King Crimson: Classic Or Dud

Report from the field- night 2 of the Oakland stand just concluded. From my vantage at the very back of the house, they still peeled the paint off when it came to Fracture, Schizoid & especially Starless, which was as good a take as I’ve heard them do. The stately stuff was good too- especially the coda of Court.

The drum features were more pronounced and much longer than ever- I suspect it’s a necessary break for this aged group.

Hey, I was there, too. Way in the back. I agree with your assessment. I’ve always wanted to see them and now I have.

Set list was pretty concise- they went long on the big set pieces, less of the Lizard/Islands stuff they’d been doing, and no new tunes.

Wanted to listen to the first album yesterday, and noticed that while every other record is on Amazon Music (our family streaming service of choice), "In the Court of the Crimson King" is mysteriously absent.

I was there too on that night! had to miss thursday unfortunately but of the two nights I've determined Friday was the one to be at. I actually thought it was the best KC show I've ever seen, certainly the best since the 2014 reunion.

Court is about to be reissued (again) so maybe that's why it's unavailable.

A buddy from work went both nights and said Friday was the better of the 2 shows, although they did play Frame by Frame(!) on Thursday, which I would have loooooved to hear

oh I was passed a recording of Thursday's show, I should listen to it.

ok, gave that track a listen. It's alright; there's a slightly different opening that's longer with different lyrics. Rest of the song doesn't sound miles away from the previous versions of it aside from Jakko singing but there's a lot of Mel taking up sounds that used to be covered by Belew. Anyway, it's cool. I'm sure a better official recording of this will come out at some point from DGM.

surely... one thing that I found interesting about the show was how much more integrated the keyboard stuff was, and how much better the songs were for it. I think Mel's bag of tricks is either fairly limited, or it's just really difficult to do anything other than play a textural part in many of the tunes - he ends up doing a lot of flute trills by necessity. The stuff where they have him play a lead line that used to be a vocal, like you describe, works the best IMO

Was also at the Fox show on Friday! Though 2nd row of the upper orchestra right in the middle... killer seats. I was bummed there was Larks Tongues Part 1, but ecstatic about the 15-20 minute version of 21st Century Schizoid Man! So many classics they didn't play when I saw them in 2005. Quite happy Belew is no longer with the band, I much prefer Jakko Jakszyk, especially for the older material.

And they played Cat Food?! Whoa. Didn't see that coming.

bummed there was NO Larks Tongues Part 1... oops. I think they played that Thursday.

Oh yeah, Cat Food was a real treat. This was the third present-era show I've seen and the Friday they did best versions of Schizoid and Starless I've heard

Saw them in Boston last night – I’ve caught them each time they’ve come through here since 2014. And while my
perspective may be somewhat slanted by these being by far our best seats yet, it was also, I thought, the best show of the three by some distance.

I think the key to this lineup is Jeremy Stacey – who, in addition to being a terrific drummer, adds a whole other gear on keyboards and piano. They’ve never had a Keith Tippett figure in their live band. That means, in addition to being able to play songs like, say, “Cat Food,” they can also stretch out the Larks Tongues/Starless/Red-era stuff in ways that have never been possible. That meant that “Red”—a track I love but had tired of—had parts with Collins and Stacey that made it sound like it was being played by the Islands band. It was amazing.

About Collins ... I was really, really blown away by him last night. He’s always been a good player but his solos—both during the free sections (and there were a lot of these) but also during tracks like “Starless”—were legitimately “out” but also very musical and dynamic. And for me, the colors he added with the flute trills and baritone riffage were great (the latter in unison with guitar you can shoot directly into my veins). His contributions and Stacey’s together—along with Tony busting out some jazz chops and Fripp rediscovering his inner-Django—made the whole thing feel more like a pure fusion of the first and second eras of the band than I’d previously heard.

And that’s what’s kind of amazing: that after 50 years doing this—and 5 with this iteration—that they are still moving forward, still changing things up and still getting better. That was not something I was expecting.

Progressive indeed.

I guess it follows that a band famous for its improv chops would get better when it stopped worrying about writing songs.

xp
what do you mean by "out"

They definitely sounded like a jazz-rock version of themselves when I saw them two years ago, and the more I think back on that performance, the more positive my feelings are about the direction they've been going. I'm seriously thinking about buying that 5CD live set that has one disc each of performances from 2014-2018.

xp
what do you mean by "out"

I mean leaning toward free jazz -- not some rock guy's usually simplistic idea of what "free jazz" sounds like but the actual thing. I was legitimately surprised last night how comfortable the band sounded stretching out this way. Tony's cadenza solo on the upright stuck somewhat close to the melody of the song ("Moonchild," I think) but was far more inventive than his "pro's pro" reputation would lead you to expect. Collins walked the line between free, Brotzmann-esque riffs and post-Coltrane solos. Stacey, as mentioned, was fabulous. And Fripp busted out chops and a sound he hasn't really explored for nearly a half-century -- it was actually kind of shocking that a 72-year-old man can recall how he played in his early twenties.

I like this group enough that I probably would've been satisfied with pale-if-faithful imitations of past glories. This wasn't that at all.

I must have lost all of that sitting in the nosebleed section. I'll await the next live recording in that case.

Aaaaand now I've ordered the 5CD box, and the 3CD Radical Action to Unseat... set.

I've got the earlier 4CD version of the 5CD live compilation; you won't be disappointed. It's my favourite KC album tbh.

Does that Audio Diary thing have a release date?

Don't know; I got the earlier 4CD set nearly a year ago, having bought "Courtier's Package" seats for their Manchester gig (birthday treat for the boyfriend). We got one each, so I flipped the spare on Discogs for £££.

I'd never been a fan of classic period KC, and only bought the gig tix as an act of love. But I've since discovered that the current live line-up is easily my favourite incarnation of the band - and it seems to be Fripp's, too. Saw one of the 50th anniversary shows at the Albert Hall not long ago, and it was equally brilliant.

I assume, since it's a giveaway to super-deluxe ticket-buyers (as described in the post above), it'll probably be shipped to us plebes once the tour ends?

overheard a couple exiting the stereolab show last night:

him: it was this kind of 'Robert Fripp meets--'
her: shut the fuck up

lol

I got my copy of the 5CD box a week or so ago. It's great - and there's even a track (the "Interlude" on Disc Four) from the show I attended.

nostalgia hipster slap fight

This Cosmic FuKc documentary looks like it might be fun.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QG3bjJmGfHI

lmao ok that is a good trailer

Well, this fucking sucks:

Seeing news that my old friend Bill Rieflin has died of cancer. You know him as a mighty drummer for bands from Ministry to later R.E.M. To me he was the kindest guy who worked with me at Tower Records SF when I was 19 and so uncool. Hadn't seen him for a while but I am so sad. pic.twitter.com/MAXjc3TzNX

— Feeling Distant (@annkpowers) March 24, 2020

What???

Oh no

man it's so goddamn sad

Defined ‘solid’ as a drummer with a pretty incredible CV that speaks for itself

RIP

Saw him 7 or 8 times with Robyn Hitchcock, he was so great

Fripp and Toyah on Rieflin

they were clearly incredibly close to him. Fripp and Toyah are so odd, his reputation as a gruff and pretentious egghead I think masks what must be a lovable guy; his social media posts with her are so goofy and I thought it was a bit of a put on at first but I don't think so any longer.

Goddamn that was rough to read. The sternum thing. What a strong guy

I was at the 2nd Oakland show at the Fox, his last performance? Fuck I had no idea he was in such dire straits.

Utterly heartbreaking.

did he play at that show or just show up? I saw pictures of him there but he wasn't playing at the show I was at (which I think was the second)

That Fripp recount and salutation is very difficult. I am glad I read it. I am so glad they had that friendship and so sorry for the suffering and loss all around.

I think I was at the first of the 2 nights. He was on keys to my recollection

He was on keyboards when I saw them in Red Bank, NJ in June 2017. Cancer for close to a decade - that's awful.

wow, that was tough to read. the story about him playing a bunch of mixes over the phone while Toyah was paying by the minute was pretty funny though

(never really loved KC in 45 yrs of trying but "entry of the crims" on ABSENT LOVERS really suits my mood my work and my mood rn)

(tbh the singing is usually when the problem arrives)

https://www.facebook.com/robert.fripp.96/videos/vb.100000181177250/3429444193738253/?type=2&theater

I can't even

I can: holy shit.

He's got pretty good legs for 73