Conference mr1pst::music

    
    	News has it for a new reformed King Crimson. No details
    for personel (anybody know?).
    
    	Also EG/Caroline is going to release a 4 CD box set of
    all "Live" King Crimson stuff. Should be excellent!!

    I've heard the same rumors over USENET, but anything you hear there is
    questionable seeing as how rumors there are practically viruses...
    
    Still haven't seen a copy of the Sunday All Over The World album,
    despite Tower having a bin for it...
    
    Considering the current musical climate, a new Crimson could be
    commercially quite successful, if only Bobby can find someone who'll
    stick around and put up with him for a few years.
    
    Anyone here actually sprung for the current box set?  The price tag keeps
    scaring me away especially since I heard some of my favorite tunes
    have been shortened or (worse) had the vocals redone!  Between Zappa
    and Fripp, I don't know who I'm more bugged at over this "reworking" of
    old albums.
    
    						Brian

    I found it amusing he did a short version of the boxed set. each song
    is like 30 seconds long, but its everything ever recorded. something
    like that. He said it was for people with short attention spans.
    
    

    I have the boxed set, and it is excellent. The booklet enclosed
    is almost worth the price of admission.
    
    Can't wait for the LIVE set or a new line-up - I'm ready !
    
    Saw the double set at Perkins Palace in Pasadena, California
    back in November 1981 - Awesome !
    
    - acp
    
    PS - the SAOTW album, the woman's vocals get on my nerves, kind
    of a cross between Kate Bush (who I love) and Annette Peacock or
    Gayle Moran ...

    
    	I have the Box Set also, it's excellent. Sound is great,
    Fripp & Arnold really know how to master CDs. Only a few songs
    are cut short, hardly noticeable. The book is about exactly like
    the one that comes with " Yound Persons Guide" but add stuff
    from the later years (81 to 84) plus some photos that are from
    Tony Levins Road Photos Book (which I also have).
    
    	I really like the Sunday All Over the World CD, I love her
    voice! that woman happens to be Fripps wife. Toyah Wilcox is 
    the singer, anybody know anything about her? any of her stuff
    any good?
    
    	All of Fripps stuff plus SAOTH is no longer in Noteworthy,
    I wonder why.
    
    
    Vinny

    
    	 I have 2 "Live" Videos of King Crimson, one is called
    "the noise" the other is "Live in Japan". Both are excellent!
    Sound of the japan one is unreal, the other one is very good
    also but the japan one is unbelievable. Both are VHS Hi-Fi.
    Highly recommemded.
    
    
    Vinny 

    Probably close to a decade ago now, however, when they played the
    Metro in Boston with Adrian Bellew I was lucky enought to win a
    pair of tickets through a local radio station. This was around the
    time that Indicsipline came out. One hell of a show that I will
    never forget. Cranking from beginning to end.
    
    Got to see Fripp and about 17 other guitarists at the Paradise a few
    years back as well. Very different to say the least. One guy sat at
    the front of the stage, played one note, the first note of the show.
    Never played another lick, just sat there. Fripp talked about how
    this guy needed discipline and this was a good way for him to learn it.
    Sit in front of a ton of people who all were wondering just what the
    hell he was doing and feel like a dork. Very strange man Mr. Fripp is.
    The only complaint on this show was that it was too short, about an
    hour and fifteen minutes.
    
    Jim C.
    

    Is the new remastered KC stuff on Caroline is still in noteworty?

    
    	re-1
    
    	Yes, I just thought the Fripp solo stuff was gone but it's
    not, they put it in the instumental section. Eno is also there, 
    I don't see why, people sing on both of their stuff.
    
    
    Vinny

    
    RE .5
    
    Toyah Wilcox was big here in the UK during the punk era. Known as Toyah
    she basically conformed with the expected image of a punk star
    (outrageous hair, safety pins etc etc). She was simply know as Toyah.
    Personally I can't remember a single thing she did but then for me the
    music died in the early 70s!
    
    Been on TV lately in serious acting roles and comes across well.
    
    Richard
    Reading, UK

    
    re-7
    
    I was at the Metro too, was stunning, I was 3 feet away from
    the stage. I have an excellent tape of it!
    
    
    Vinny

    Vinny, you still have your hearing after that? ;-)
    
    Jim C.
    

    
    
     I caught Bob doing a show at the World Financial Center here in 
    NYC about 2 months ago. It was part of a "Guitar Innovators" series
    being held there.
      He played his synth guitar over some pretty ethereal sequencing
    (no percussion), doing 2 or 3 10 minute ditties. Then Toyah came out
    and soloed for about 5 minutes. Next the "California Guitar Trio",
    grads of his "guitar discipline" school, played some *really*
    interesting stuff. High point of the night. One guy would start a 
    phrase, the next would continue it and the third would finish it, etc.
      And it was free!.
    
    
    RichC
    
      

    
    	Noteworthy has the new "Live" Box Set listed to be released
    November 3rd. 4 CDs, 49 tracks, all unreleased. "Great Deceiver"
    is the title. Price : $51.47
    
    
    Vinny

    Does the Great Deceiver live set include the entire Crimson years with
    the Wetton/Bruford/Cross group? Anyone have a song list? :-) :-)
    
    I want to verify that Islands has been remastered on Caroline. The
    original CD was horrible!
    
    thanks

    All of the Caroline CDs are remasters.  I have an EG "Island" and it
    sounds OK to me.  I suppose a remaster might sound better, but that's
    at the bottom of my list...maybe after I have all the other ones on CD,
    I'll think about it.
    
    						Brian

    re .5, .10
    
    I have most of her records (around a dozen albums) which I like, but I can
    almost guarantee that most people will hate it.  It's sort of punk /
    new wave stuff, sung with a lisp.  Haven't heard the SAOTW album, does
    anyone know if it's still available?
    
    There's various rumours floating around the USENET at the moment about
    an imminent tour from KC.  However, they've managed to include just
    about every musician in existance in the proposed line up, so I'm not
    sure how accurate they are!!
    
    Chris.

    "Sunday All Over The World" is indeed still in print, although it did
    take me awhile to find a copy, as Caroline does not have any promo
    budget, I guess.  If I hadn't heard of it over the net and seen reviews
    in some obscure music magazines, I would never have known it even
    existed.  Funny, the Crimson reissues are on the same label and have
    received much more press.
    
    It hasn't really bowled me over yet, I need to give it some more
    listens.  It does sound like the Belew/Levin version of the band with
    Kate Bush singing, though, so if that sounds like something you'd hate,
    skip it.
    
    							Brian

I hope it has some material from the second King Crimson, i.e., the band
with Fripp, Boz Burrell, Ian Wallace, etc. I have some live tapes from
the Islands tour when they were playing sets like:

	Pictures of a city
	Formentera lady -> Sailor's tale
	Cirkus
	Devil's triangle
	The letter
	21st century schizoid man
	[other songs from Wake, Lizard, and Islands]

That band was great! Unfortunately, few people have really heard them.
The Lizard and Islands albums were the least accessible music that KC 
ever recorded. I listen to them but I don't know anyone else who does.

Earthbound, the live album from that era, is not at all representative
of what they really sounded like. It seems sort of like Robert got
ticked at people making bootleg albums and decided to make one himself.
According to the liner notes in the Young Person's Guide, they recorded
it with an Ampex cassette deck in the back of a van. It's mostly pieces
of improvisation, badly edited, with the applause chopped out. The sound 
quality is so bad that it wasn't released in the US for years.

Barry

    
    	I tried to order the new Box Set yesterday, release date
    is pushed out to Nov. 12. 
    
    
    Vinny
    

    
    	Noteworthy has "The Great Deceiver", I just ordered it.
    I'll post something about it in a few days.
    
    
    Vinny

    
    	I got the new set. It's a small box like the Bob Dylan one.
    It's real nice, the box is not quite as nice as "Frame by Frame"
    but then which Box Set is! The CDs & booklet are nicer though.
    The book is real nice, excellent color pictures plus reading it is
    very interesting.
    
    	All 4 CDs are from the 1973 to 1974 group, Fripp/Whetton/Muir/
    Bruford/Cross. This means this covers Red/Larks & Starless & Bible
    Black tours! Only a few songs repeat.
    
    	I've only listened to Disc 1, I'd give sound ***** out of *****.
    If you think Red is intense wait until you hear this stuff. It's
    stunning.
    
    Running Time :  Disc 1 : 77 min.
    		    Disc 2 : 67 min.
    	  	    Disc 3 : 75 min.
    		    Disc 4 : 77 min.
    
    
    Vinny

    
    	I listened to Disc 2 yesterday. This is better than Disc 1,
    killer sound, whoever places the microphones at this concert did
    a great job. Very detailed & realistic sound. Killer version of
    "Larks I" & "We'll let you Know", all songs are spectacular but
    these really stand out. "21st Century Schizoid Man" sounds just
    like the one on USA but with Brufords drums much louded & very
    detailed.
    
    
    Vinny

Yet another wonderful box set with a disappointing selection of
material. Don't get me wrong - I love the 73-74 band as much as
anyone. It's just that the earlier bands were also great and deserving
of some space in this box.

If you collect King Crimson, you know that there are several superb
recordings in circulation of the 73-74 band. My favorites are:

	Concertgebouw, Amsterdam, 11/23/73
	Konzerthaus Eizerhof, Heidelberg, W. Germany, 3/29/74
	Stanley Theatre, Pittsburgh, 4/29/74

There's also a good live album, USA, which for some unknown reason, is
impossible (or difficult, depending on who you believe) to find on CD.

Unfortunately, there are no really good recordings of the bands that
made Court of the Crimson King, Wake of Poseidon, Lizard, and Islands.
There are some great performances but their sound quality is so bad
that it severely limits their appeal to non-collectors.

I can't believe that the stuff on Frame by Frame (Get Thy Bearings,
Travel Weary Capricorn, etc.) is the best that Fripp could find. That
concert, incidently, has been in circulation for years and is on the
"Pandemonium" bootleg CD. There must be better recordings sitting in
vaults somewhere. I sincerely hope they get found and released some
day.

Barry

    The early Crimsons didn't prerfrom all that much.  If you read Fripp's
    detailed notes to "Young Person's Guide", the Poseidon band never
    toured (they did some TV appearances) and the Lizard band broke up
    before the album was released.  Only the original quartet with Greg
    Lake and the Islands band ever toured.  That's probably the biggest
    reason there isn't a lot of live stuff around.  Not to mention that
    bands typically didn't record a lot of their performances in those
    days, unlike today where you see Frank Zappa doing multi-track
    recording of all his concerts and even local bands make board tapes of
    most of their shows.
    
    As for "USA", it has never been issued in the US or UK on CD; I have
    heard that there was a Japanese release but never saw one.  It may have
    been like the early "Abbey Road" CD, where some were made but then
    pulled from distribution.   
    
    						Brian

    
    	Robert Fripp says he has extensive "live" recording of
    King Crimson. By demand he put out the 1973 to 1974 stuff.
    I think more from other Crimson bands will follow.
    
    	I find it hard to believe anyone who actually listened
    to these CDs could be dissapointed. I have boot tapes, no
    comparison. The original studio work does not compare to
    this stuff, it's amazing. I had the half speed master LP
    of USA, that was good, this new "live" stuff is far superior
    to that stuff. These CDs are from the master tapes put onto
    CD with full dynamic range.
    
    
    Vinny
    

Re.: Brian

>>>    ...bands typically didn't record a lot of their performances in those
>>>    days...

True, but clubs and radio stations often did. For example, another
collector once told me that the tapes of King Crimson's first gig at 
the old Boston Tea Party exist but are rotting in someone's basement.
He knew exactly where they were and tried very hard to pry them loose
but failed.

A radio station in Denver did a live broadcast of the Islands band.
There are some hilarious moments on it, including Fripp knocking
the product that sponsored the broadcast, Pepsi, because he thought 
it was harmful to one's health. 

At one point, Fripp says that they are going to try an experiment to
see if English humor is funny in America. In strong Cockey accent, 
using a voice something like a professional wrestler, Ian Wallace,
the drummer, recites:

	My Hobby, by Ian Wallace
	When I'm not on the road touring with King Crimson,
	I like to collect flies.
	I like to pull off their legs and pull off their wings,
	and I like to TREAD ON THEM!!!

I guess you have to hear it to appreciate it.

Re.: Vinny

>>>    	Robert Fripp says he has extensive "live" recording of
>>>    King Crimson. By demand he put out the 1973 to 1974 stuff.
>>>    I think more from other Crimson bands will follow.

I certainly hope you're right. I wonder whose "demand" he's responding
to. No one never asked me. :-)

Barry

I got Great Deceiver for my birthday and I'm no longer complaining
about it not having any material from the earlier King Crimson bands.
(Actually, it has Peace - a Theme and Cat Food and more material may
come later.) I'll post the entire song list in the next reply.

This box set is a Crimhead's wildest fantasy come true. Imagine Robert
Fripp sifting through his personal collection of live King Crimson
tapes from the Bruford, Wetton, Cross, Fripp era, selecting his
favorites, and making them into FOUR disc box set! I would have been
blown away by two or three discs. Four is simply amazing.

Some people might wonder why anyone could listen to that much live
Crimson, particularly when several songs are repeated. The answer is
that King Crimson (longevity aside) was a lot like the Grateful Dead
in that they played group improvisation, experimented with their
music, and took a lot of risks on stage. No two concerts were alike.

If you stop and think about it, there are very few rock bands that
ever succeeded at (or even attempted) group improvisation. Most of the
improvs that you hear are solos. That's a lot easier. It takes a very
special talent for a group to play music that's totally spontaneous
and have it sound coherent.

Anyhow, as Vinny reported a few notes ago, the sound quality is
superb. Fripp obviously took a lot of care in transferring these
recordings to the compact disc format. According to the book that
comes with the box set, he was really ticked when the record company
did such a lousy job with the initial transfer of the albums onto CD,
and then deducted a large sum from his royalties for the shoddy work.
That's the reason for the "Definitive Editions" that came out later.

Like the Young Person's Guide and Frame By Frame (the other box set),
the book contains a wealth of information and photographs. This one
has excerpts from Fripp's diary, extensive reviews of Frame By Frame
(both good and bad), and other writings by band members that convey a
real sense of what it was like to work in King Crimson. I particularly
liked Fripp's description of his conversation with John McLaughlin,
the great guitarist of the Mahavishnu Orchestra, after their combined
concert at Cape Cod Coliseum. (I was at that show but had to leave
because the music was too loud, the atmosphere too hot, and the
audience too drunk and rowdy for my girlfriend.)

I only wish that Fripp hadn't waited 20 years to release this
material. I would have loved to have it back when I could play my
stereo at concert volume. That's hard to do now that I have a wife who
likes classical music and a three-month-old daughter. King Crimson is,
and has always been, music that should be played LOUD! A while back,
probably in an earlier version of this notesfile, someone asked what
people would play if the twin towers of the World Trade Center in NYC
magically turned into stereo speakers. There's only one answer that
comes to mind for me: King Crimson at maximum volume. Larks' Tongues
Part One. Or maybe Fracture.

I suppose I'll have to be satisfied with taping it and listening on my
Walkman as I walk the dog to the park each morning. People I pass
probably wonder what kind of awful noise is coming out of my
headphones. I just smile.

Barry

CD 1	Palace Theatre
	Providence, Rhode Island; June 30th, 1974

	1.  Walk On ... No Pussyfooting
	2.  Larks' Tongues In Aspic, Part Two
	3.  Lament
	4.  Exiles
	5.  Improv - A Voyage To The Centre of the Cosmos
	6.  Easy Money
	7.  Improv - Providence
	8.  Fracture
	9.  Starless

CD 2	Providence ... continued (encore)

	1.  21st Century Schizoid Man
	2.  Walk off from Providence...
	    No Pussyfooting

	Walk on to Glasgow ... Glasgow Apollo; October 23rd, 1973

	3.  Shark's Lungs in Lemsip
	4.  Larks' Tongues in Aspic, Part One
	5.  Book of Saturday
	6.  Easy Money
	7.  We'll Let You Know
	8.  The Night Watch
	9.  Improv - Tight Scrummy
	10. Peace - a Theme
	11. Cat Food

	Penn State University; June 29th, 1974

	12. Easy Money
	13. ...It Is For You, But Not For Us

CD 3	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania - Stanley Warner Theatre
	April 29th, 1974

	1.  Walk On ... No Pussyfooting
	2.  The Great Deceiver
	3.  Improv - Bartley Butsford
	4.  Exiles
	5.  Improv - Daniel Dust
	6.  The Night Watch
	7.  Doctor Diamond
	8.  Starless
	9.  Improv - Wilton Carpet
	10. The Talking Drum
	11. Larks' Tongues In Aspic, Part Two (abbreviated)

	Penn State University; June 29th, 1974

	12. Applause & Announcement
	13. Improv - Is There Life Out There?

CD 4	Toronto, Massey Hall; June 24th, 1974

	1.  Improv - The Golden Walnut
	2.  The Night Watch
	3.  Fracture
	4.  Improv - Clueless and Slightly Slack

	Zurich Volkshaus; November 15th, 1973

	5.  Walk On ... No Pussyfooting
	6.  Improv - Some Pussyfooting
	7.  Larks' Tongues In Aspic, Part One
	8.  Improv - The Law of Maximum Distress: Part One
	9.  Improv - The Law of Maximum Distress: Part Two
	10. Easy Money
	11. Improv - Some More Pussyfooting
	12. The Talking Drum

    
    	There is a small review in todays Calendar in the Boston
    Globe. The guy also says it's excellent.
    
    	Rumor has it that 3 more 4 CD Box Sets of "Live" Crimson
    will follow from each era.
    
    	4 CDs might seem excessive but I think it's great, better
    than to be left wanting more.
    
    
    Vinny

>>>    	Rumor has it that 3 more 4 CD Box Sets of "Live" Crimson
>>>    will follow from each era.

Incredible. I must be dreaming.

Barry

    The next box will be four CDs with 73 more versions of "Easy Money"
    
    8^)  8^)
    
    						Brian

    
    Even better would be 4 CD's of _one_ version of "Easy Money!"
    
    - Sean

    Heard today on 'FNX - Fripp's reassembling Crimso... anyone heard any
    lineups ?
    
    \chuck

    
    Only thing I heard was that Belew should be back.  Other than that, I can 
    live without Bruford (I'd take Simon Phillips), but I think Levin is a 
    must!
    
    - Sean
    

    
    	The new lineup is.
    
    Robert Fripp  - Guitars
    A. Belew      - Guitars
    Tony Levin    - Bass/Stick
    Trey Gunn     - Stick
    Jerry Marotta - Drums
    
    	Dual guitars & sticks! should be interesting. EP due out in
    August, after Tony Levin is done touring with Peter Gabriel.
    
    
    Vinny

    Shivers are running all over my body.  Wow !
    
    What has Marotta been up to recently ?  (Was he on PG's "So" ?)
    
    Any background on Trey Gunn ?
    
    \chuck

    
    	Not sure about Jerry Marotta w/Gabriel. But the trio of Fripp/
    Marotta/Gunn is on a new David Sylvian CD which is not out yet.
    
    	Trey Gunn plays the Stick on the Sunday all over the World CD,
    this is the group Fripp & his wife (Toyah) had. He sounds very
    impressive. Plus he is also playing right now with Fripp "live"
    along with 3 other acoustic guitarists. I guess the do mostly
    acoustic stuff.
    
    
    Vinny

    
    	The new Crimson is off indefinitely.
    
    	The new David Sylvian is out in the UK, anybody have it?
    
    
    	Vinny

    	Jerry Marotta has done some work with Larry Gowan (didn't tour
    with him, however ;( 
    
    	Gowan's music is sort of progressive top 40, at least on his last
    album, "Lost Brotherhood". Tony Levin, Jerry Marotta, and Alex Lifeson
    (from 'Rush') make the lineup. This album is a real gem, only one (or
    maybe two) medium-quality songs. This band, with Larry Gowan's voice,
    sounds excellent.
    
    	Gowan puts on live shows all over Canada...the shows are worth
    seeing, really good IMHO.
    
    						Jeff

> ...progressive top 40...

An oxymoron, IMHO.

Barry

    RE: -.1
    
    	I'd normally agree, but cut Gowan some slack. After all, he's
    Canadian, you hoser :)

    
    > 	The new lineup is.
    >
    > Robert Fripp  - Guitars
    > A. Belew      - Guitars
    > Tony Levin    - Bass/Stick
    > Trey Gunn     - Stick
    > Jerry Marotta - Drums
        
    They're going to start writing/recording the new stuff next month.  
    Fripp actually wouldn't confirm this lineup last I heard, only that 
    Belew, Levin, and Fripp would be part there as part of a probably
    six-piece band.
    
    - Sean

    
    Vinny, latest word on the new lineup show we were both right - 6-piece band
    including the 5 you mentioned:

        Robert Fripp - guitars
        Adrian Belew - guitars/voice
        Tony Levin - Bass/Stick/voice        
        Jerry Marotta - Drums
        Trey Gunn - Stick/voice        
        Pat Mastalotto - Drums
    
    - Sean

    
    	The latest is that Bill Bruford WILL be in the new King
    Crimson! this is official. Your lineup is correct with the
    exception of BB in place of Gerry Marotta.
    
    
    Vinny

    Re: .45
    
    What's your source of info?  I've heard reports both ways on Bruford,
    and none of them to date seemed to be "definitive".
    
    Personally, I could care less who plays as long as they record and tour
    a few times before they break up again  8^(
    
    Wonder what type of music this incarnation will come up with?
    
    							Pete Sinfield
    

	Re: .46    

	> Pete Sinfield
    
	Right. And I'm Greg Lake.

    
    
    Re: .46
    
    Source of info - Adrian Belew, who said in a recent interview
    that Bill Bruford IS in the group.
    
    
    Jamie Muir

Talking of sources of info, I thought you lot may be interested in
the `Discipline' mailing list for discussions about King Crimson and
Robert Fripp.  It is sent out in digest format on a weeklyish basis,
and consists of news, rumours, gossip and the occasional interview.
For more info (or to subscribe) send internet mail to Toby Howard at
Manchester University ([email protected])
Cheers,

Chris.

Quick question; are Fripp's SAOTW and Discipline projects generally
considered to be King Crimson pseudonyms or totally separate bands?
Cheers,

Chris.

I guess by the underwhelming response that all the Crimson fans have
been made redundant then?

Chris.

    
    Not yet.  :^)  I'm a pretty big Crimson fan, but am only somewhat 
    familiar with all his solo stuff, work with Eno, and Gentlemen and Crafty 
    Guitarist  Leagues.
    
    I'm not familiar with the Sunday All Over the World Project, but I
    think I can safely say, no, this is not a Crimson pseudonym.  What is
    the "Discipline" project?  I assume you don't mean the LP "Discipline?"
    
    Tha mailing list posted a couple back is really the place to ask all
    this.  They are filled with commentary by the "experts."
    
    - Sean

>  I assume you don't mean the LP "Discipline?"
    
I got the impression from someone that this wasn't actually recorded
under the name King Crimson, but as Discipline instead; I don't actually
have a copy of this album so I'm not sure.

Chris.

    
    I saw Adrian Belew and The Psychodots (ex-the Bears) in Boulder, CO
    a week ago, and they were great ! Awesome sound, tight exhuberant
    playing, and they all seemed to have a wonderful time on stage.
    
    The 'Dots opened as a trio, played 6 numbers, then backed Belew for
    another 2 hours ! They played 'Elephant Talk', 'Matte Kudasai' and
    'Heartbeat' from the Crimson repertoire, a few Bears tunes, and the
    rest was Belew solo stuff. They also did a Zappa song from 'Sheik
    Yerbouti' !
    
    As to the earlier request for info, SAOTW is not a Crimson project,
    nor are any of the 'League of Crafty Guitarists'-type projects. I've
    never heard of a group called 'Discipline', but that is the name of
    the first KC album with the Fripp/Belew/Levin/Fripp incarnation. AB
    told me at the concert that KC is back, a six-piece band, and that
    Bruford is indeed playing ! This is GREAT news for KC fans. The album
    is due out next spring, followed by a summer tour ! Can't wait !
    
    - acp

    re: "Discipline"
    
    I think that "Discipline" may have been the working name for the ~1980
    band that Fripp later decided was actually the reincarnation of Crimso.
    He said something around the time about "realizing" or "discovering"
    that.
    
    \chuck

    Does anyone have pointers for the King Crimson videos ?  Are they
    import only ?  I'd love to rent them - don't need to see them more than
    once or twice, but I'm wondering whether I'll ever see them...
    
    \chuck

    Purchased the new KC album: Vroom.
    
    The music really didn't impress me all that much. Very experimental,
    which I can handle, but not particularly inspired. Not a commercial
    effort, which should make fans happy, but frankly, not much of an
    effort at all...
    
    There's a coupon inside to get a free KC poster.
    
    The total play time is only 31 minutes, which I felt was a bit of
    a rip, especially considering the cost ($15 at Newbury Comics).
    
    There's some nonsense on the back of the jewel case where Fripp
    moans about copyrights.
    
    The album was recorded at Peter Gabriel's "Real World" in Box,
    Wiltshire, and produced and engineered by David Botrill, who
    engineered Gabriel's "So" and "Us". The sound and mix is perfect.
    Absolutely stunning. Too bad it was wasted on such a lame
    effort.
    
    -b

    any news on a tour ???   I saw them at the Orpheum in July '84, and it
    blew me away
    
    Wes

    Supposedly, the album was recording in a few days time as they
    took a break from rehearsing for the tour... also, I saw Tony
    in October and he mentioned something about a tour too.
    
    BTW - the new Krimson lineup is six people: a second stick
    player (Trey Gunn) and a second percussionist (name escapes
    me at the moment) were added to the core of Fripp, Belew,
    Bruford and Levin. The album was originally conceived as the
    combined effort of two King Crimson trios (ala the Yes Reunion
    album). I'm not sure if that is how it actually came to be
    though...
    
    -b

    > Too bad it was wasted on such a lame effort.
    
    I partially disagree. I think it's only half lame.  8^)  I like a lot
    of it, tho parts (especially, "when I say stop, continue") do sound
    like rehearsal material. But I thought it was originally intended to
    be a kind of a "limited ed, just for hardcore fans that really want to
    hear what we're doing, before we have time to record a real album
    for release."  In fact I thought that originally, it had to be mail
    ordered - and was autographed by the band. (I have one of those, oh
    boy).  SO, with that in mind, it didn't seem unreasonable that it was
    only 31 minutes, and not completely "polished."  That would also
    explain why it didn't get much promotion (that I know of).
    
    But, then I heard it was available in stores, in people started 
    complaining about the length...  Maybe there was enuff pent-up demand
    for new KC material that it turned into a real (short) release.
    
    Tom

    BTW, KC/Fripp fans should also check out the recent "Robert Fripp
    String Quintet" album. There's some excellent stuff on it, along with
    a couple of duds. (A loong "Frippertronics" solo at the end.) One of my
    favorites is a Bach piece played as a stick solo by Trey Gunn. I can
    add more info later, if anyone wants it.
    
    Tom

re the 2nd percussionist,

I think it's some bloke called Marotta, or something of that ilk.  Also,
Trey Gunn's previous involvements are the SAOTW recording, and Toyah
Willcox's `Ophelia's Shadow'.

re Vroom, or the lack of,

as far as I understand, this is just the forerunner of the proper album,
although I suspect that the pricing doesn't exactly reflect this.  I still
haven't got 'round to buying it yet (okay, so I'm a lazy git)

Chris.

    
    > > Too bad it was wasted on such a lame effort.
    > 
    > I partially disagree. I think it's only half lame.  8^) 
    
    Well, I have to totally disagree :^) - I like the EP a lot (this was
    always billed as an EP, a precursor to their full CD, and EP's are
    hardly ever priced proportionately lower).
    
    I mean, sounding like "rehearsal material" is kind of what KC is - you
    either like that sort of indulgence or you don't.  But I don't find 
    "Thrak" any better (or worse) than "Larks Tongues Part I" or "Moonchild"
    or a littany of others.
    
    Anyway, I'm glad they've backed off the path headed down with "Beat"
    and "Three of a Perfect Pair" - now those disappointed me.  "VROOOM"
    especially grows on me, and Belew's last tune is sweet.  Overall,
    I expected to be bummed out, but I'm pleasantly surprised.
    
    - Sean

    Well, after the lukewarm reviews I heard here and other places as well,
    I was somewhat hesitant to pick up the VROOM CD.  So I was pleasantly
    surprised when I finally did.
    
    This strikes me as exactly what it should be; the Crimson legacy pushed
    into the 90's.  Successive generations of this band's music have always
    seemed to evolve by adding layers; dig below the surface, and you'll
    travel back through the remnants of former generations.  As such,
    Crimson music seems to get thicker with time, and this latest batch is
    the thickest yet.  And although the music doesn't clearly sound like
    anything the band has done previously, I'd guess that if I had heard
    some of these cold on the radio I would've pegged them as new KC.
    
    Our drummer, a dyed-in-the-wool Crimsoid, told me he was iffy on VROOM
    after one listen.  One comment was it sounded abrasive.  That's a clear
    first impression on a lot of the tracks, but I've found after just a
    couple of listens, the abrasion factor becomes secondary and the music
    unfolds.  There's a lot to ponder and enjoy in here.
    
    The second section of the title track has an interesting continuously
    descending structure.  Any in here familiar with Shepherd tones?
    (spelling may be off.).  I only have a vague notion of the process
    involved, but I've experienced the effect; tones that appear to
    continously modulate either up or down but never actually go anywhere.
    Not clear if that's what they're doing here, or if there's a more
    simple trick involved.
    
    Was anyone else reminded of John Lennon by some of the processed vocals
    on "SexSleepEatDrinkDream"?
    
    One question I have is who will actually support this music?  It doesn't
    have any of the obvious hooks to current trends, it's not a fusion of
    clear elements like hip-hop/metal/jazz/funk the way a lot of new,
    supposedly cutting edge music these days is.  Will the youth market
    support dense, abrasive music with little trendiness played by a bunch
    of 70's and 80's dinosaurs?  And how about the traditional Crimson
    audience?  How many 40-somethings are going to drag themselves out to
    the Orpheum to get their ears assualted by this band?
    
    Well anyway, I'll be there.  If this release was just the "calling
    card", I am looking forward to the "love letter".  And this band live
    should be something to behold.
    
    /rick

Advance warning on the Crimson tour...
> 
> King Crimson  - US Tour - 1995
> 
> 26 May  Buffalo         Uni Perf Arts Centre
> 27 May  Montreal        St. Denis Theatre
> 28 May  Toronto         Massey Hall
> 31 May  Philadelphia    Tower Theatre
> 1 June  Providence      Strand Theatre

> 2 June  Boston          Orpheum

> 3 June  New York        Town Hall
> 4 June  New York        Town Hall
> 6 June  Washington DC    Warner Theatre
> 7 June  Pittsburgh      Light Amphitheatre
> 8 June  Cincinatti      Taft Theatre
> 9 June  Detroit         State Theatre
> 10 June Chicago         Riviera Theatre
> 12 June Milwaukee       Riverside Theatre
> 13 June Minneapolis     Orpheum
> 15 June Denver          Paramount Theatre
> 16 June Salt Lake City  Saltair Pavilion
> 18 June Spokane         Opera House
> 19 June Seattle         5th Avenue Theatre
> 20 June Vancouver       Vogue Theatre
> 21 June Portland        Schnitzer Concert Hall
> 23 June San Francisco   Warfield Theatre
> 24 June San Francisco    Warfield Theatre
> 25 June San Jose        Centre for Perf. Arts
> 27 June Los Angeles     Wiltern Theatre
> 28 June Los Angeles     Wiltern Theatre
> 29 June San Diego       Symphony Hall
    

    Well, I guess an answer to my question...  found the Crimson stuff out
    on the internet, man there are a lot of hungry Crimso fans out there.
    
    Latest news is "Thrak" is scheduled for release April 25.  It'll be
    interesting to see which tunes from "VROOOM" are included and what
    (if any) differences there are.
    

    
    I will be at the Strand show - gar-ohn-teed.
    
    - Sean

    Re the Strand, anyone been there for a show?  I would expect this place
    to be very much like the Palace Concert Theater in Prov., site of the
    next-to-last gig of the infamous '73-'74 version of Crimson.  This show
    was partially available on the USA album and featured in it's entirety
    on the Great Deceiver box.  Both the Strand and the Palace (originally
    called the Majestic) were old movie houses, a la the Orpheum (maybe
    a bit smaller).  Great atmosphere, and an excellent type of place
    to see this band.
    
    btw, I was at that '74 Providence show, front row, and close enough for
    Bob to be able to spit on me if he wanted.  What a night
    

    
    > Re the Strand, anyone been there for a show?  I would expect this place
    > to be very much like the Palace Concert Theater in Prov., site of the
    > next-to-last gig of the infamous '73-'74 version of Crimson.  This show
    
    Goin' out on a limb here (and I hesitate to say this), but I think
    "no," that the Strand is a bar.  A bigger bar than, say, the Paradise, 
    but a bar for bands.  Which is makes it strange that KC would be there as 
    well as the Orpheum in Boston.  But which also makes it definite that I 
    will try to catch them at the Strand.  Anyway, I've walked by it on my
    way to Lupo's and talked to some friends....
    
    The only 2 places that remind me of what you call the Palace would be
    what is now called the Providence Performing Arts Center (PPAC) or
    the Veterans Aud (darn, that may have changed names by now, too).
    Both of those are Orpheum-esque.
    
    Maybe the band thought what you did?  :^)
    
    - Sean
    

    Yeah, I think the Providence Performing Arts Center was where KC played
    in '74 as the Palace; it changed sometime in the mid-70's to being called
    Ocean State Theater, and I guess now the PPAC.  Or I could be totally
    wrong :-)
    
    The Strand was also a movie house in Prov when I was growing up, so I just
    made the leap.  But a large, Paradise style club wouldn't be bad either.
    

    
    > Yeah, I think the Providence Performing Arts Center was where KC played
    > in '74 as the Palace; it changed sometime in the mid-70's to being called
    > Ocean State Theater, and I guess now the PPAC.  Or I could be totally
    
    Well I do know that the Ocean State became the PPAC.  So if you know
    that the Palace changed to the Ocean State, looks like that was the
    place (and I nice place, I might add - saw George Thorogood and the
    Moody Blues there).
    
    The Strand was a movie house, but from what people tell me, it's just
    a big gutted bar, stage, and dance place now.  And the theatre is not
    nearly as big as the PPAC.  So I think no chairs, so general admission 
    I'm guessing, which is strange...
    
    I guess a lot of alternative bands go the Strand, as it does not 
    mosh-pit discriminate.
    
    - Sean

    Oh no, am I gonna have to mosh to KC?????
    

    Since I'm quite after the fact in answering this question, it's really
    just for completeness... the 2nd drummer's name is Pat Mastelotto.
    
    I'm QUITE behind in my reading...
    
    Mastelotto also appears on Trey Gunn's solo disk, 1000 years.  I like
    it - but it's not like VROOOM.  Lots of different stick sounds.
    Probably can't get it except by mail or special order (I did the
    latter).
    
    Highly recommended if you like VROOOM - the Sylvian/Fripp live disk,
    Damage - unless of course you loathe David Sylvian's singing.  I rather
    like it.
    
    \chuck

    
    	June 2nd, at the Orpheum (I think).  Tix on sale saturday.
    
    	Tom
    

    Guitar Player magazine got an advance copy of "Thrak", there's a short
    review in the current issue.  Their overriding impression seems to
    be "mellow"!?  Sounds like more Adrian tunes made it onto this one.
    
    /rick
    

    By the way... after my initial (somewhat) trashing of KC's
    "Vrooom", I'm experiencing the db phenomenon: namely, now
    that I've listened to it a lot, I really like it. In fact,
    I damn near love it.

    There's a piece on there that's very creative rhythmically.
    I guess would call it polyrhythm, but I think it goes
    beyond that. Essentially, everyone is playing in
    something over 8 time, but the something changes from
    member to member. Consequently, everyone is playing
    accents at different places. It's totally cool.

    I have my tickets for the June 2nd show at the Orpheum,
    and I'm psyched!

    -b

    Yes Yes!  Polyrhythmic to the max!  Usually when you hear polyrhythms
    it's some derivative of the way African music uses them.  Some of the
    work on VROOOM strikes me as an entirely unique polyrhythmic approach.
    It doesn't "swing" at all, but is nevertheless infectious and
    propulsive in it's own way.
    

    It looks like somebody found out how small The Strand was... 
    Providence is no longer on the tour schedule:
    
    - Sean
    
King Crimson  -  European Tour - 1995

1 May		Dornbirn	Cultrehaus
2 May		Milan		Teatro Smeraldo
4 May		Florence	Teatro Tanda
6 May		Zurich		Volkshaas
7 May		Dusseldorf	Philipshalle
8 May  		Berlin		Tempodrom
10 May		Munich		Philharmonie
11May 		Stuttgart	Liederhalle
13 May		Paris		Zenith
14 May		Brussels	Cirque Royale
15 May		Amsterdam	Congresgebouw
17 May		London		Royal Albert Hall
18 May		London		Royal Albert Hall

King Crimson - 1995 THRAK Tour  (USA & CANADA)

26	Thur	Buffalo, NY		U. Of Buffalo, Perf. Arts Ctr.
27	Sat	Toronto, Ontario	Massey Hall
28	Sun	Montreal, Quebec	Theatre St. Denis
30	Tues	Quebec City, Quebec	Grand Theatre

June
01	Thur	Philadelphia, PA	Tower Theater
02	Fri	Boston, MA		Orpheum
03	Sat	New York, NY		Town Hall
04	Sun	New York, NY		Town Hall
06	Tues	Redbank, NJ		Count Basie Theater
07 	Wed	Washington, D.C.	Warner Theater
08	Thur   	Cleveland, OH		Nautica  Theater
09	Fri	Cincinnati, OH		Taft Theater
10	Sat	Ann Arbor(Detroit), MI	Michigan Theater
12	Mon	Kalamazoo, MI		State Theater
14	Wed	Chicago, IL		Bismarck Theater
15	Thur	Milwaukee, WI		Riverside Theater
16	Fri	Minneapolis, MN		State Theater
18	Sun	Denver			Ogden Theater
20	Tues	Portland, OR		Roseland Theater
21	Wed	Vancouver, BC		Vogue Theatre
22	Thur	Seattle, WA		Paramount
24	Sat	San Francisco, CA	Warfield Theater
25	Sun	San Francisco, CA	Warfield Theater
26	Mon	San Francisco, CA	Warfield Theater
27	Tue
28	Wed	San Diego, CA		Symphony Hall
29	Thur	Los Angeles, CA		Wiltern  Theater
30	Fri	Los Angeles, CA		Wiltern  Theater

    My Crimso early warning system (aka the internet) tells me that Bob
    and the boys will be making a live TV appearance on the David Letterman
    show Friday, May 19.  This would appear to jibe with Letterman's recent
    trend of having LOUD bands on Friday nights.
    
     - will Madonna show up to get the band's autograph?
     - will Paul sit-in???
     - will Bob smile for the camera??????
    
    tune in and find out
    

    I called Newbury Comics in Shrewsbury, they have THRAK on sale for
    $10.88, I'm there after work...
    
    Wes

    Some 1st impressions on the new album:
    
    - the mellotron is back!  Fripp is making liberal use of this beast
      again, sounds good.
    
    - at times you'd swear you were listening to some long lost Beatle's
      sessions!  Some of the vocals and sonics are remarkably similar to late
      Beatles stuff.  One of these tunes, "Dinosoaur", also features vocals
      and wordplay right out of 10cc!!!  Kinda like Godley and Creme meet
      Godzilla out on Abbey Road.
    
    - about half of VROOOM made it; only one tune, "Sex...", sounds like a
      straight copy, the others seem for the most part improved.  More
      developed, less abrasive.  Though I could see being in the mood to
      hear the VROOOM versions occasionally as well.
    
    - I found a lot of the material on VROOOM disturbing and nightmarish;
      THRAK is almost benign by comparison.  There are moments on this
      record that are the most accessible things Crimson's ever done.
    
    On first listen, I liked it a lot.  But this may be a case of the
    db effect in reverse; time will tell if there's enough meat on
    these bones to stand up to repeated listenings.
    
    /rick
    

    so, Fripp and the boys weren't on Letterman May 19...are they supposed
    to be in the future ???
    
    Psyched for tonight, I could have seen them last weekend while in
    Montreal, but I passed on it...I did see a band called The Musical Box
    which recreates a Genesis concert from the Selling England By The Pound
    tour...AMAZing recreation...and the club was playing "In The Court of"
    as we walked in...
    
    Wes

    Woooooey!

    What a great show. A lovely Friday night at the Orpheum in Boston.
    Ran into the venerable Wes and his lovely wife Karen outside...
    Howdy folks!!! :-)

    The opening act (The California Guitar Trio) hit the stage at 7:30
    and played for a half hour. Three guys playing acoustic guitars
    (albeit electrified, and using bottle slides and e-bows on a
    couple of numbers.) Among the highlights of their excellent set
    were Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D Minor, the theme from "The Good
    the Bad and the Ugly", and Ellington's "Swinging Shepherd Blues".

    KC hit the stage at 8:20, and played for almost 2 hours (minus
    the usual lighter-before-the-encores breaks). Surprisingly, the
    show was not too loud, but was perfectly balanced and, perhaps,
    even a bit too *soft* in some places. I figured Mr. "I love
    white noise" Fripp would do my ears in, but he was very restrained.
    If fact, he was a bit too restrained, never venturing forth from
    his stool at the back of the set and never directly lit during
    the entire show. It would have been easy to forget Robert
    Fripp was even there, if not for his fabulous rhythm guitar work.
    Which was the first surprise for me -- I had always been under
    the impression that all the rhythm guitar work was Adrian Belew
    and that Fripp was the "lead guitarist" of KC. Not so! Fripp took
    a few solos, but for the most part, he was Mr. Texture. And what
    a fabulous job he did of it too!!! Fripp played a yellow sunburst
    Les Paul through a rack of effects that I could not see from where
    I was sitting.

    Bruford was unreal. Which brings me to the anecdotal segment of
    our review. Patrick Moraz, when talking about his forthcoming
    Billy Cobham project, intimated to me that he didn't want to work
    with Bruford again because he "didn't swing for me". All I can
    say is, "he sure swings for ME!". Actually, Moraz's complaint
    had to do with the fact that Bruford insisted on recording with
    a click track. But I doubt KC was using one... at least not in
    the encores. Perhaps I'm overly sensitized to it because it's
    my single most glaring musical deficiency, but I definitely
    detected Levin and Bruford speeding up in one section and then
    intentionally getting it back on track. Bruford played a Drum
    Workshop set with what appeared to be Sabian symbols and Roland
    MIDI pads.

    Bruford also meshed perfectly with the other drummer, Pat
    Mastelotto. He  was invisible to me during most of the night
    due to the location of my seats, but I definitely could _hear_
    him and he was great. I have no idea what type of drums he was
    playing.

    On to Trey Gunn... Woa. He's a Stick player, who plays a 12
    string model that's been fitted with a guitar body (guess what
    my next musical equipment purchase is! :-). The Stick is an
    instrument designed by Emmett Chapman; it is played with both
    hands "tapping" on the fretboard (a la Stanley Jordan guitar
    technique).  Both Tony Levin and Gunn play Stick, but I'd have
    to give the nod to Gunn when it comes to being master of the
    instrument. I've never heard anyone play the Stick so well.
    I've been playing Stick for 5 years and let me tell you...
    it's a bitch. To see Levin and Gunn play it is pretty dis-
    heartening, but entirely thrilling.

    Levin played fretted and fretless 5 string Music Man basses,
    and a 5 string Clevinger up-right. He used a bow on the
    Clevinger in a few numbers, and his trademark "finger
    extensions" (with the MM bass) on one number as well.
    Plus, he played his 10 string Stick, most notably on
    "Elephant Talk". The tone Levin gets on bass and Stick is
    bettered by no one on the planet, and it is why I am such
    an adherent to Trace Elliot equipment. That stuff has tone
    out the wazoo!

    Adrian Belew sang and played great... he used a red and pink
    Fender Stratocaster, with MIDI pickups. I believe he was
    using Roland's new guitar synth, but I'm not sure. He got
    some great sounds out of his guitar though. Not sure what
    his amplification was -- I could see it, but not well enough
    to read the labels -- and it was not something I'm immediately
    familiar with.

    The songs... oh yeah. Not a complete list, and in no order other
    than the order in which I think of them, but here's a sample:

    Vroom
    People
    Dinosaur
    Indiscipline
    Elephant Talk
    Heartbeat

    Oh bugger all... brain fry from a hard week and I don't have the
    CDs with me here so I can't remember. I'll enter more at a
    later time (or perhaps someone else can fill in the gaps).

    Ciao babies!!

    -b

    Howdy Brian :)))
    
    what a great show, we both loved it, even the California Guitar Trio,
    which could rate as one of the better opening acts I've ever seen at
    any concert...their set interested me enough to purchase a cd by them
    at some point...
    
    KC was incredible...Adrian Belew is a master of the guitar synth, and
    he was in Fine voice...Fripp got so excited at one point he even stood
    up for a second or two...that's when you know he's getting into it...
    he even "allowed" himself to show his face in the spotlight when they
    came out to the front of the stage...so That's what he looks like :)
    Mosteletto was superb on his acoustic set, and the various percussion
    he was playing, Trey Gunn played the Stick very well, he complimented
    Levin's basslines well...Levin is amazing with those finger extensions
    when playing his bass, and the sounds he got from his upright were
    outrageous...Bill Bruford is Bill Bruford...as the guy next to me
    yelled at one point "Bill Bruford is God" well, he certainly can play
    those electronic pads, it seems effortlessly...
    
    a question I have is, on the disc, Fripp is credited with mellotron,
    and I think I know what parts those are....but Belew played what seemed
    liked those very mellotron parts on his guitar synth...so, he must have
    been playing samples ???  or maybe he's playing those parts on the
    disc, and I had Fripp's mellotron parts all wrong ???
    
    I think they genuinely enjoyed the Boston crowd, and the 2nd encore of
    three songs was an added bonus I believe...I think the crowd is what
    got them to play those songs, and not put the lights up after the first
    encore...
    
    as Belew says in Indiscipline, "I Like It !!!"
    
    Wes

    Wes,

    Mellotrons have the reputation of being _the_ single most cranky
    piece of musical equipment ever invented. The Mellotron was a
    device which used actual (analog) recordings of various instruments,
    which were held on tape. The tapes were downright notorious for
    unreliability; chiefly, they loved to stretch, effecting the tuning
    in undesirable ways.

    If I was a band's road manager, and given the current digital
    sampling technology, I'd be inclined to insist they leave the
    Mellotron at home in favor of something a bit more road-worthy.

    I wasn't at all surprised to not see the Mellotron...

    -b

    Brian Rost and I were there too (much thanks to Brian's wife for
    bagging the show, providing me with a ticket) and we were also
    greeting by the venerable Wes on our way in (official Crimso
    welcoming committee? :-)

    As other notes have said, it was a great show.  Volume was amazingly
    tolerable; still loud, but well below the pain threshold.  We were
    front balcony way over to the "Trey" side.  I found it interesting
    that Fripp lurked in the shadows the whole night; unless you really
    looked closely, it seemed like a 5-piece most of the time.  You could
    almost imagine this band going Fripp-less; well, almost.

    I thought "Thrak" was a revelation live; when was the last time you
    saw group near-free improv at rock concert volume, and have it work
    too?  There were many similar amazing moments that night.

    Some equipment items:

    The instrument Trey was playing is not actually a Chapman Stick,
    although the idea is the same.  This was posted by Mark Warr on
    the Internet (reprinted here without permission):

    "These two instruments Trey is playing are called the Warr Touchstyle
     Bass/Guitar.  This is a 12 string stereo or mono instrument with bass
     and guitar capabilities.  This instrument has a 9 piece wood laminant
     neck through construction with graphite bars inlayed internally.
     The electronics feature custom 18 volt active Bartolini pickups.  You
     have many different tones at the flick of the switch (and very quiet
     too!).  The bridge is a custom intonatable 12 string Wilkinson.
     The instrument can be played both in a vertical or horizontal
     position and can be tapped, plucked, snaped, or poped."

    And indeed Trey did all of those things with it, and more!

    Also, although it looks like the Clevinger, I believe Tony Levin's
    electric upright is actually a new Steinberger unit.  These are
    profiled in the latest Bass Player mag; I think the price is around
    $6k (start saving Brian :-)

    /rick

    
    Hmmmm...  these guys are one of my favorites.  I've been into them since 
    '78 or so.
    
    I thought the show was good, but I was not as impressed with it as
    I was the "Discipline" tour I caught in Syracuse.  It was comfortable
    and pleasant, but not "awesome" in my book.
    
    For one thing, I thought that 6 Kings was 2 too many.  The sparseness
    of the Fripp/Belew/Levin/Bruford quarted worked better for me.  Fripp
    still sat down most of the show, but at least he sat down in the front.
    And the times where he got up to play felt stronger, like he *needed* to 
    get up to play
    
    "Indiscipline" was a sleep-through, in my opinion.  Belew was funny,
    but before he really *worked* that song - he didn't take it for
    granted.
    
    Trey was great, I guess, but Levin pushed the right buttons for me
    on stick, even if he's not as technically adept.
    
    "Lark's Tounge" and "Talking Drum" were the stand-outs for me, maybe
    "Frame By Frame," too.
    
    Admittedly, my seats sucked, and maybe the had a lot to do with it.
    
    - Sean
    
    

    Put me in the "thumbs up" column for the Boston show.  I love listening
    to Levin and Bruford work with each other.  Belew is a fun, fun, fun
    frontman (although he wasn't as goofy as usual).  The instrumental
    pieces from the new album worked much better live than they did in the
    studio.  I have the feeling that the two new guys (as talented as they
    are) could have fallen off the face of the earth and the quality of the 
    show wouldn't have diminished at all, but that could just be a personal 
    bias.
    
    All in all, a complete pleasure.  The Orpheum could still use an air
    conditioner, though.  And some bolts to make the seats more secure.
    
    				- Paul

    I often found it kind of difficult to hear the parts Trey Gunn was
    doing; he was all over the instrument, but from where we were sitting
    his finger movements didn't correlate well to any clear lines, chords
    or melodies (we were getting a somewhat skewed mix being way over on
    the side).  It wasn't until his solo spot that I got the chance to
    really appreciate what he was doing.  The Warr was an amazing looking
    beast, like a sitar on steroids.
    
    I'll have to agree with Sean and say that Tony Levin really did it
    for me on stick.  When he hit the opening to "Elephant Talk", you
    could feel the electricity shoot through the audience.  Gunn was
    doing more, but Tony seemed to have the more distinctive voice.
    
    /rick
    

    I guess we were lucky with our seats, on the floor, dead center, about
    the 5th row back in the 2nd section, right next to the light board...
    I agree that the show wasn't too loud, surprising, I've come out of the
    Orpheum with my ears just about bleeding...  it was easy for me to pick
    out what Trey was doing vs. Tony, Stick-wise, but they really didn't
    overlap 2 Sticks as I recall, except for Elephant Talk and the dueling
    Sticks before that...  Trey did a nice solo part on the "guitar" part
    of his Warr...cool

    This was taken from "Elephant Talk", the Crimson page out on the web.
    One of the members of the California Guitar Trio has been publishing
    a sort of tour diary there; nothing earthshaking, but I just thought
    it was an interesting read.  Reprinted here without permission
    (moderators, if I've committed some sort of net crime by doing
    this please let me know).
    
    
To: [email protected]
Subject: MISC: On the road again!

Hello again E.T. ers,

Sunday May 28th, I am composing this message while we are travelling down
Canadian Route 401 on our way to Montreal from Toronto. We are off to a
good start on this leg of the tour.  The audiences in both Buffalo and
Toronto went completely wild.

When the CGT walked out on the stage in Buffalo, we had a few skeptics in
the audience making loud comments about thier dissapproval of having to sit
through an opening act after waiting so long (10 years) to see Crimson.
One guy yelled out "play one song and then get off the stage!", but by the
end of our 30 min. set we had the whole place on their feet cheering for
more!

It has been interesting reading the E.T. show reviews (good and bad) as we
go along. Although most of the reviews have been good, I don't expect that
we can always make everybody happy all the time and certainly everone is
entitled to their own opinion, but it seems to me that sometimes people
miss the point completely.  I wonder what these people who say that they
are so dissappointed were expecting?  In general things are not what you
would expect them to be.  When people come to the shows with a lot of
expectations (as opposed to coming with an open heart and open mind) they
are often dissappointed.

People don't realize how much the public effects the quality of a
performance.  The audience can make the difference between a show that
seems like hard labor, struggling to make it to the end and a show that is
sheer enjoyment, feeling like I could continue playing all night.  The type
of venue is also a major factor.  In Dusseldorf, Germany, we played in a
small sports arena that felt like playing into a huge black hole.  The
audience seemed so far away and so separated from the stage it was
difficult to receive any energy or feedback from the public at all.

Monday May 29th.  The show last night in Montreal was magic.  If any of you
are wondering what it takes to be a good supportive audience - ask the
2000+ fans in Montreal!!!  One negative note from last night: the security
at the venue was too tough.  Towards the end of the show, a few people
stood up to dance in the aisle and were physically escorted back to their
seats.

More tour updates later,
Cheers,
Paul Richards,  California Guitar Trio
    

    After last weeks show, I needed a Crimso fix so I checked out the CD
    stacks for some new product and picked up a disc by the Robert Fripp
    String Quintet.  The quintet is Fripp, Trey Gunn, and the California
    Guitar Trio.  Tracks were recorded live during some European tour dates
    they did together in '93.

    I really liked the CGT, wanted to hear more of Trey, and thought it
    would nice to hear Fripp in a more unencumbered setting.  This disc
    delivers on all three.  A couple of the tunes are recognizable from the
    CGT's opening set at the Orpheum.  For the most part, they do their thing
    with Gunn adding some additional counterpoint and Fripp soaring over the
    top.  The tunes in general are quiet and low key, but still at times
    display a remarkable Crimson'ish quality; like they boiled down the
    essence and bottled it.  The compositions are fairly simple (well,
    except for some Bach arrangements) and the playing is less chops
    heavy and more texture and atmosphere.  A good record to kick back
    to with the lights off on a sticky summer night.  Recommended,
    especially if you're interested in hearing some Fripp of a slightly
    different color.
    
    /rick

    
    Crossposted (with slight modification) from elsewhere:
    
    King Crimson/17-Nov-1995/Paramount Theatre/Springfield Massachusetts
        
    An EXTREMELY disappointing show by King Crimson. It was a small
    (maybe 2000) seat venue in Springfield. KC did NOT want to
    be there. They tried to give it their $25 ticket-price worth,
    but the venue, the audience and Adrian Belew's voice conspired
    against them. This was especially disappointing since when I saw
    KC last summer in Boston they were BRILLIANT!

    First, the sound sucked. The Boston show started off bad but got
    better as the night progressed. This is no surprise. Sound check
    is done in an empty theatre and the crowd definitely affects the
    acoustics. Last night, the sound engineer never managed to sort
    out the odd shape of the venue, which was essentially wide (side
    to side), very short (front to back) and tall (much like the Opera
    House in Boston). It seems to me that the PA system that KC had
    in Boston was too small, but assumed this would occur to them later
    in the tour.
    
    Not so, five months later, same old puny PA system. In
    theatre type venues, it's essential to orient a portion of
    the system for the balcony. Since that describes virtually
    EVERY venue on the tour it seems that would have occurred
    to the sound contractor by now. No such luck.

    On to the crowd. What a bunch of mental deficients. Not at
    all what I expect at a KC show; their fans are generally
    from the egg-head end of the gene pool. Last night
    featured several morons who would yell at the band during each
    quiet passage. Adrian!!!!!!! Tony!!!!!! Bill Bruford!!!!
    Like we needed liner notes on steroids.
    
    Then there was the fish in the boat guy. I don't know what it
    is, but I'm a moron magnet at concerts. The guy in front
    of me went out into the aisle and started flopping around
    like a fish stranded in the bottom of a boat. It appears
    this was his idea of dancing. Eventually, security asked
    him to stop, at which point he returned to his seat and
    did his flop thing there. In front of me. Oh joy.

    Adrian must have blown out his voice as well. KC did three
    encores, all instrumentals. They took the mic off the stage
    about 2/3 through the show and he never uttered another sound.

    The band didn't moon the audience, but believe me, it wouldn't
    have been much of a degradation of this affair.

    Blech.

    -b

    Brian, I talked to a guy in California who said basically the
    same thing.  Although he did omit the amusing fish illustration

    Tom

    I don't really have the energy at the moment for a full rebuttal,
    but... I think the fish man may have tainted your evening. You should
    have had the chicken! I had no fish man, and thoroughly enjoyed the 
    show. I wouldn't call the performance 'inspired', but there were some 
    exceptional moments, and the rest was fine. I agree about the shouting 
    boneheads in the audience, of course.  
    
    Maybe it's because I don't have the Boston show to compare it to.
    Or because I wasn't in the balcony... sound was fine at my spot.
      
    Tom

    
    Tom,
    
    Anytime you get the likes of Bruford, Levin, Fripp and Belew
    together, you're bound to get some exceptional moments. But
    plain old exception moments is a bad night for KC. There was
    something "odd" about that show; fish man aside! :-)
    
    You didn't think it strange that the encores were all instrumentals?
    You didn't think it strange that the roadies completely removed
    Adrian Belew's mike from the stage? You think a second drum
    solo was really part of the plan; as an encore no less?
    
    Both the CFG and KC played a shorter set than they did in Boston.
    CFG were great, but played for 45 minutes in Boston. They were
    gone in less than 30 in Springfield.
    
    Something was amiss. I don't know what it was. I assumed it was
    a combination of road burn, a second-class venue and a
    neanderthal crowd. Maybe I'm wrong, but I know one thing: that
    was definitely NOT King Crimson at their best!
    
    -b

    
    P.S.
    
    I think the biggest difference between the Boston show and
    the Springfield show was Trey Gunn, who was simply unreal
    in Boston. In my opinion, he dominated the evening in Boston.
    He barely did anything in Springfield. Very ho hum outing on
    his part.
    
    -b

    
> He barely did anything in Springfield. Very ho hum outing on his part.

I do agree that I expected more from him - he was quite in the background.

FYA, here is an opposing viewpoint of the show from R.M.P ... from a guy
who thinks this was BETTER than the Boston show. 

To each ...

------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Michael Kelly <[email protected]>
Newsgroups: rec.music.progressive
Subject: KC Springfeild MA Review with Set List

Here are my two cents re: the 11/17/95 show at the Paramount
Theater in Springfeild, Mass.  We were happy to see the
California Guitar Trio take the stage and blown away by the end
of their set.  This is the third time we have seen them and it
was the strongest performance to date, getting a well deserved
standing ovation from the crowd.  They played a new song which
was great as well as a crowd pleasing cover of the Dick
Dale/Pulp Fiction Theme to close the set.  Looking forward to
the next album.
 
We really enjoyed the Boston KC show earlier this year during
the first leg of the tour.  Given that experience and having had
some time to listen to "B'Boom", our expectations were even
higher this time around.  WOW!  They truly burned through the
entire show!  It was hard to catch your breath as "Matte
Kudasai" was the only "quiet" moment.
 
There were a number of things that really enhanced this show for
our group including the changes in the set list, the lighting,
better seats and the performances. Though I new about the set
changes ahead of time, I didn't know if they would work.... they
did.  The lighting remained fairly subtle, but the minor changes
really accentuated the different moods and solos.
 
Belew was more energetic and thrilling on guitar.  Levin was
astounding - not a new experience but still....  The last time I
was a little disappointed that he didn't play his stick a little
more.  This time I couldn't keep my eyes off him as he reached
for a different instrument.  I know that David Cross is not
viewed as the highest caliber of musician to have played in KC
but I really miss his violin, feeling it added yet another
dimension to the music.  Levin filled that void well through
bowing his electric stand up bass. I also enjoyed Mastelotto the
most out of the three times I have seen him perform (2 KC, 1
Sylvian/Fripp).  He seemed to be doing a lot of creative fills
that I expected Bruford to handle. Bruford was great and a joy
to watch...as always.
 
What I could hear of Trey Gunn I enjoyed quite a bit.
Unfortunately he seemed to be way down in the mix, even when the
"spot light" was on him.  I have grown to really enjoy his
playing and would of liked to hear him better.  The duet with
Levin was great however and seemed a little longer than the
first leg of the tour.  Could have been longer still!
 
Fripp seemed happier through the first half of the set actually
smiling several times.  He adopted his more customary poker face
later on in the show.  I think I enjoyed his playing more during
first half though I can not point to anything specific.  I
continue to enjoy his soundscapes much more within the context
of a band as opposed to on their own.
 
The set list was as follows;
 
Standing Drum Duet
Thela Hun Ginjeet
Frame By Frame
Red  (thought the theater would burst into flames)
Dinosaur
Nuerotica (my first time live - loved the arrangement)
Sex Sleep Eat Drink Dream
Three of a Perfect Pair
People
Vrooom Vrooom
Soundscape/B'Boom
Thrak (longer improv this time, still not long enough!)
Matte Kudasai
Elephant Talk (seemed a little rushed but still fun)
Indiscipline (ditto above)
 
Encores
 
Standing Drum/Percussion Trio (Bruford, Masteloto, Belew) (tons
of fun!)
Vrooom with Coda
 
The Talking Drum
Larks Tongue In Aspic Part II
 
I may have enjoyed this show even more than the Discipline tour
which was my introduction to all four members live.  Vrooom -
Thrak - B'Boom - Sizzle!  I envy anyone seeing more than one
date of this leg of the tour.  Enjoy!

    
    I didn't even like the Boston show that much...  At least not
    as much as the Discipline Tour show I saw in Syracuse.
    
    - Sean