King Crimson 2019

At loss for inspiration these days, and ill-inclined to simply blog about whatever band I happened to see on Thursday night, but here it’s a nice coincidence.   I’ve blogged on King Crimson before so I’ll try to keep my comments brief.

I’m also a fan of Frank Zappa.   I saw  him give a speech on censorship back at College Park, back when Tipper Gore was talking about putting warning labels on records about the foul language which frequently occurred.  It occurred to me Robert Fripp and Frank Zappa were similar eccentric geniuses.   Sadly, Zappa passed away in 1994, but fortunately Fripp is still with us and still actively touring.   The common link is Adrian Belew, who played with Zappa briefly in the late 70s and then joined King Crimson for the Discipline, Beat, and Three of a Perfect Pair trio.   I managed to contact him on Facebook and solicit his feedback on Zappa vs. Fripp, in particular their opinions of each other.   According to Belew, Zappa was oblivious to Fripp’s existence and not aware of King Crimson.    For his part, Fripp did not approve of the heavy dose of sauciness in Zappa’s lyrics and music.   So sadly they were not kindred souls.

Studio discography:  In the Court of the Crimson King, In the Wake of Poseidon, Lizard, Islands, Larks’ Tongues in Aspic, Starless (And Bible Black), Red (original slew of lineups to the mid-70s); Discipline, Beat, Three of a Perfect Pair (early 80s w/Adrian Belew); THRAK, The ConstruKcTion of Light, The Power to Believe (mid-90s). 

Current lineup.  

This lineup has three drummers, placed in the front of the stage:  Pat Mastelotto (left), Jeremy Stacey (center) (plus keyboards), and Gavin Harrison (right).  The rear of the stage gives us, from left to right, Mel Collins (sax and other woodwinds), Tony Levin (bass & stick-type things), Jakko Jakszyk (guitar and vocals) and finally on the far right, sitting with his Les Paul and a Mellotron, Robert Fripp himself.

The band plays two full sets with a 30 minute intermission, no opening act, and a one-song encore of “21^st Century Schizoid Man”.  The material covers the first album all the way through current era Crimson. While I prefer the 70s material, I enjoyed all of it – and could even identify some of the newer songs.  This was the September 12, 2019 show at the Warner Theatre in D.C. - right on Fourteenth Street.  We saw Twisted Sister there back in college (late 80s), this was the first show I'd seen here in decades.

Set:  First: Drumsons, Cirkus, Neurotika, Suitable Grounds for the Blues, Red, Moonchild, EleKtrik, Cat Food, Frame By Frame, Drumzilla, Epitaph

Second: Drumsons, Lizard, Larks’ Tongues in Aspic (Part IV), Islands, The ConstruKction of Light, Easy Money, Starless, Indiscipline, The Court of the Crimson King

Encore:  21^st Century Schizoid Man. 

TOOL.  Recently TOOL finally released their newest album, spurring much of us to purchase and enjoy it.  What’s interesting is that years back, King Crimson actually opened for TOOL.   My understanding is that Maynard and Fripp have met and – Zappa notwithstanding – are actually friends.  I think of King Crimson as the prog source material for TOOL.