| |
| P2 At Albany Again |
 |
| :: 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.
****************************
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 4163 items (Viewing 81 to 90 of 4163)
|
Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Beast
:: Posted by Sid Smith on Wed., Apr 10, 2013
My thanks to Owen Keenan for the following information. "I recently bought a SansAmp Bass Driver - a guitar pedal that can
simulate the sound of an Ampeg SVT, the same amp as used by John Wetton
(among many others). I was surprised and pleased to see this example
setting to try out."
|
|
KC Live At Moles 81
:: Posted by Sid Smith on Mon., Apr 8, 2013
Originally released as KCCC 11 in 2000 and now available for download from today, King Crimson's appearance at Moles Club in Bath on April 30th 1981.
|
|
Andy Johns Dies
:: Posted by Sid Smith on Mon., Apr 8, 2013
There's news on the interwebs that Andy Johns has died. Although he'll be best remembered for his work with the likes of Led Zeppelin and The Stones etc, readers of the Young Persons Guide To King Crimson scrapbook will know his brief association with Crimso in 1969. On 12th June that year KC began an attempt to record their first album at Morgan Studios where Johns worked with Moody Blues producer, Tony Clarke. The scrapbook notes:
JUNE 13 Andy Johns collapses.
JUNE 18 Recording abandoned with all tapes.
|
|
Zero Times Everything
:: Posted by Sid Smith on Mon., Apr 8, 2013
That's the name of a combo consisting of Tony Geballe and fellow Crafties Pietro Russino and Richard Sylvarnes who are playing in New York this week. They are performing a live musical score to the film The Last Words of Dutch Schultz, a feature film by Richard Sylvarnes featuring the actor, filmmaker and playwright DJ Mendel and NY Mets broadcaster Alex Anthony. The film is based on the delirious death-bed ramblings of the gangster who died following a shooting in Newark, NJ in 1935. The film incorporates found footage including travelogues, FBI training films, silent-era films, newsreels, commercials, and more.
The Last Words of Dutch Schultz
Wednesday, April 10, 2013 at 7:30 p.m.
Anthology Film Archives - Courthouse Theater
32 Second Avenue, NYC, 10003
Advance tickets available at http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/354593 or at Anthology's box office. You can find out more about Zero Times Everything here and take a look at the trailer for the film in question.
|
|
BB At IDrum
:: Posted by Sid Smith on Sun., Apr 7, 2013
There's a great little interview with Bill Bruford in iDrum Magazine wherein BB talks about his work. Check it out here.
|
|
Hyde Park Redux
:: Posted by Sid Smith on Sun., Apr 7, 2013
There's an interesting piece in The Observer today looking at the Hyde Park gig of 1969 with plenty of Crimson content!
|
|
Guitar Circle SA
:: Posted by Sid Smith on Fri., Apr 5, 2013
There's a couple of Guitar Circle events coming up soon. First up is a Guitar Circle introduction weekend (details here) and an introduction to New Standard Tuning.
|
|
Stones At Hyde Park
:: Posted by Sid Smith on Thu., Apr 4, 2013
The world of rock was, er, rocked to its foundations with the news that they are playing Hyde Park once again. The original gig in 1969 was of course a tremendous boost to a fledgling King Crimson who wowed the vast crowd with the likes of 21st Century Schizoid Man which, in the words of Ed Vulliamy, "threatened to blow the Stones offstage."
|
|
Interlocking Larks
:: Posted by Stormy on Mon., Apr 1, 2013
Adrian and Robert split the licks here
|
|
Crimson PhD PDF
:: Posted by Sid on Sat., Mar 30, 2013
Our thanks to RichardRJ for sending this link (which opens a pdf) to a graduate degree thesis by Christopher Bohling on the role of improvisations in King Crimson's music.
|
<< Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Next >> |
|
|
