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Tight Scrummy In Santa Monica October 15, 1973
Written by Bruce Hollihan
Sitting at home one evening,
the phone rang, and it was a friend telling me about King Crimson
tickets going on sale the next day at the Santa Monica Civic
Auditorium, and was I going to camp out like I said I would to get
front row seats? I replied in the affirmative, and after the call,
proceeded to procrastinate away the hours.
I never made it to Santa Monica
that night, not having a car would mean hours by bus, and being only 15
years old, options were very limited. So, I decided to put Plan B into
place:
Skip school and hitchhike to Santa Monica.
This went off without a hitch, and I found several sleeping bags full
of Crimson fans stirring in front of the box office. Soon the
office was open, and in no time, I was the proud owner of a pair of 3rd
row center seats.
A few weeks later, we made it to the gig, and the
ambience was abuzz with excitement in the auditorium. The gig
started with Larks’ Tongues In Aspic, Pt. 1, with the dual mellotron
intro replacing the now-departed Jamie Muir’s thumb piano solo. I
recall some amazement when David Cross finished his bowed violin riff,
where he repeats it several times before the band comes crashing down
with great intensity and volume. But when Cross finished his
riff, it continued, thanks to Mr. Fripp playing.
The concert was
absolutely stupendous, going through all of Larks’ Tongues In Aspic,
some of the upcoming Starless And Bible Black, Cat Food, 21st Century
Schizoid Man as well as an improvisation using a drum machine. Wetton
provided rock-solid bass guitar support, and his strong voice makes him
one of my favourite Crimson vocalists. In any other environment,
David Cross’ violin, mellotron, and electric piano work would be
exemplary, but he was clearly dwarfed by the three talents who shared
the stage with him. Fripp’s
playing should a well-developed usage of left and right hand, and his
usage of violin type technique, such as vibrato, puts him in a league
with guitar greats like Django Reinhardt, among others. Bruford was in
his white pair of overalls, sporting the "B" for Boston Bruins hockey
team emblem on the bib.
The concert ended with "Easy Money", "Talking Drum", and "Larks’ Tongues
In Aspic, Pt. 2". The air was heavy with sweat and the applause,
which lasted for 15 minutes, was unfortunately insufficient to get the
musicians back onstage for an encore. Clearly, this was
nevertheless a fortuitous musical event for all in attendance.
More Articles
Your search found 1968 items (Viewing 1 to 10 of 1968)
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better sound Thu., Jun 13, 2013
Posted by: orrason
This actually sounds better then the one with the oboe version. I mean this from the sound quality point of view. My wife who is an oboe player is practicing her version of the oboe solo which I might Read more
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Start here! Thu., Jun 6, 2013
Posted by: jeffoaster
At the time of writing this review, I have about a dozen concerts by the Islands lineup - pretty evenly divided throughout the band’s year as a performing Read more
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Groovy Mon., Jun 3, 2013
Posted by: DeVito
Well, this is a pleasant surprise. I think I like it better than any of the P2 concerts I’ve heard. Nicely varied collection of jams.
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| Fan Review |
Very short but very sweet Wed., May 29, 2013
Posted by: jeffoaster
When you take out the Exiles fragment and the snippet of the second improv, this disc clocks in at under 40 minutes, which is a damn shame because it is so Read more
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| Fan Review |
Nice addition Mon., May 27, 2013
Posted by: myshadow
This little slice is a nice addition to my Wake Of Poseidon Expanded companion disc. It is once again a delight to have Stormy illuminate these hidden gems.
Thank you.
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| Fan Review |
Michael 'Garguantuan' Giles! s! Mon., May 27, 2013
Posted by: syncopatico
Michael Giles certainly had to be the most ’orchestral’ (octopus-like!;) majestic drummer in KC! (And the only one utilizing double bass drums too, I believe, heard here to grand effect!) Read more
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| Fan Review |
Lovely bleeps and drones Wed., May 22, 2013
Posted by: davidfsnyder
The last two pieces are worth the price of admission. The last piece has some nice soloing over an interesting throbbing bed of puissant tones. Even on the earlier pieces, it’s quite cool to hear the layering Read more
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| Fan Review |
Augsburg Tue., May 14, 2013
Posted by: eviLMGD
I’ve seen this gig listed as being in Dieburg, rather than Augsburg, and at a what sounds like a smallish venue. RF is low in the mix on this recording, indicating a small Read more
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| Fan Review |
New KC compilation album: 'The Guitarless King Crimson' Mon., May 13, 2013
Posted by: syncopatico
Following The Young Person’s Guide To King Crimson, The Abbreviated King Crimson, The Compact King Crimson and The Concise King Crimson, the newest KC comp is an mp3 DIY collection, The Guitarless King Crimson, featuring only the drum and bass Read more
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| Fan Review |
master(s) in the moment Mon., May 13, 2013
Posted by: syncopatico
What really needs to be said: just listen to a master drummer in the moment--playing improvisatory and intuitively while at the same time reacting to Tony Levin’s bass (fretless?) underpinnings (who in turn, reacts to the percussive Read more
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