King Crimson: Classic Or Dud

he only subs to the _music_, maaaaaaaaaaaan

idk like i said this has nothing to actually do with robert fripp haha

You know Beato is in his imperial phase because he keeps getting all these great interviews:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AbQM09t5E2c

I don’t know much 80s KC except the instrumental to “sleepless” sounds cool as hell slowed down

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mcNe8cDbpWE

I ended up buying tickets to see them in Chicago and again in Madison. I figured you know, this music has given me so much joy over the years, and Belew is 74 and Levin is 77, and both of them are one of a kind talents and can't do this forever. And then there's Carey and Vai, who are about the same age (62 and 63, not young, either), and while I don't care about Vai, he and Carey are incredibly gifted. Factor in other commitment schedules (Carey with Tool, Levin with Gabriel, Vai with whatever it is that Vai does), and honestly I don't know how easy it will be to get these nerds together again after this run.

I don't know if it's been mentioned already, but David Cross is touring with a band that's doing all of Lark's Tongue and some Starless and Red material too.

lol my first thought was the comedian.

And they're both touring, so I can imagine lots of disappointed KC and comedy fans.

Well I'll see you at the Madison show Josh, why not.

Yeah! yolo, etc

Steve Vai looks like The Baron in What We Do In the Shadows

does everyone know this except me: "up until the age of eight, [peter sinfield] was raised largely by his mother's german housekeeper maria wallenda, a high wire walker from the circus act the flying wallendas" ??

it reads like the notes towards a richard palmer-james lyric lol

loool @ the Baron

it reads like the notes towards a richard palmer-james lyric

...or an inspiration for "Cirkus"?

doesn't mention any high-wire work!

tho tumblers is i guess a name for acrobats (quite a funny one too, like calling the goalkeeper "the guy who lets them in")

I just looked up tickets for Beat at their Boston show and the ones remaining are ... >$200?!? The hell?

I suspect those are resale.

now this is the kind of content the internet was made for

https://www.threads.net/@tonylevin/post/C5g8-KfyEs6

some of these Beat shows are being moved to bigger venues, including the one I'm going to. its kind of wild how much demand there is for this...was 80's King Crimson itself ever this popular?

don't underestimate the Tool factor here

Goldmine report on those talks Bill Bruford gave recently.

Apparently he was asked to join what is possibly the last King Crimson line-up ever, then later asked by Adrian Belew to join the upcoming Beat tour. Pains me that he declined both offers, but also completely understandable why he wasn’t interested.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=guW-ApBbpOU

He's retired! Gotta respect it, one of the few prominent musicians I can think of who decided to step away and mean it. Him and Bill Withers.

that Progject band seems pretty cool, hope to see them some day

onbce again subjecting myself to KC's unrelenting parade of fvck-awful singers (all of them) in order to make notes on the music in between them

You need to hear

"Groon Soundcheck", which is actually Giles, Giles and Fripp playing "Brazil" with Fripp singing

controp: all of King Crimson's singers (including Jakko) were good and perfectly suited their respective iterations of the band

You need to hear

_"Groon Soundcheck", which is actually Giles, Giles and Fripp playing "Brazil" with Fripp singing_

We should do a least-worst KC singer poll

Why, that would be Jakko. Late period live KC was the best KC.

jakko is the correct answer, but speaking as a girl with a speech impediment, god i can't help but be fond of john wetton's highly questionable diction. shit, i think i'm gonna go listen to "danger money" now.

Given that I've only heard Live in Toronto from his tenure, I think Jakko is a colourless singer. He hits the notes and that's it. He's better than Haskell but I'd rather hear even Boz Burrell (if he doesn't try to do scat singing).

He also came across as sullen in the recent documentary, like he was above it all. Maybe allowances should be made since he was going through a divorce at the time.

Michael Giles and Ian McDonald wouldn't have been the worst singers Crimson had if they had ended up singing lead on Crimson albums either.

Whoa whoa whoa, are we saying Greg Lake wasn’t amazing in his stint with the band???

i'm saying lake was extremely terrible everywhere, have i not said how much i hate him?: i hate greg lake and i am right to do so

hate him

But he believed in Father Christmas!

Lake and Wetton were good soft rock singers, but I can't stand that choirboy prog style unless they're warbling up in the stratosphere like Jon Anderson. I vote for him as the best KC singer actually, probably a good thing he was only a guest on one album though. Imagine him and Fripp in the same band!

the Belew erasure here is egregious

unrelenting parade of fvck-awful singers (all of them)

☝️☝️☝️

the Belew erasure here is egregious

― Paul Ponzi

the problem with belew's singing is that he's singing lyrics he wrote

you know they're aliens because they got lint on their dicks. my dick never had no lint on it, i can tell you that for damn sure.

Earthbound, indeed

longest mens room line i've ever seen at the NYC show, strangely no line for the ladies' room...

letting steve vai do steve vai stuff instead of fake fripp works really well it turns out. if you like those three records this tour is totally worth it imo

I got tickets to Chicago and Madison, because I figured, you know. these guys are by and large irreplaceable. Like, Belew and Levin, they alone are one of a kind talents. Vai, I don't usually care about him, or his playing, but I like that he stepped up to this challenge that is out of his wheelhouse, if not beyond his abilities. And Carey, he's the best thing about Tool, and one of the best drummers ever, so to see him in any context (let alone one where he gets to pretend to be Bill Buford) is always a joy.

That November weekend in Chicago, man ... Beat tour, Drive-By Truckers doing "SRO" in its entirety, and now Stevie Wonder. (I think Iron Maiden is in town, too.)

I deeply hope to see this tour in Australia - Belew has said they're keen, but getting these 4 guys together with a clear schedule must be difficult & time is not onside - fingers crossed!!

Well, tbf, when one key member of your band's most pressing commitment is Peter Gabriel, and the other's is Tool, that probably leaves them with a lot of free time.

Does anyone think Vai looks a bit fragile, or is that just how he looks in general? I was getting latter-day Mick Mars vibes from his stage presence on the YT clips I've been watching.

It's from decades of making funny guitar hero faces.

Also, honestly, he's probably focusing pretty intently. This ain't no arena spandex goof.

longest mens room line i've ever seen at the NYC show, strangely no line for the ladies' room...

― adam

i was surprised when i went to see crim in '13 how many women there were. not in a "my partner dragged me here" sense either, hipster nerds. and '13 was before the whole "i found a new way to get more women into king crimson concerts" thing became... i'll say before it was possible, in practical terms, for most people.