ian McDonald helped form!! Keep the Faith in the Music Ken Hey to guy who was going on about on ET is only for serious Crimheads, please stop watching the movie 'An American President'. A lot of that diatribe you gave sounds like Mike Douglas' speech at the end of the movie. And who says somebody who doesn't like the current version of Crim(or any one version) isn't a serious fan? I would think anybody who would take the time to read all of this rubbish and to respond to it must be a serious fan. Otherwise why bother! ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 14 Nov 2000 06:39:11 -0800 From: "Drubetskoy, Pioter" Subject: Fripp -Wyatt connection Darryl wrote: :~) ...... :~) Here's a few connections I wonder about, if anyone :~) knows: :~) :~) KC/Soft Machine :~) ...... Hi, I can point out only R.Fripp - R.Wyatt(or more exactly Matching Mole) connection that I know of: RF was the producer of MM "Little Red Record" album. Cheers, Peter. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 14 Nov 2000 10:24:02 -0600 From: "Lord Bravery" Subject: VH1: KCrimson sighting This week, VH1 is running their "100 greatest artists in Hard Rock" King Crimson was featured in the first installment at #88. The countdown will be running all week. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 14 Nov 2000 13:40:05 -0500 From: "ccoulterwsc" Subject: Tony Levin concert on Internet Big thanks to whomever posted this first. Thought I'd re-post in case anyone missed it. This show is a must see for Krimsonatics. It works fine on DSL, not sure about slower speeds. Needs Real Player. Hot Band: Levin, Jerry Marotta, Larry Fast and check out Jesse Gress (not stressed) on guitar! Part one ends with Red riffs and Elephant talk (about 50mins in) Part two contains Sleepless (about 3 mins. in) Other treats galore! I'm not sure how long it will stay up, so, if you haven't already, see it soon! http://www.primeticket.net/shows/tonylevin/ - Christian ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 15 Nov 2000 00:14:10 -0800 From: Rick Bunker Subject: GIG REVIEW: Asbury Park, NJ Nov 11th, 2000 Hi, The set lists etc. have already been covered, so I'll skip that and just serve up the strongest impressions I was left with from the show: The crowd showed up, but late. During the first couple of songs the hall was half-empty (half-full for you optimists), but by the end the main floor was nearly full. The crowd was fun to watch -- as my wife put it 'there is nothing funnier than geeks dancing.' She says this in a loving way, as I am most certainly a facially hirsute, bespectacled geek and she seems to love me. I do not live in a basement. There was one particular couple who seemed to be periodically overwhelmed by the beauty and passion of the music, and compelled to run forward in the aisle towards the stage gesticulating spasmodically for the rest of us to do the same. We demurred. They sat down for a while then did it again. It was nice. The band was fun to watch. All members really seemed to be enjoying themselves, the music and one another. Trey and Pat were absolutely working as team, and especially outdid themselves during the improvisation, I thought. Robert and Adrian play in a more interwoven and complimentary fashion than I would have thought possible. The musicianship was incredible. They started with the really hard stuff, and were deeply into the groove in no time. Some of Robert's work on the guitar was simply so incredible that I would have bet big dollars against it being one person in one take after hearing it on TCOL. But there he was, one person, sitting motionless in the corner, seemingly effortlessly making all of that music. Pat blew away any reservations that anyone could have had about him keeping up with the music with his masterful performance on Red early in the show. Adrian kept up with Robert and provided the charisma and equally beautiful leads on various songs. Just watching Trey's hands move so gracefully over his instrument was mesmerizing -- not to mention that the music he made was terrific. The only down notes for me were the sound/mix, and poor sad Asbury Park. Asbury Park is just a ghost town now -- where almost every store is closed and empty. One wonders what could happen to drive everyone away from such a nice stretch of seashore. And the sound quality of the show was not perfect. The bass lines often were reduced to percussive rumble, rather than tone, and the midrange seemed to be entirely absent. This made it hard to hear Adrian when he played rhythm, and at times gave the music a tinny, bottomless sound, especially grating during 'oyster soup kitchen floor wax museum.' I hope the mix is more balanced when I see them here in Philly on Thursday and Friday. Rick. -- Richard G. Bunker, Jr. rick at bunker dot com ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 14 Nov 2000 15:33:28 -0500 From: Chris Van Valen Subject: GIG REVIEW: Armageddon Part 2 NYC Supper Club 11/1/00 Hi EYMs ( & Ws) King Crimson's second night at the Supper Club was quite different from Sunday night, but was equally powerful and magical. The set order was re-arrangd, and several songs were replaced for the second night, which was expected. "ProzaKc Blues" was inserted to replace "Oyster Soup" and "Frame By Frame" replaced "One Time" There were two sections on the set list(I grabbed it!) called "Vector" which were long, intense improvs. There was no acoustic Ade piece or "Heroes". There was also a Project X piece. 100 tight, smoking minutes. Set highlights: Robert nailed "FraKctured" tonight. At the end, he blew the resin off of the strings and it looked like smoke, which was met with wild applause by the testosterone-laced crowd. Ade broke a string at the beginning of Dinosaur and had to play his second guitar, which he re-tuned at the same time as singing. At one point he said "You guys know the song. Sing it!" while he left the mike to finish re-tuning the guitar. RF added an interesting and unusual new solo near the end of "Thela" A Clam Crimsonique: Ade went into "Red" a half a bar before the rest of the band, but It was quickly glossed over. Third and final night in New York tonight...what will tonight's show be like???? If you have an unpleasant nature and dislike people this is no obstacle to work. - J.G. Bennett And it's potato, potato, potato. - Mike Keneally ------------------------------ End of Elephant Talk Digest #765 ********************************