It was very hot in Cincinnati on the evening of Monday, July 23, 2001, and the temperature was matched by the humidity. Upon entering Bogart's, a cavernous, ugly pit of a concert venue if ever there was one, the relief was fleeting. As the general admission, you'll-stand-and-watch-this-show-and-shut-up-and-be-glad-about-it crowd gathered on the floor, the heat, humidity and body aromas only intensified. Ah, but there was a certain delight in this scene! Often, I'm ridiculed for my tastes in music, mostly by the GenX types with whom I work - but here in this place were hundreds of folks who were braving these harsh conditions to hear this marvelous music, just as I was. There's a certain comfort in knowing that no matter where I turned, I could find someone who would be happy to discuss the relative merits of "Larks' Tongues in Aspic, Part II" and "Larks' Tongues in Aspic, Part IV"!
You're probably thinking to yourself, "Why would a band of such legendary status as King Crimson open up a tour in Cincinnati, Ohio?" Well, perhaps I can shed some light on that. As you may or may not know, the Cincinnati area is where Crimso member (and now elder-statesman) Adrian Belew grew up and cut his musical teeth. And since he now lives, and King Crimson has been rehearsing, "just down the road a ways" in Nashville, Cincinnati probably seemed like a logical place to kick off their tour. It's a pity that they couldn't have landed in one of the more hospitable locations in town, but no matter; the music was what was important on this evening.
[Pictured: Adrien Belew.]
And what a treat it was! The crowd was very receptive, and the band seemed to pick up on that right from the start. They began subtly. The first number, which I later discovered was titled "Curves," faded up from almost nothing, with Belew rapidly picking one staccato note in an odd time signature on his Stratocaster, reminiscent of Holst's "Mars," while Robert Fripp washed orchestral-sounding chords over it. Trey Gunn grounded it with his melodious touch-bass soundings, while drummer Pat Mastelotto gently punctuated with electronic effects. This piece, which I'm not familiar with, gradually built to a glorious crescendo, then ended abruptly. Without a word, they launched into "The ConstruKction of Light," the title song from their latest release. There were definitely some problems with the mix - the bottom was difficult to hear (in stark contrast to the sound of the album, where the bass sound is VERY LARGE INDEED! This CD will put your subwoofer to the test!), but those kinks were gradually ironed out. Their timing was impeccable, and they forged into the piece with mounting intensity. I got chills up my spine - even in the stifling heat - when, after the halting end of the song's opening section, they played the beautiful Fripp-trademarked contrapuntal dual-guitar melody. It was one of many sublime moments in this wondrous evening. Prior to the start of the song, a roadie put a music stand in front of Belew, I can only assume so that he would have the song's intricate lyrics correct when he sang in the final part.
The music stand was taken away, and, just as on the album, they immediately began "Into the Frying Pan." Remarkably, Belew harmonized with himself on this one; apparently there was an electronic multiplier on his voice. There was no shortage of electronic wizardry throughout this concert, as was evidenced during the song's ultra-heavy coda. The sound that Fripp was producing was unbelievably huge, a big fat sound that no ordinary guitar can produce.
"Welcome home, Adrian!" someone shouted during a silence after the end of the song. "Thank you, and welcome to the first concert of our tour," Belew replied. "We're going to create some new stuff right before your very eyes tonight, including this." This was about as verbose a moment as the band provided us, further proof that with this band, the music does the talking.
No title was given for the new instrumental. It was complicated and intense, and underscored the increasing amount of complex interplay between Fripp and Belew that is becoming a trademark of recent King Crimson music. It wouldn't surprise me to learn that the title of the piece was "Larks' Tongues in Aspic-Part V," though. I could swear I heard that famous chord-and-rhythm sequence in there.
Next up was "FraKctured," from the latest album, and another franchised Crimson masterpiece. Like "Larks' Tongues," which has been revisited in several forms over the years, this one takes themes and motifs from an earlier song - in this case "Fracture" from the 1974 album Starless and Bible Black - and infuses it with new life. Fripp's pyrotechnics were in abundant display here, with his fingers flying over the fretboard of his guitar so quickly they seemed to blur. The interplay among the four musicians was simply astonishing. This is one very complicated, very intense piece of music, and it was wonderful to watch the eye contact that they all made with each other as they forged through the song's many dynamic and rhythmic changes. During one of the most intense parts of the song, Robert Fripp allowed himself to give Belew a rare onstage smile. Whether this was because of some minute mistake (which I couldn't detect) or simply because he was having a good time, I don't know. But it was a good moment.
For his part, Adrian Belew never stopped smiling. His hair a mess, looking as though he'd just rolled out of bed, he's far and away the most animated member of this band. Lead singer and frontman-by-default, he obviously relishes the role, even though he tones down his behavior considerably from his onstage antics with The Bears. During the next number, "Frame by Frame" from the landmark 1981 album Discipline, he played the role to the hilt. Jumping and dancing, pounding his guitar strings above the nut, he sang the song with gusto - I have a feeling that this is one of his personal favorites from the Crimso catalogue. This version was slightly different from the album version, but I think that was only because of the King Crimson ethic of always throwing new wrinkles into old material.
That ethic didn't hold true for the next number, "Red," title song from the 1975 album. With the exception of Robert's screeching-guitar accents, they were note-perfect on this classic Fripp composition, which drew roars of approval from the audience. The power of this piece hasn't diminished one bit over the twenty-five-plus years since I first heard it. During the slow-down middle section, Fripp hammered out his dissonant chords, while Belew and Trey Gunn took the ominous-sounding melody.
They completed the trio of older tunes with "Dinosaur," from the Thrak album. (There's a Lennon-esque quality to the melodic motif that pervades this song, and I've always wondered if the lyrics are, at least in part, about the Beatles: predatory people picking over the bones of the long-dead group, looking for ways to profit from them.) Once again, they followed the album version closely, though Adrian didn't belt out the chorus in the higher octave until the last time - it was, after all, the first night of the tour; I'm sure he didn't want to blow out his voice in the first concert. They changed the ending a little bit, too. The long, deceptive, false-ending silence was omitted, undoubtedly because at a rock concert, even a King Crimson concert, a silent moment is impossible. An audience will always fill a space like that with noise. But they ended the song with the same delicious, searing guitar riff from Fripp as on the album. The rest of the band waited for it, with all six eyes glued on Fripp.
As the applause died down, we became aware of a beat playing quietly. This was the intro for another new piece, possibly an improvisation. This rhythmic figure (I think it was in 11/4 time, though I can't swear to that) repeated throughout the song. Trey Gunn began to play a beautiful, fluid melody over it on his touch guitar. This is a fascinating instrument, a ten-stringed hybrid bass and baritone guitar, which is played with both hands on the fretboard. This manner of playing allows the player a huge range of tonal and rhythmic possibilities, though it must be a very difficult instrument to learn. Gunn's playing is very fluid, and he seems completely comfortable with it. As Gunn, tall, thin and handsome, added force to his melody, Pat Mastelotto began to embellish the rhythmic figure with his large array of electronic percussion equipment. For much of the song, he stood behind his drum kit. Mastelotto is a fascinating drummer to watch - he has a way of looking as though he's working very hard when he's playing the normal backing rhythms of the songs, and then making his licks and fills looks nearly effortless. I'm a drummer, and I'm a huge fan of Bill Bruford, who has been King Crimson's drummer since 1973. I admit that I felt disappointment that Bruford wouldn't be playing with Crimso (he's working these days with his own band, Bill Bruford's Earthworks), but all of that disappointment evaporated as I watched Pat Mastelotto work this night. He's tight, precise and quick, and he drives this band in ways that Bruford never did. As Gunn and Mastelotto gathered power and commanded the attention of the audience, Belew and Fripp added all sorts of sonic textures overlaying their foundation. Belew's guitar, obviously synthesized, sounded like an orchestra's string section, and Fripp contributed all kinds of interesting touches. Together the four wove a gorgeous and lush sonic tapestry, then abruptly stopped. Some people started to applaud, but I could tell by the way they were all looking at each other that the song was not yet over. After several seconds of this silence, they resumed the piece, perfectly in synch. They continued with the song for a while longer, and then it seemed to just sort of peter out. Very strange, but then this was a King Crimson concert, and one should never expect anything quite standard from these guys!
After that, they returned to more familiar territory with "ProzaKc Blues," the opening number from the latest album. This is such a bizarre song. It's almost a standard twelve-bar blues song, but run through a King Crimson filter. As nearly as I can determine, it's in 13/4 time. Who would ever expect to hear a King Crimson song that begins "Well, I woke up this morning..." and contains the words ."..a fifth of Jack"? Belew sang it straight, without the electronic doctoring that, on the album, has his voice lowered into an abnormal register.
Is there any less rock star-like rock star than Robert Fripp? Throughout the evening, he sat on a stool off to one side at stage left. There was never a light on him, much less a spotlight. But he sat there in the shadows, ramrod straight, playing simply astonishing things, commanding attention from both the audience and his fellow band members. This was never more in evidence than during the number that closed the main body of the concert, "Larks' Tongues in Aspic-Part IV." This song occupies cuts 7, 8, and 9 on the ConstruKction of Light CD, and is a relentlessly intense piece of music. For a band that has made its mark by playing complicated, intense music, this song stands out as one of the most complicated and intense. After the introduction - there's that signature chord again! - the intensity started to build and doesn't let up. The second portion of the song (Cut 8 on your CD player's display) featured Fripp playing mind-bogglingly fast figures as the rest of the band slammed out a highly rhythmic backdrop. As Fripp's fingers flew over his guitar's neck, his concentration was incredible. If his eyes had been lasers, he would have burned a hole right through his guitar. He and the rest built to crescendo after crescendo, only to pause and build to another, still higher one. Then suddenly, all four of them would play a rapid succession of notes in perfect unison. Then Fripp was off again, spurring the band on to still higher peaks. Finally, that part came to a close with a familiar-sounding instrumental chorus. But it was far from over. After that chorus, it was Belew's turn to shine (Cut 9, if you're keeping score). His part takes a more traditional solo form, played over the song's rhythmic main theme. But he manages to take the song to an even higher intensity somehow. Belew was in full guitar-god form here, hammering his guitar, bending the neck, working feedback, and playing amazing melodies with lightning speed. Finally all of this resolved, as they played the song's coda (which is Cut 10 on the album), a dirge-like figure. They left out the vocal, which mourns many of the tragic events of our time, but left in the beautiful, chilling major chord that ends this composition.
The place absolutely erupted in cheers and applause. Saturated with perspiration, they bowed and left the stage. But everyone knew that wasn't the end of the evening. After a minute or two, Fripp, Gunn and Mastelotto returned to the stage to play "The Deception of the Thrush," a piece that was a product of the many side ProjeKcts of Crimson. This is a quiet, atmospheric piece, with odd disembodied voicings that occur from time to time. During this one, Gunn took the main melodic duties, playing a gorgeous solo that drew cheers from the crowd. His humble, smiling acknowledgement was very nice. It was as though he was surprised that anyone would notice him in this band full of huge talents.
After that, Belew returned to the stage. He leaned over to each of his bandmates and said something, then went to the microphone and announced that they were going to play something very new, from a new CD that they have yet to begin recording. "We hadn't intended to play this one, but we're going to anyway," he said. This seems to be a hallmark of King Crimson in concert, the playing of a new piece which may still be in the process of being ironed out. Road-testing. The piece was actually kind of a rocker, and just about the time I thought they were going to stick to straight 4/4 time, they threw in some parts that were very rhythmically complex. Just another day's work for a band that is never afraid to challenge its listeners or itself.
At the conclusion of the new song, they went right into an old favorite, "Thela Hun Ginjeet," from the Discipline album. Belew sang the melodies, but the spoken parts of the song used his voice on tape; the same bits - "This is a dangerous place." "He held a gun in his hand" - as you hear on the original. This gave the song a bit of a surreal quality; Adrian stepping away from the mic, yet we could still hear his voice. I'm sure that they played this one to send us out the door with a glow, as if the stifling heat wasn't enough!
At the end, Belew, Gunn and Mastelotto bowed and left the stage. Robert Fripp fiddled with a bag that he had some smaller gear in, then came downstage and crossed right at the front of the stage. He gave a small nod to the cheers and waves of the crowd, then walked upstage and exited. It was a nice way for him to have just a moment alone with the audience, all of whom know that without Robert Fripp, none of this music would exist. It was a special moment, and it felt completely spontaneous.
King Crimson is famous for never having any two concerts be exactly alike. Their improvisational ethic, plus their huge catalogue from which to choose material, make for a lot of variety from night to night. So if you go to see them, which I highly recommend if this is your sort of music, whether in the early part of the tour in the smaller venues, or later on in larger venues where they'll be appearing with Tool, don't expect a concert that mirrors the one I've just recounted. But do expect consummate musicianship, relentless intensity, and lots of surprises.
You can learn more about King Crimson at
http://www.disciplineglobalmobile.com/, and
also at Adrian Belew's web site at
http://www.adrianbelew.net/.
Tool's site can be found at
http://www.toolband.com/, and
The Bears at
http://www.thebearsmusic.com/.
