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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?"
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And Through The Wires
:: Posted by Sid Smith on Thu., Aug 2, 2012
Trey Gunn has been preparing for his appearance as part of the Security Project alongside Peter Gabriel alumni Jerry Marrotta and Last Fast. Writing on his Facebook page, Trey notes. "Worked through a gear-related anxiety attack today. For the last several
years, I have gone completely digital with my setup (Ableton Live with
plugins.) But for The Security Project I wanted to get my bass side
happening purely analogue and bypass the computer entirely.
I had also been experimenting with the top (guitar) side being done
only with analogue pedals and thought I could pull that off until last
night. My pedal board was a shambles and I was trying to squeeze as many
pedal as possible on it so that I could ditch the computer. But seeing
the computer coming back into the system in order to pull off the guitar
sounds meant I was going to end up having to bring even more gear than I
had room for -- pedalboard full of pedals for the analogue bass, plus
all the digital interfacing to make the laptop run right.
THEN...today, I thought "screw it", if I'm bringing the laptop I might
as well revert to my completely digital system and get rid all the
pedals. At least I know I will sound great -- both bass and guitar side.
Meanwhile, I am still trying to get a grip on the all the material.
This stuff is far more unusual that I had even thought. Not to mention
learning extra guitar parts and backing vocals.
But,
thankfully, I have had a great afternoon and have tweaked out the
analogue pedals again and the computer will stay off the stage. Plus I
learned three more old tunes (1st and 2nd disc) and I am feeling more
ready.
Full panic averted!
Now I can spend most of tomorrow actually building the pedal board... off to band rehearsals for Sunday."
For more details about the Security Project's up and coming live date in New York nip over to their main site.
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Jakszyk Collins & Fripp Giveaway
:: Posted by Sid Smith on Sun., Jul 29, 2012
JFC’s A Scarcity Of Miracles is one of the albums used to test drive this speaker system. All of which is a timely reminder that we have a copy of the special edition of the CD/DVD-A version of the album to give away.
All you have to do to get your mitts on this little beauty is to answer this simple question: What was the name of the Jakko’s 2006 solo album reissued by Panegyric in 2009? Once you’ve got the answer to that pop it in an email to competitions@dgmlive.com marked JFC and don’t forget to leave your postal address as well. The lucky winner will be announced on Sunday 5th August.
You can read my take on the album over on the blog.
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ITCOTCK Best Progressive Of All Time
:: Posted by Sid Smith on Sun., Jul 29, 2012
That's according to this list on the Music Advisor site. There's quite a few other KC titles in there making the list as well as JFC's A Scarcity Of Miracles.
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Olympic Heroes
:: Posted by Sid Smith on Sat., Jul 28, 2012
Last night at the opening ceremony for the 2012 Olympics, Great Britain's team marched into the stadium to the sound of Heroes by David Bowie, featuring the anthemic surging lead guitar lines of Robert Fripp. For viewers able to access BBC iPlayers the Fripp-led team can be seen at around 2hour and 55minute mark.
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OMG It's The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle
:: Posted by Sid Smith on Thu., Jul 26, 2012
Industry journal CMU is running this story today about the UMG / EMI takeover. The piece also runs links to Declan Colgan's article on DGM Live earlier this week about the detrimental effect the bid will have on the industry. Elsewhere, The Guardian's Hellenne Lindvall has this piece running today. Robert Fripp's notes from the speech he gave at the AIM conference last week are now available in his updated diary.
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KC Covers Again
:: Posted by Sid Smith on Wed., Jul 25, 2012
The Dork Report offers another evaluation of KC's cover artwork.
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King Crimson Live In Argentina Review
:: Posted by Sid Smith on Wed., Jul 25, 2012
King Crimson's Live In Argentina has been reviewed here.
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