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| P2 At Albany Again |
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| :: Posted by Sid Smith on Mon., Feb 20, 2012 |
My thanks to J Eric Smith for sending in this marvelous review of P2 playing Albany. You can hear the gig that Eric is writing about here.
Eric writes "I was a music critic (for better or worse) in Albany, New York for many years. My wife and I recently relocated to Des Moines, Iowa, and as part of launching a web presence in my new home community, I have been reviewing old archives of my work for items that might lend themselves to new purposes. I found a ProjeKCt Two live review (copied below) while digging through old floppy discs and files, and thought I would share it here, since I have not seen many other formal newsprint reviews from that era posted here. It was a lovely show, one that I still cite as one of my all-time favorite live performances.
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ProjeKct Two
Valentine’s Music Hall, Albany, New York, May 8, 1998
Copyright 1998, J. Eric Smith (Originally appeared in Metroland, The Alternative Newsweekly of Northeastern New York)
"OK, now we’ve played everything we don’t know,so we can play something that we actually do know," announced electronic drummer Adrian Belew at the end of ProjeKct Two’s second all-instrumental, all-improvised set. Belew, 10-string Warr guitarist Trey Gunn and electric six-string guitarist Robert Fripp then encored with King Crimson’s "Vrooom," an angular number originally created by Fripp, Belew, Gunn and their Crimson bandmates Tony Levin, Bill Bruford and Pat Mastelotto.
As nice as it was to hear "Vrooom," the true value of the encore was to place the evening’s improvisational extravaganza in context by providing a single sample of how ProjeKct Two sounded when tackling a fully developed and structured instrumental piece. Frankly speaking, the encore paled in comparison to the 90 minutes of music preceding it, as its rehearsed complexities and nuances were nowhere near as impressive as the knotty, towering sound collages that ProjeKct Two created on the fly as the rapt audience watched and listened.
Fripp, Belew and Gunn were watching and listening to each other as well, and much of the thrill of this concert came from witnessing the interactions between these deeply talented musicians who have played together long enough to anticipate each other’s thoughts, sometimes before they eve realize that they’ve had them. Belew or Fripp typically opened each number with a drum or guitar pattern that the other musicians would would investigate, mount and ride, sometimes to loud and uplifting summits, sometimes to quiet, scary grottoes, sometimes back to the point at which they started. It was actually harrowing to experience in many cases, as the trio careened just on this side of control as they rode, the looks on their faces indicating that it was just as thrilling (and frightening) for them as it was their audience.
As important as technical prowess was to the concert’s success, mention must also be made of ProjeKct Two’s technological proficiancy. Belew was playing the latest generation of Roland virtual drums, allowing him to create a seemingly infinite number of sonic assaults as he clattered and rattled along with a look-Ma-I’ve-got drums grin on his face. (Understandable, given that he’s normally a guitarist.) Gunn matched Belew’s rhythmic and textural intensity as he tapped, stroked and and beat the touchboard of his Warr guitar.
Fripp spun out any number of his trademark spine-tingling sustained guitar lines but also used the treatment technology he has developed over the years via his Soundscape and Frippertronic performance experiments to create a wealth of tones and intonations. At times, the bands’ sounds were so far skewed from what your eyes were reporting to your brain that it was almost psychologically easier to look at the floor and imagine that Fripp was playing cluster chords on some beaten-up jazz-hall piano while Gunn blew on a baritone sax and Belew kept time by tapping on whisky bottles and ashtrays. Crazy, man, crazy.
All told, ProjeKct Two’s concert was a magnificent one, and I must confess to feeling great relief in being able to report that. Why? Because Robert Fripp’s written and recorded works have done more to shape both how I listen to and how I think about music than have any other artist’s over the last two decades, although I never actually stood in the same space with Fripp until last Friday. So imagine the potential for debilitating disappointment at this show, and then imagine the transcendent relief and joy when it didn’t come to pass. It literally moved me to tears. And how often can a wordless concert do that?"
More news
Displaying 4135 items (Viewing 181 to 190 of 4135)
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All About John Kelman's End Of Year List
:: Posted by Sid Smith on Fri., Dec 21, 2012
Larks' Tongues In Aspic is one of the albums featured on John Kelman's Best Of 2012 list.
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Wilson Sings
:: Posted by Sid Smith on Fri., Dec 21, 2012
Steven Wilson's new album, featuring Theo Travis and others, The Raven That Refused To Sing (And Other Stories), is now available for pre-order at Burning Shed.
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Thrak Covered
:: Posted by Sid Smith on Tue., Dec 18, 2012
The cover design of Thrak and other associated Double Trio recordings comes under scrutiny here.
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LTIA Reviewed
:: Posted by Sid Smith on Tue., Dec 18, 2012
The 40th Anniversary edition Larks' Tongues In Aspic has been reviewed here.
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Mister Stormy's Monday Selection
:: Posted by Sid Smith on Mon., Dec 17, 2012
Mister Stormy presents us with an opportunity to wrap our listening gear around another couple of tracks from The Vicar's Songbook.
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And The Winner Is...
:: Posted by Sid Smith on Mon., Dec 17, 2012
Congratulations to W Foster of Warneet, in Victoria, Australia. Because he was able to tell me that the name of the debut album by Naked Truth was Shizaru, he wins the copy of their latest album, Ouroboros. Stay tuned for another giveaway competition later this week.
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Box Of Saturday
:: Posted by Sid Smith on Sat., Dec 15, 2012
My thanks to Sean Hewitt for letting us know the LTIA box set has been chosen as one of the great gift ideas in The Times today.
There are still copies available of the limited edition box set via Burning Shed
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Naked Truth Giveaway
:: Posted by Sid Smith on Wed., Dec 12, 2012
Thanks to those nice people at Rare Noise Records we have a copy of the new album by Naked Truth, Ouroboros, to give away. The band features Pat Mastelotto on drums, Roy Powell on keyboards, Graham Haynes on cornet and electronics and bassist Lorenzo Feliciati who pulled the whole thing together. All you need to do to win a copy of this little beauty is to tell me the name of the debut album by Naked Truth. Pop your name and postal address in an email to competitions@dgmlive.com marked NAKED TRUTH and we’ll announce the winner on Monday 17th December. You can listen to a couple of tracks from the new album and find out more about the band’s discography and check out their brand new website. You can also read my take on the new album over on the blog.
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