UPDATE I: Welcome to all visitors from DGMLive, and many thanks to Sid for such a high-profile link to this humble blog. I appreciate the kind comments, and especially welcome what is certainly The Dork Report’s first and only celebrity guest, none other than Patricia Fripp!

UPDATE II: I’ve also posted my thoughts about the Saturday, August 16 show. As positive as the below review of Thursday is, Crimson blew it away with a real corker on Saturday.

Last night was the first in the extended grand finale of King Crimson’s 40th Anniversary Tour: a four-night stand at The Nokia Theatre in Times Square, New York City. I hope any random readers that stumble upon this blog entry looking for a blow-by-blow review will excuse this Dork Reporter as he indulges himself with a few observations on Crimson in general before getting around to talking about last night’s concert.

I turned my phone off after this picture, I swear

Despite the band’s considerable longevity, the legendary King Crimson has never enjoyed fame or commercial success on a par with many of their so-called “progressive rock” peers (the pejorative term has never really fit King Crimson anyway). Witness, for example, the massively lucrative 2007 world tour by Genesis, itself originally influenced by King Crimson’s 1969 debut album In the Court of the Crimson King. Crimson’s relatively low profile is nobody’s fault but their own, and it is no accident. Crimson has been aggressively uncompromising from the very beginning, rarely willing to coast on past glories or cash-in with grand reunion tours (although many of the original members have toured under the name 21st Century Schizoid Band). It’s worth noting that Crimson has made certain half-hearted forays into the real world of commercialism, having filmed at least one music video (for Sleepless in 1984) and lip-synced their eccentric pop novelty Cat Food on Top of the Pops in 1970. But even so, King Crimson has proven time and again that it would rather break up (sometimes leaving real money on the table) than repeat itself. Huge chunks of their songbook are resistant to casual listening, and let’s be honest, many fans take a snooty pride in Crimson’s low profile and high barrier to entry.

King Crimson is in a constant state of evolution, and many successive incarnations made radical breaks from the past: the original 1969 configuration of the band was born in the hippie era, but had a unique blend of proto-metal aggression (21st Century Schizoid Man) and Mellotron-driven dirges (Epitaph). The 1971-72 band shed much of this portentous weight in favor of jazz-rock improvisation and filthy jokiness (Ladies of the Road). The 1973-74 version dove even deeper into jazz fusion (driven in part by master drummer Bill Bruford), but also unleashed some of the most intense metal instrumentals of Crimson’s entire lifetime. Crimson flamed out in 1974, but reappeared in its most radically new form yet in 1981-84, exploring guitar and drum synthesizers and giving birth to a genre that didn’t even have a name until decades later: “math rock.” King Crimson reappeared yet again in 1994, this time as a “double trio” comprised of paired guitars, drums, and basses. Later, a stripped-down quartet produced two albums of its most difficult (in a good, challenging way) music in 2001-2003.

Proof positive: I was there! Should’ve sprung for a better seat, though…

But all this is preamble. Now, the 2008 King Crimson is all about the rhythm section, and it was reflected in last night’s live mix. Bassist Tony Levin and drummers Pat Mastelotto and Gavin Harrison were very LOUD in the mix, sometimes relegating guitarists Robert Fripp and Adrian Belew to supporting roles. Mastelotto and Harrison played three pieces alone (B’Boom and two new untitled drum pieces), and dominated several others (including whole chunks of the thrillingly rearranged Neurotica and Level Five). I’m a huge fan of Trey Gunn (touchstyle guitarist in King Crimson between 1994-2003), having been to two of his solo shows, but boy is it great to hear Tony Levin back in the band. No one stands astride a stage like Levin, playing the bass like the lead instrument it so rarely is.

Although Robert Fripp has been the one consistent member of King Crimson over its 40-year history, it has never been entirely accurate to call it his band (one might even say it’s Adrian Belew’s band, considering his massive songwriting contributions over the years, not to mention his responsibilities as live frontman). Truth be told, Fripp might be fairly described as eccentric, certainly among other rock guitarists. His composition and style of guitar playing are utterly unique, born more from the European classical tradition than blues or jazz. He has also stood apart for his crusading stance against exploitation of musicians by record companies (long before it became cool). Fripp, now 62, has been blogging for years and making noises about retiring from touring for some time now. On the last League of Crafty Guitarists tour in November 2007, he performed partially obscured by his infamous imposing rack of electronics dubbed the Solar Voyager. Evidently, he was road-testing a new mode of playing live, and I would surmise that this new configuration is part of how he conceived of making this latest King Crimson tour possible for him on a personal and professional level. He also now wears large headphones, probably just as much to hear the rest of the band clearly as he does to blot out the sound of dopey audience catcalls. Regrettably, it’s a long-standing King Crimson tradition for the Douchebag Brigade (whom Fripp would call “Basement Dwellers”) to call out facetious requests for songs they know well Crimson will never play (“Moonchild!”) and sometimes just the last names of their heroes, whether or not they are currently in the band (“Bruuuuuford!”). Fripp’s new level of disconnection from the audience may allow him to focus on his bandmates and the music, but it also served to only increase the amount of catcalls from the Douchebag Brigade: “Fripp, show yourself” etc.

Last night, Crimson came right out of the gate with one of their most challenging pieces, The Construkction of Light. Frankly, it was noticeably wobbly at first, probably even to people who weren’t familiar with it. The band’s fumbling was worrisome, but I shouldn’t have doubted; the first section of the piece is by its nature a long, minimalist tension-and-release build-up, and Belew was suffering from technical difficulties (some very noticeable snaps, crackles and pops). A guitar tech solved his troubles before the song kicked into high gear and I was practically dancing in my seat (well, as best I could, considering its odd time signature).

The Construkction of Light was impenetrable to me on first listen in 2000, but Level Five remains a mystery. I still, even now, can’t wrap my brain around it. It was by far the most challenging piece they played last night, in a set list made up largely of what passes for popular favorites in the King Crimson songbook. Level Five is frankly hard work to listen to, and definitely not something I would select to introduce a novice to Crimson.

But as I said, most of the rest of the night was true to its billing as a 40th Anniversary Celebration: Crimson reveled in many of the most rocking pieces they’ve ever composed. The Talking Drum, a piece that starts from total silence on record, now blasts out intensely from its very first note, and builds to a literally screaming climax that in turn explodes into Larks Tongues in Aspic Part II. Larks, together with Red, can always be counted on to blow everyone’s hair back, and maybe the doors off the venue. I believe Fripp has a famous quote about Crimson being able to shred wallpaper at a distance of miles?

Heat in the jungle streets

The beautiful ballad Walking on Air provided a break from all the intensity, but it didn’t last long. Fripp, playing more of a supportive role than ever before, stepped out for once and truly cooked in Dinosaur. Dinosaur is also, incidentally, the one song that separates the true Crimson fans from the weekend warriors: anyone who claps during the false ending is a n00b. Crimson closed with a rip-roaring rendition of Vrooom, but Fripp’s lead melody lines in the coda were sadly omitted (he did, however, play them with The League of Crafty Guitarists when I saw them last November). Although I’m fully aware that the evening was not about me and I don’t get to choose, I have to admit I was bummed to not hear Sleepless. I had read on DGMLive.com that they had played it earlier on the tour, and as I loved the 1995 arrangement of the piece heard on the live album B’Boom, I was very much looking forward to hearing this version of the band tackle it.

A few notes about The Nokia Theatre: it was a massive movie theater once upon a time (I recall seeing the hilariously horrible Anaconda there in 1997), but is now a huge, modern concert venue. I love a good pint of beer as much as the next guy, but my heart always sinks when I attend concerts at venues that serve alcohol. There is always a contingent that overindulges and acts out in a way that is evidently amusing to them but annoying to everyone else. I noticed a bunch of obese bald dudes on the lower right of the floor that were obviously drunk and/or high, and no doubt ruining the experience for everyone around them. Also, the venue had video cameras trained on the stage throughout, which very much surprised me, given Fripp’s emphatically-stated objections to the obstructive process of filming concerts. They even managed to capture him on screen at one point, despite his being largely obscured from view (during Larks Tongues in Aspic Part II, I believe). Perhaps someone from Crimson’s road crew had a word with the videographers, because he never appeared on screen again.

One little bit of trivia: a noticed a familiar-looking guy pacing up and down the aisles before and after the show. I thought at first that maybe I might have known him from somewhere, professionally or personally, until it suddenly hit me it might be Tony Geballe, former Crafty Guitarist and member of The Trey Gunn Band. What was he up to? Was he, as a member of the extended King Crimson family, tasked by the band to police the audience for illicit bootleggers? Anyway, whether it was him or not, Geballe is a great guitar player, and I recommend checking out his album Native of the Rain.

I’ve now seen King Crimson three times, first in 1995 in Philadelphia and then in 2001 in New York City. It was a delight to see them again last night, in a slightly rough-and-tumble but exhilarating performance. I look forward to catching them again tomorrow night, and plan on posting some more thoughts on The Dork Report later.

Thanks for reading, to anyone that made it this far! Please leave a comment if you have anything to add.

Official King Crimson site: DGMLive.com

Must view: Tony Levin’s photos of Thursday’s concert

Must read: David Fricke’s Rolling Stone review of Thursday’s concert

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• California Guitar Trio & Tony Levin’s Stick Men, live at the B.B. King Blues Club, New York, June 22, 2009 – Concert Review
• Sigur Rós: Heima – DVD Review
• MGMT live in Brooklyn, July 1, 2009

Written by Chad Ossman

This entry was posted on Friday, August 15th, 2008 at 10:15 pm and is filed under 4 Stars, Concert. You can follow any responses to this post through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.