Saw BEAT (King Crimson spinoff) last night

[polara]

Went with my brother to The Eastern, a modern and well-run Atlanta venue. Sold-out show. They ran through a variety of songs from the Discipline-Beat-Three of a Perfect Pair era. It was energetic but a little strange.

Danny Carey was the star of the show. Impeccable chops, and really balanced playing Bruford parts but making them his own. I couldn't pick up on a single error, and he seemed relaxed and happy the whole time.

Levin was Levin. Switching between the Chapman Stick and two Music Man basses, his harmonies were spot on and he doesn't seem to age. My brother said he heard a couple clams, but nothing terrible.

Vai looked like he was having more fun than on earlier tour videos I saw. The first set he was hard to hear, almost inaudible. One song into the second set a tech ran behind his amp stack and did something that suddenly made him absolutely deafening in FOH. He played a couple JEMs through a JC120 and two smaller amps, and while some key parts were essentially note-for-note Fripp parts, he was generally being Steve Vai interpreting King Crimson, which is exactly what you'd expect form someone of his caliber. A lot of really intricate tapping when you could see he was really focused, some rapid sweep picking, and not as much dive-bomb wackiness as you might expect.

Belew. Well. He's always been a fun, energetic showman and he was still that. But there were a few times he got a little lost, especially in Frame by Frame. Whenever he actuated any solo effects loop (I saw a video of his pedalboard and it's like a space shuttle) it was overwhelmingly loud compared to his clean tones. He was fiddling with his amp a few times, and even opened his rack to adjust some pedal, and at one point a tech had to come out when a pitch shift wasn't working for him. By the end of the set his voice was giving out and he was yelping more than singing.

The audio was pretty bad, frankly. Overall too loud for the room, and seemed to be volume wars going on, even as there were times low notes would hit a resonant frequency that made the room shake. As mentioned, Vail was almost inaudible before the intermission, then was suddenly way up front. Overall, the energy was low on stage and in the audience for the first set, but amped up considerably for the second half. The encore of Red was a highlight. It was a fun and interesting evening, and felt like, well, four all-stars jamming on the material of a beloved band. I don't think Fripp would have gone on tour with an outfit this loose, but it had it's own reckless rockin' energy.

[kizanski]

11 minutes ago, polara said:

Belew. Well. He's always been a fun, energetic showman and he was still that. But there were a few times he got a little lost, especially in Frame by Frame. Whenever he actuated any solo effects loop (I saw a video of his pedalboard and it's like a space shuttle) it was overwhelmingly loud compared to his clean tones. He was fiddling with his amp a few times, and even opened his rack to adjust some pedal, and at one point a tech had to come out when a pitch shift wasn't working for him. 

Belew is an enigma wrapped in a riddle. He's incredibly talented but plays like he's brain damaged.
When he just plays, he's a monster.  Unfortunately, he gets so wrapped up in his effects and making noises, that he gets lost in a rabbit hole of sound effects, banging pots and pans and knocking on the body of his guitar that there's no longer any guitar playing going on.

@BruceM and @MCChris bore witness to my Belew Rant some 10 year ago in Chicago at a Bears gig at some club, the name of which I can't remember.
I wanted to throttle him at that show, and they wanted to throttle me in the back seat of the car on the way back to my hotel.

And I'd do it again. 

[polara]

4 minutes ago, kizanski said:

Belew is an enigma wrapped in a riddle. He's incredibly talented but plays like he's brain damaged.
When he just plays, he's a monster.  Unfortunately, he gets so wrapped up in his effects and making noises, that he gets lost in a rabbit hole of sound effects, banging pots and pans and knocking on the body of his guitar that there's no longer any guitar playing going on.

@BruceM and @MCChris bore witness to my Belew Rant some 10 year ago in Chicago at a Bears gig at some club, the name of which I can't remember.
I wanted to throttle him at that show, and they wanted to throttle me in the back seat of the car on the way back to my hotel.

And I'd do it again. 

Exactly. On stuff like Elephant Talk, where he has to play a set part, he was in the groove and can clearly play brilliantly while singing. But if he gets some time to fool aound, it becomes randomly grabbing the neck of the Parker, abusing the whammy bar, and triggering a half-dozen wacky effects. It's really cool if you do a few times a set for ten or fifteen seconds, but the mugging and grinning at the audience while making 2 full minutes of noise... I lose interest.

Edited September 25, 2024 by polara

[kizanski]

The late, great Ken Jones and I used to playfully debate Belew's playing. 
He was a fan, but I think he got my point when at one point he sent me a photo of Belew recording in his home studio with an array of pots and pans (I wasn't being sarcastic above - he really does this), spread out on the floor while he painstakingly tapped each one, undoubtedly looking for "The Sound."

I can't find the picture for the life of me, but the look on his face was that of someone who was hopelessly lost in another universe.

How ironic that he used to play with Zappa, whose 31st record was titled "Shut Up 'n Play Yer Guitar."
Of course, Belew did not play on that one.

[Jimbilly]

1 hour ago, polara said:

 

The audio was pretty bad, frankly. Overall too loud for the room, and seemed to be volume wars going on, even as there were times low notes would hit a resonant frequency that made the room shake.

I've experienced 'too loud' more often than not, but I think my ears are on the sensitive end of the spectrum, my friends seem ok with what actually has been painful for me even with earplugs, - that was at Big Wreck last winter, it was bearable when I went to the back of the room.  I'm sure there is a range of what level volume becomes uncomfortable among different people, and I always suspect that the sound guy has partially wrecked hearing from too many loud shows.

[polara]

You see the moment someone connected Vai's DI to the PA here

Red.

 

Edited September 26, 2024 by polara

[Brooks]

Fantastic show in Durham NC! Vai did a great job playing Fripps parts, and inserting his own licks/solos in a few spots, masterful. Belew sang great and did his cool noisy licks. Levin & Carey were fantastic. Good sound, too (might could have been a tad brighter, maybe it was our seats). I grew up listening to this era of KC, it was a thrill to see this show. The only non Discipline/Beat/Three Of A Perfect Pair tune they did was Red (I'm not a fan of other eras of KC, but I was Hoping to hear Starless & Epitaph).

"I WISH YOU WERE HERE TO SEE IT"!!!

 

[kizanski]

29 minutes ago, Brooks said:

"I WISH YOU WERE HERE TO SEE IT"!!!

lol - Well, I appreciate the photos.

[Brooks]

 

[Brooks]

14 minutes ago, kizanski said:

lol - Well, I appreciate the photos.

 

 

[tommy p]

Funny story about this…I saw this show Tuesday night in Richmond, VA.

A friend of mine texted me about a week before the show saying he had an extra ticket to see the Beat show and I could have it for free if I wanted.  Well, I jumped on it because the Beat have played here in Richmond a few times over the years and I have always missed the show. Save It For Later, Mirror in the Bathroom, Twist and Crawl...yeah, man!  Yes, I thought he was talking about the English Beat!

It was my friend's birthday and he was going with a bunch of his other friends. He sent out an email to sort of coordinate activities like going to dinner beforehand and I could tell from the people who were going something was wrong. I looked up the restaurant that he suggested, and got one of those "events in this area" notifications. That's when I realized it was actually the King Crimson Beat show.  I didn't say anything because I was embarrassed! Coincidentally I had recently sold three King Crimson albums, the two Bears records, and Adrian Belew's Twang Bar King out of the record collection of a friend of mine who died a year or so ago.  I already had the two Bears record, and I listened to the other stuff before I sold it but a little that goes a long way with me.

Anyway, I went to the show with an open mind and it was amazing. I agree with a lot of Polara's assessment, except the sound at the Carpenter Center in Richmond was excellent except for Steve Vai's guitar being too low in the mix for my show all night. Tony Levin's stick especially sounded amazing; huge round deep tones. I commented to the other guys after the show that Adrian Belew's solos were really musical noise rather than actual guitar playing.

I'm glad I went, and if another show similar to that came around again it's possible I would check it out having gone to this one. I'm also going to listen to some King Crimson on Spotify to see if I recognize the songs I heard the other night.

Edited October 12, 2024 by tommy p

[kizanski]

37 minutes ago, tommy p said:

I commented to the other guys after the show that Adrian Belew's solos were really musical noise rather than actual guitar playing.

There it is. 

[tommy p]

16 hours ago, kizanski said:

There it is. 

But when he did actually play, he was great.  (Actually, kind of liked the musical noise too.)

[jwhitcomb3]

I took my son to the New Hampshire show last night. MIND BLOWN. Four peerless musicians playing their asses off, having a ball. There was extended technical difficulty with Belew's rig (the 20 minute intermission stretched to nearly an hour as four worried crew members furiously tinkered away - what happens when you tour with rickety 40 year old guitar synths), but otherwise brilliant. My son (who was not familiar with the material) was effusive all the way home - and now wants a Chapman Stick. We were thrilled, and so grateful to be able to see this performance. BRAVO!!!

FWIW, Belew's "noise" has always been an integral part of the glorious cacophony that is King Crimson, essential glue that holds the sound canvas together. But I could say that for each of them. King Crimson's sound is so much more than the sum of its parts (and the parts are awesome). 

Now waiting for the THRAK tour...

[cmatthes]

Maybe I had the lucky night where everything went right, but the DC stop was fantastic! 

[jwhitcomb3]

On 10/13/2024 at 7:42 PM, cmatthes said:

Maybe I had the lucky night where everything went right, but the DC stop was fantastic! 

 

 

 

So great to see Tony Levin completely rocking it at age 78!