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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 4164 items (Viewing 491 to 500 of 4164)
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OCG V Special Performance Project
:: Posted by Sid Smith on Mon., Mar 19, 2012
There's still time to book a place on the next Orchestra of Crafty Guitarists performance project in Italy next month. Check out the GCE website for details.
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Tales Of King Funkadelic?
:: Posted by Sid Smith on Sun., Mar 18, 2012
My thanks to Willy for letting me know about this KC name-check from no less a force of nature than Parliament / Funkadelic head honcho, George Clinton.
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Something In The Air?
:: Posted by Sid Smith on Thu., Mar 15, 2012
My thanks to the many folks pointing our attention in the direction of this resignation letter from Goldman Sachs by one of their executives. Many of the points in the letter address issues responsibility towards clients, transparency, and acting in accord with what is right, and will chime with many of the points raised in Robert Fripp's diaries over the last few years.
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The Wine Of Silence Pre-order
:: Posted by Sid Smith on Wed., Mar 14, 2012
Burning Shed and DGM Mail order now have a pre-order pages up for The Wine Of Silence. DGM Mail orders can be placed here and Burning Shed here.
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Greg's Songs Of A Lifetime Tour
:: Posted by Sid Smith on Wed., Mar 14, 2012
Greg Lake talks in this interview about the kind of thing the audience can expect on his 26-date tour.
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ITCOTCK Blurred
:: Posted by Sid Smith on Tue., Mar 13, 2012
My thanks to World Leader Symes who tells me "In this month's Q magazine there is an
interview with Graham Coxon, the guitarist with Blur. I think the
article is called The Soundtrack of My Life. He is holding a copy of the
album cover (vinyl!) for Court and this is what he says:
Q: What album do never tire of hearing?
King Crimson’s In The Court Of The Crimson King is an album I can become pretty obsessed with. I can’t listen to it just once, I have to listen to it again. Immediately. It has really pretty, fairy sort of songs on it and quite big ones. It’s just so exciting. It’s just my favourite things: organs, drums and guitars all going mental!
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A Digital Deal In The Offing?
:: Posted by Sid Smith on Tue., Mar 13, 2012
My thanks to several folks who pointed me toward this article indicating that Sony might be settling their dispute with a variety of artists over the thorny question of digital rights.
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Starless & Lizard Blogged
:: Posted by Sid Smith on Sun., Mar 11, 2012
The 40th Anniversary editions of the Starless and Bible Black and Lizard have been exercising the ears, minds and fingers of some of their listeners. Here's SCV's take on SABB, while Lizard receives this appraisal from NuVoid. My thanks to LesleyBeeman for the heads-up on the latter.
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