King Crimson

H.O.R.D.E. Tour at Great Woods
by Lex Marburger

For a moment, I had to stop and wonder what I was doing in the land of excess patchouli and batik. Here at Great Woods, the parking lot was full of white boy dreads, tie dyes, and hibachis serving up the tofu. I don’t think I fit in. I mean, the hair was the right length, King Crimson has never been known to appeal to hippies. Stories of mass exodus’, open weeping, and bad trips abound in the annals of King Crimson. What would Fripp and Co. do to these poor Blues Traveler listening souls?

Undoubtedly knowing the reception they would get, the show organizers declared Crimson’s set General Admission. I immediately scrambled down to the front, wanting to be up close when the Court of the Crimson King convened. After a brief pause, Bill Bruford and Pat Mastelloto walked out, and approached a pair of drums facing each other center stage. As one, they raised their sticks, and let them fall. BOOM. BOOM. BOOM. What followed was a synchronised neo-taiko drum piece that grew in speed and intensity until it came to a thunderous end. Taking their place behind their drumkits, Fripp, Belew, Levin, and Gunn came out to a standing ovation as they launched into “Thela Hun Gingeet.” With Belew’s monologue on tape, he was free to bounce all over the stage, compensating for Fripp’s conservative “I play sitting down” style. The most immediately recognizable thing about the Double Trio is the drum interplay, with Pat and Bill trading licks and fills, alternately keeping a firm grasp on the beat and totally freaking out. As they next launched into “Red,” I noticed how much fun they were having. Smiles all around (except for Fripp, ‘nach, but I think I did see a grin or two as they Thrakked out), which seemed like such a natural contradiction. Here they are, playing this incredibly intense music, venturing into sonic realms that are darkly unimaginable to any other band, sounds that seem creepy and mysterious, and they’re just grinning away, Belew looking so beatific and he bounds across stage. As they approached “Dinosaur,” I started noticing the effect they had on people. Once again, the sheer oddness of Crimson’s music alienated those who expected something “pretty.” I saw scowls, confusion, and (it’s true) even a few tears. Granted, those people were freaking out on acid, but hey! they should have known what they were getting into.

Smoothing things out, they played “Matte Kudasai,” followed by “Sex, Sleep, Eat, Drink, Dream,” with Bill and Pat once again going head to head in an amazing percussion interplay. As I sat there, aurally stunned, I realized that I was seeing a legend play, I was finally experiencing a band that I truly respected and admired, I was watching my heroes play, so it was okay to gush and froth as much as this. Fripp launced into some Frippertronics, journying out into a tonally free area, augmented by Pat and Bill, and slowly, they became more involved, until they finally reached “B’Boom,” their beat drum solo.

They were looking across the stage at each other, and they seemed to be playing little games, trying to throw each other off, switching accents, launching into polyrhythms and breakbeats. They settled down a little, and then the entire ensemble launched into “Thrak,” their excuse to solo freely for fifteen minutes or so (most noticable on their live album Thrak Attakk (Discipline)). This time it was Levin and Belew who took center stage, getting down to some extremely heavy shit. The sounds they were creating filled the stadium, shaking loose old notions of music and expanding the concept of beautiful noise to new heights. “Discipline” shifted into “Frame By Frame” and back again effortlessly, as Pat brought out an assortment of toys to play with, making more sounds, and Bill did his electric gamelan impersonation. They blistered the audience with “Vrooom,” and finally brought the house down with “Indiscipline,” starting out with a very mellow funk groove, before exploding into the main body of the song. As they left the stage to more applause than I would have imagined, I knew that the present incarnation of King Crimson has once again surpassed the expectations of modern music. I’ll stop frothing now.