Excerpts from the always educational, sensational and multi-denominational:
E L E P H A N T T A L K
The Internet newsletter for Robert Fripp
and King Crimson enthusiasts
Number 900
Wednesday, 28 November 2001
Today's Topics:
GIG REVIEW: St. Louis show review
GIG REVIEW: 11/25 St. Louis Gig, ect.
GIG REVIEW: Crims in St. Louis (quick review)
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 26 Nov 2001 09:35:18 -0800
From: Paul MacFarlane <paulmac at macfarlanecohn dot com>
Subject: GIG REVIEW: St. Louis show review
Wow.
JPJ was his usual beaming, powerful, modest but rumbling zooming, confident
self. The new stuff is amazing and I particularly love the song about him
and his wife Mo, "Freedom Song."
Krimso played flawlessly, great sound--not too loud-- not from my spot,
anyway--but rumbling, dark, multi-colored jewels came streaming forth from
the stage all night.
Every number swept me off my feet to clouds of angels in a swirling,
dynamic melange of delight.
I was right in front of Trey and I saw nothing but smiles from
everyone. Even Robert wore a near Buddha smile all night, nary a scowl and
I must say the crowd was more appreciative than I once feared from this
backwater town.
Ade's voice was back in good form, though no Thela-- and he might have
dropped another one, I forget.
But I met Ade, Pat, Trey and Jonesy before the show and got autographs,
pressed some godflesh and realized what charming, open, vulnerable, sweet
people thay all are. Only wish I could have taken the whole gang out for
dinner.
Great show, great crowd, great eneregy, eclecticism and intensity.
Another night that makes life seem easier to go with after.
God bless you all.
Paul MacFarlane
St. Louis
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 26 Nov 2001 13:18:20 -0800
From: "LAVERNE MUNARI" <dose2000 at msn dot com>
Subject: GIG REVIEW: 11/25 St. Louis Gig, ect.
This is my opinion/review of last nite's JPJ/KC Gig here.(IT'S LONG!!BE
FOREWARNED!)
Pls allow me to preface my review of the perfomance(s)at last evening's KC
Gig with a little history. 1st off, I attended this show w/2 lifelong(over
30 years of friendship)friends & a NEW friend from the Chicago area who has
thus far been to the Minneapolis-Madision & Chicago shows in the last week
or so. Her name is Sarah, & Toby will undoubtedly know her as the NEW FAQ
mistress. My friends & I are all "old geezer's"(all close to 50 yrs of age)&
the 3 of us learned of KC at the same moment.A group of us had gathered at
our local hangout, drinking beer & some smoking mind altering substances,
the lot of us surrounding someone who owed a car w/an FM radio & the best
speakers, as we often did. The 1st "progressive"(no pun intended)FM radio
station here, KSHE began in 67, playing only the best "Hippie" music
available, be it rock & roll/Hard Rock/Folk/Blues/along with a little bit of
Soul music & other types. The station made it's mark by being ready/willing
& able to play any song at any length, often entire albums.(Back to the KC
thread)So it was late at nite at the end of 69 or beginning of 70 when we
all were floored to hear the entire ITCOTCK album. My 2 friends and I went
out the next day & scoured every record store within 20 miles of
metropolitian St. Louis & were all able to purchase this amazing peice of
vinyl history.
The same 2 friends & I have attended every(7)King Crimson show in St. Louis,
beginning in 72, then almost a yr to the month later in 73 & ect.ect. Which
brings me to the show of last nite(11/25 at the Pageant)for which we
gathered & met young(25)Sarah, had a few drinks & talked of all things
Crimson, blah blah blah. We have heard KC at 5 different venues prior to
last nite which was the 6th. The only slightly negitive KC show we attended
was when they OPENED the HORDE Festival here in 95 or 96. Slightly negitive
because "they" "were out of their element" by being far superior in
talent/musicality, & only having slightly more than 1 hr to play(1
encore)but forced to open a "druggie" show. However that 60/70 mins was the
musical highlight of the day/nite.Awesome soundboardman, great treatment of
the mic'd instruments/vocals & pa sound especially for an "outdoor" setting.
In other words, we had been spoiled by great soundboard work from 72 on.
Being that there were 2 musicians & a person involved in the art of
attempting to make differnt personel/bands sound their best at different
types of venues; everything from a VFW hall to an outdoor Festival at Chuck
Berry's Farm, & a true theatre(The Fox Theatre)to even a CAVE!(Yes Missouri
is famous for our caves & a very sucessful band I was in PLAYED at this
privately owned cave, whose natural floor was flatened & cemented to
accomadate roller skating of all things, as well as wedding receptions &
band gigs.The toughest sound situation i've encountered!)as well as someone
who had been to 3 previous KC concerts on this tour, so this is a "hybrid"
review, but IS MINE as i'm sure the others will write their own SHORTER
reviews.
The JPJ Orchestra opened of course and the 1st thing everyone of us noticed
was, the sound level was such that it seemed NO-ONE needed hearing
protection! So far Great! JPJ is a talented veteran & was intelligent enough
to use someone as technically proficient(who also brings soul & LIFE to the
band)as Nick Beggs to play Chapman Stick, & do the higher value notes, since
there really is no guitar to speak of, save an electric Ukelele.(Actually 2,
an acoustic hollow body w electric pickup & miked & a custom solid bodied
Uke fed thru a Marshall stack)which Jones plays, along w/an electric 4
string bass & a custom(I believe it was an 8 string)flat bass, setup much as
a Hawaiian or pedal steel guitar would be. The drummer(who's name escapes
me)uses a conventional setup with a hand drum(played w/sticks or
mallets)which was setup on a boom cymbal stand.(It was either a mondo tar
drum or more likely a bodhran)The instant they began playing & it continued
the entire hr. the sound was horrible! Muddy, no dymanics in sound variation
at all, no mid range, no highs, just a terribly muddy wash! I DO NOT
entirely blame this on the soundboard technician, as this appears to be
Jones' techs & setup people, as well as Jones/Beggs & drummers fault as no
instruments were properly miked! However, as a musician I know that even
w/minimal mic coverage, the soundboard guy certainly could have done a
better job on seperation & frequency, as the sound comming from the
stage(when 1 stood close enuff to only hear what came from the amps & not
the PA)was much better than what you heard when you were 20 to 50/75 feet
away from the stage. Some good songs & 2 of the 3 musicians were quite
talented. Nothing to write home about tho!
After a 30 min tear down/new setup, the Kings took over the stage, and what
a difference. 1st highly notable thing, Robert was as close to "center
stage" as "i've" ever seen him, sitting on his stool 15 feet away from any
curtain or partition he might hide behind!! Sarah had mentioned pre-show
that the nite before in Chicago, Adrian had completely lost his voice, and
avoided singing as much as possible. I believe she said he completely
stopped after having trouble w/the last song he vocalized on! So I/we were
quite suprisingly pleased when he began singing after a couple of
instrumentals, & his voice was at least 75%!! The men seemed to be very
animated throughout, and played w/vigor, and after playing probably 4 very
recognizable 'newer" tunes, Sarah(all of us)were delighted to hear them play
at least 3 songs that had not been done in the concerts she had been to
already, & songs I have not seen posted by anyone yet!(Well maybe Virtuous
Circle)but the others seemed to be new to the set list.(I'm sure Sarah will
post the list)While the sound was 100% better for KC, it still was not up to
par. Surely, the Pageant(which has a corregated/metal roof w/little
acoustical treatment that I could see)has to assume part of the blame here,
as even tho it is a brand new buidling constructed just for musical
performances, & has nice ammenities such as a seperate bar area, but also a
huge 1 for the concert side, vg bathroom facilities which are quite large
enough for a full house & toilets & sinks that have sensors that flush
themselves. As far as the stage goes, it is quite spacious-side to side &
front to back & approx. 9 feet high. A Nice stage lighting setup suspended
from the ceiling, but no suspened pa system. The floor for ALL shows, seems
to be set up for gen. add. as there is a large area on the floor for
standing & moving about as well as small tables further back(however people
sitting on the floor w/people standing have NO sight lines.) About 80 feet
back there are 2 more levels w/tables from which you can view everything.
The balcony appears nice as well,formed in a horseshoe, but little space
from balcony eve to walls. While the building is setup well, it seems to be
lacking in the acoustic planning.
What i'd like to know(?)is WHO is Crimson's new soundboard gent? He
certainly does'nt come close to his predecessor, and I doubt he'll be around
after this tour!(If there ever is another tour? Even though Mr. Fripp seemed
to be having a wonderful time last nite, how much longer can we really
expect him to tour? His age is a # of yrs older than mine & another 6 year
wait would really put him up there. I'm not saying he's not physically up to
it(altho that would be a consideration)it's more mental & w/all one has to
deal w/when "heading up a band " it would be hard going at say 60+!
To end up the performance/sound problems/building rant, I would have to give
the "boy's" an A grade for volume level, very acceptable(And altho I spent
alot of time next to STACKS of suped-up 200 watt Marshall's & huge booming
200 watt Acoustic(brand name)bass amps & all sorts of other high volume
setup's, since i've been playing; my hearing is quite good altho 1 cannot do
this for years w/o expecting & suffering SOME damage)no one I spoke w/wore
protection. The performance itself would also receive an A even tho Adrian
did delete some lyrics, everyone delivered the usual amazing effort. The
venue would get a C+, & the soundman a C, they did'nt replace the 1 that did
that work for yrs w/someone even close. Overall, I would reccomend everyone
w/tickets to upcomming shows to look forward to a very enjoyable show, & not
worry too much about the volume.
For posters Jordan in ET 898 & Kris M a coupla issues back, there was a
good sized area set aside for merchandise, & while there was quite a bit
offered in shirts(not as many great 1's as I saw in 95)there was much more
of an array of CD's for $20 unsigned & $25 autographed. Many Crimson
offerings(alot of "live" stuff)cd's by Pat & Trey some Fripp stuff, I don't
recall seeing any of Ade's stuff, then you have JPJ's "Zooma" & solo cd by
Nick Beggs, in which he either plays ALL instruments or uses loops,
programming. The tee shirt's were IMHO, rather bland. Mostly black shirts
w/simple graphic designs, a black shirt w/the ITCOTCK cover(smallish)but it
was'nt a very good example of printing, as it looked faded next to the
orignal cover & even to tee's i've seen in the past. The only KC shirt I own
was given to me & I still consider it to be the best, & that was from 95 &
is white tee w/LTIA sun on front & KING CRIMSON above, w/Larks Tounge In
Aspic on back. The nicest graphic KC tee i've seen. Back in 95 there was a
company you could order like 8 different shirts from, but I guess that no
longer exsists. If you have any drawing ability at all or even if you don't
you can use a smooth wood surface like clipboards are made of, stretch the
tee over a large peice(you have to stretch it)and buy tubes of what is
called Embroidery paint/or ink, the tubes have a roller type ball to
distribute the paint, and just use the original ALBUM(vinyl)cover & simply
trace over the image & fill in the colors. I did this very thing back in the
70's(both freehand & tracing)& while it's time comsumming, it made the best
looking ITCOTCK shirt i've seen anywhere! BTW, they do have a polo shirt
that has KING CRIMSON embroidered over the left chest area for $35. It was
nice looking but you could likely buy a shirt & have it done cheaper. I
did'nt care for the tee's available at all, but that's just me.
Lastly(finally right?)Toby, when you gave us # of subscribers to ET by
country, I would have to think the USA # of 18 was a misprint, right? I
Mean, I know of 6 people in St. Louis alone! Estonia has more? Greece?
Croatia? Hungary? Pakistan? No way.
[ You cannot accurately tell who is in the US, based on Internet domain
name. For example, I use several ".com" email addresses, but I am a UK
resident. So most USA ETers will be in the "others" category in the
original breakdown. -- Toby ]
Sorry for the length, I just was excited about the possible final
performance of KC here, and wanted to set aside the paranoia over the VOLUME
level, pls don't let this stop you from seeing an incredible performance.
2hrs of KC, i'll take that anyday, even w/a somewhat poorer mix. I would'nt
let something as trivial as that keep me away. Sarah will be in K.C. to see
KC for the 5th time Tuesday & will no doubt do a helluva post- look for it!
By the way Pat signed a ticket I was given & I passed it onto her since she
did'nt catch the drum sticks she deserved! Go, enjoy the show, it might be
the last chance!
STEVEN MUNARI
"There are 40 people in the world and 5 of them are hamburgers" Don Van
Vliet(I Need a new quote)
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 26 Nov 2001 14:05:39 -0600
From: "Steve Marshall" <stevem at thenightowl dot com>
Subject: GIG REVIEW: Crims in St. Louis (quick review)
Saw the band here in St. Louis last night - excellent (albeit short < 90
mins total) show. Great sound, but MAN was it loud!! Even with earplugs.
Apparently Ade didn't feel like doing much singing. I think he only sang on
3 songs. The rest was all instrumental. Mostly new music - Elephant Talk,
Red & Vrooom/Coda were the only pre-TCOL tunes played. Lots of new stuff,
the only one introduced was EleKctric.
Picked up a copy of the Level Five CD - very cool. I got #1280. Does anyone
know how many there are?
JPJ was either really good or really bad. JPJ's sound was good, but not as
good as KC.
That's about it for now. If you're considering going to any of the upcoming
shows, you're in for a treat.
Don't forget the earplugs tho!!
Steve
------------------------------
E L E P H A N T T A L K
The Internet newsletter for Robert Fripp
and King Crimson enthusiasts
Number 901
Friday, 30 November 2001
Today's Topics:
Comments on the current tour
GIG REVIEW: St. Louis
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 28 Nov 2001 10:09:28 -0500 (EST)
From: Art Cohen <upsetter at shore dot net>
Subject: Comments on the current tour
One correspondant writes:
>KC must need Christmas money. I just can't figure out why they would
>tour now and delay work on the new music.
Perhaps they consider the tour *part* of the work on the new music?? Most
musicians find that compositions tend to record much better after they've
had some time to "grow" in live performance. I think a comparison of the
TCoL album vs. Heavy Construction (or performances from last fall in the
USA) would bear out this theory.
Or maybe it's just that <gasp> they enjoy performing music! Although
Fripp's contrarian diary entries would tend to suggest the opposite, I
suspect that he does get some measure of personal pleasure from hearing
the crowd go apeshit when he rips it up on "Frakctured".
Another writes:
>Even though Mr. Fripp seemed to be having a wonderful time last nite, how
>much longer can we really expect him to tour? His age is a # of yrs older
>than mine & another 6 year wait would really put him up there. I'm not
>saying he's not physically up to it(altho that would be a
>consideration)it's more mental & w/all one has to deal w/when "heading up
>a band " it would be hard going at say 60+!
Geez, give the old fart *some* credit, willya? I spent the last weekend
going to see Bob Dylan (twice) and Phil Lesh (once; he's the ex-bassist of
the Grateful Dead). Both of them are over 60, and both of them, I'd wager,
did more drugs on a good weekend in their youth than Fripp has done in his
entire life. Yet both of them tour relentlessly (much more than Crimson)
and Dylan is selling out large hockey rinks on his own for the first time
in years (and both of them, I might add, stand up for the duration of
their concerts, and, in Dylan's case, even dance a little!).
Jazz great Tommy Flanagan passed away not long ago in his 70s, and he
continued to tour and record up to the end. BB King still tours. I'm sure
there are dozens (if not hundreds) of examples of blues and jazz musicians
touring into their 60s and 70s. I'm sure that as long as there is music
that needs to be played by King Crimson, Fripp will be willing to drag his
body out on the road to play it.
--Art
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 27 Nov 2001 20:55:15 -0500
From: "JB Anderton" <jbbridge at apci dot net>
Subject: GIG REVIEW: St. Louis
long time reader - first time poster to the list. The St. Louis gig was my
first ever Crimson show, even though I've followed the group off and on
since the early 80's.
The mighty Crim were merciless last saturday at the Padgent. Fripp sat on
his stool on stage in darkness the whole show. My friend and I had reserved
seats in the upper level on stage left. Fortunately that was the direction
Fripp was facing the whole show. He sat there demurly while his fingers
were going a thousand miles an hour. Very cool. Had my binoculars and had a
great, if dim, view of the master.
The only old (pre '94) stuff they did were "Elephant Talk" and "Red". Was
really impressed with Trey Gunn and Pat Mastelotto. Gunn had a lovely sound
coming out of his Warr bass. Mastelotto was solid and tight, keeping up
with all the various time changes. He was subtle and powerful at all the
right times. It's a pity I never saw Bruford or Levin play with Crimson,
but I didn't miss them too much.
Adrian Belew was very playful, but for some reason he just didn't hold my
attention as much as the other three, except when he soloed or did the
interweiving bits with Fripp. He only sang about 20 percent of the show.
John Paul Jones, frankly, didn't impress me as much. He's no slacker in the
bass playing, but his bass sound was just awful - no low end and all
distorted. the first song he and his band did - i couldn't make out a damn
thing they were playing. He had a stick player and a drummer (a total
Bohnam disciple) in his band, and a lot of his solo stuff sounded like late
70's Zeppelin (only without Page and Plant). They appeased the crowd with
several Zeppelin tunes, such as "That's The Way", "When the Levee Breaks",
and "Black Dog" (with the beginning of "In My Time of Dying"). JPJ was
playing on a slide guitar doing his best Jimmy Page impression. He played
the vocal licks on Black Dog instead of singing it. Interesting, but not
engaging.
I picked up two Crimson CD's at the merch table - the Level 5 EP (a great
souvenir from the night) and "The Beginnners Guide to the King Crimson
Collectors Club" (favorite track is "I Talk To The Wind" recorded at the
Marquee in '69 - played in the key of A, not E - very nice).
The audience was mostly an age 30 and over crowd. Of course we had a few
stoners in the crowd shouting for "Schizoid Man" and "FRIPP!!" at the top
of their lungs. What made me and my friend laugh was while we were waiting
in line to get in, several people asked us who's in the band. Was nice to
see a couple young females in front of the stage waving their arms totally
into the music. It's very encouraging that Crimson has found an audience of
the younger generation (I'm in my mid thirtes).
My friend and fellow musician was totally blown away by Crimson. this was
his first show as well, though he's very familiar with the band. He joked
that he wanted to retire from playing guitar after seeing these guys.
------------------------------
E L E P H A N T T A L K
The Internet newsletter for Robert Fripp
and King Crimson enthusiasts
Number 902
Saturday, 1 December 2001
Today's Topics:
Re: Comments on the current tour
Re: Comments on KC's recent gigs, & St. Louis concert.
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 30 Nov 2001 19:49:34 -0500
From: "Blake" <bnelson at iultranet dot com>
Subject: Re: Comments on the current tour
In ET #901 Art Cohen <upsetter at shore dot net> writes:
>>Even though Mr. Fripp seemed to be having a wonderful time last nite, how
>>much longer can we really expect him to tour? His age is a # of yrs older
>>than mine & another 6 year wait would really put him up there. I'm not
>>saying he's not physically up to it(altho that would be a
>>consideration)it's more mental & w/all one has to deal w/when "heading up
>>a band " it would be hard going at say 60+!
>Geez, give the old fart *some* credit, willya? I spent the last weekend
>going to see Bob Dylan (twice) and Phil Lesh (once; he's the ex-bassist of
>the Grateful Dead). Both of them are over 60, and both of them, I'd wager,
>did more drugs on a good weekend in their youth than Fripp has done in his
>entire life. Yet both of them tour relentlessly (much more than Crimson)
>and Dylan is selling out large hockey rinks on his own for the first time
>in years (and both of them, I might add, stand up for the duration of
>their concerts, and, in Dylan's case, even dance a little!).
If I remember correctly, even when the "old fart" was touring with his dance
band (circa The League of
Gentlemen), he always had his fanny firmly planted on his stool.
Blake Nelson
bnelson at information-integrity dot com
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 30 Nov 2001 21:02:17 -0800
From: "LAVERNE MUNARI" <dose2000 at msn dot com>
Subject: Re: Comments on KC's recent gigs, & St. Louis concert.
I've come across some recent comments on the St. Louis KC gig & other KC &
JPJ related comments i'd like to respond to:
1st of all I highly reccomend that anyone thinking about attending this
recent tour that does'nt already have tickets to MAKE SURE TO GO! If you can
get your tickets at the venue's boxoffice as I/we did, it's cheaper than
going through any service, and in MHO a better chance of getting WHAT you
want. I realize this is not always possible, but you owe it to yourself to
GO!!
In response to what Art Cohen said about my comments on Fripp "possibly"
being too old to tour again as the "leader" of KC "if" it took another 6
yrs. If you carefully read my post you'll notice that I said Robert could
more than likely handle another tour in his 60's, physically, but my idea
was that "mentally" it might be too much. 1st I don't consider Robert an
"old fart" by any means; I think he's in much better shape physically &
mentalily & still will be in another 6 yrs. than 99% of musicians that age.
AS far as comparisons to Bob Dylan & Phil Lesh, that's a totally different
situation in both cases. Dylan to my knowledge does'nt have to do much more
than "possibly" rehearse w/his touring back-up band, (if he even does that)
& isn't in the situation of having to play virtuostically complex music
every nite, and having to play & interact musically w/3 other virtuoso's at
the same time nite after nite!(Hey a UK link:)Add to that Robert has to at
LEAST, "oversee" the aspects of the tour as far as what cities/countries
they'll play, deal w/the different sound at each venue(Robert & Co. do long
soundchecks at each place often what 1 might consider short concerts!)&
neither Dylan or Phil Lesh have to oversee anywhere NEAR the amount of
material that is on the different cd's that Robert & KC find suitable to
release for just the tour, & i'm not taking into consideration the material
to be played! Dylan basically lets the people backing him up know what
he(Dylan)will be doing & any small changes in the songs. While Lesh might
play more complex music than Dylan, from what I know it's still far less
challenging that what KC play & is more jam oriented. Being a musician I
know it's sometimes mind taxing to do "good" extended jams but lets not
confuse what Robet & KC do to what say Dylan or Lesh does.
To Dan who also posted in ET 901, you don't have to worry, or be
disapointed, because i'm telling you now you won't hear Schizoidman on this
tour!(I love it & would'nt mind hearing it too, but I don't believe KC has
done that song since the 95 tour)As far as being able to meet members of
KC/JPJ, your chances are probably higher at meeting someone from JPJ than
Crimson, altho Pat was pretty accessable here & some folks got other members
of KC to sign stuff talk w/them here & other cities too. All depends I
guess?
To JB Anderton, who was here for the Pageant/St. Louis gig; the guy playing
Chapman stick is bassist extraordinare, Nick Beggs who's played on alot of
stuff, but check out ex-FZ alumni Warren Cuccurullo's(Guitarist)cd "Thanx 2
Frank" to hear how great he is on bass & stick, this cd also feature's FZ
almuni; drummer extraordinare Vinney Colauita & is possibly the best 3 peice
outfit i've heard in 10 years. BTW, a friend who attended the Pageant gig &
was possibly 1 of the 2 young women you noticed at the front of the stage
waving her hands/body said whenever Nick jumped about or bent over he was
totally exposed under his Tartan! Also, while it may have sounded like Jones
was playing all the high parts on the Zep/other tunes, the device he was
playing was actually an 8 string bass set-up like a Hawaiian or pedal steel
guitar(just no pedal)& while he may have played some high notes w/this,
Beggs was handling most of the high value notes on stick. While you surely
enjoyed what was a great KC performance(btw it was 2 hrs my friend timed it
& encores & JPJ played an hour)and had a great seat, you (IMHO) would have
been better served having a floor seat, & being on the 1st level, as sights
& sounds were fantastic there. While JPJ's sound was awful no matter where 1
was, the sound improved almost magically when KC played.
Lastly, to recent poster Paul MacFarlane, where did you live before St.
Louis? I have trouble w/your categorization of St. Louis as a "silly,
backwater town". As a St. Louisan & musician/frequent night-lifer, I only
have to mention the Soulard area, Delmar Loop, & Laclede's Landing as great
places to be entertained, see nationally known bands/entertainers of all
types, and has everything but "strip-clubs" & your assortment for those is
just 5 mins away in East St. Louis. I'm not mentioning all the other great
things St. Louis offers, & while i'm sure there are "better" cities in the
world, i'd like to know where you were before that spoiled you on St. Louis?
I like it here. If I had a fortune, "maybe" i'd choose another place to live
but being here satisfies my needs just fine.
Thanks for the time, Steven
"I'm standing in the sky on a roof of a glass & steel office tower in
Rotterdam, Holland. There are 21 floors of air between me & the concrete
pavement below. I am about to do what I do best, jump." Jackie Chan but it
apply's to KC beginning a song onstage.
------------------------------