Blistering Performance   June 13, 2008
Written by Anonymous

 Totally perfect and energic performance...

 The band were at their peak on this night, from the opening Frippertronics, The Sheltering Sky, Larks’ Tongues In Aspic - Pt II and the surprise encore Thela Hun Ginjeet (out of the Discipline Tour setlist).

 The band surprise every single audience member, specially Mr. Fripp with his "Darkness Synthesizer Of Doom" notes on The Sheltering Sky.

 That was another great night with a great band, King cRimson...

-----------------------

 Uchiha Sasuke

DID YOU KNOW...?   October 29, 2007
Written by pelegeor

It’s a long time ago, 14 October 1981 in Koeln (Cologne) I was 20 years old and i still remember (26 years later) the nice opener music bevore the concert starts. Can you please informe which tape plays at this night? This curiossity i have now 26 years!!! Thank you. Best regards from Greece and we wait to see you next summer 2008 Live in Athens!! 

Rising synergy captured   March 31, 2006
Written by sfeite
Don’t be fooled, this isn’t a studio album, it is a bootleg. You will hear people talking sometimes, but like some polite audiences they do actually stop talking while the musicians are playing.

And play they do. That "je ne sais quoi" that people go to live performances to experience, it’s here in this recording. Falling apart, but coming together; the joy of coming together, the clumsiness of new friends, allows for a creative edge that cannot be contrived.

I feel like a sonic voyeur on a new creation...

Sheer Energy from a Hungry Band   February 21, 2006
Written by heavenly

Sheer Energy from a hungry band

This is a fantastic concert. At the time, I did not attend this one, but the one the night before, at Hamburg Markthalle. I had seen the League of Gentlemen the year before in Hanover and still was mesmerised since I did not (and could not) expect anything like that. When I drove with a friend to Hamburg on October 13, I saw a League of Gentlemen bootleg in a record store and was not able to buy it, due to an going financial crisis. Gee!

Exciting times. That was the time of Punk and New Wave and the German punk band Abwärts had been the opener for the League of Gentleman in 1980. There was no opener for King Crimson though, but Hamburg and Cologne were, next to Berlin and Düsseldorf, the centers of the Neue Deutsche Welle, which did exist in an underground format (bands like Einstürzende Neubauten, Malaria, Palais Schaumburg and Fehlfarben come to mind) before a rather commercialized version took over. That was also the time of Joy Division, Wire, Siouxsie and the Banshees and P.I.L. which all seemed to share the same spirit as presented on RF’s Exposure. KC 1981, were of a different fabric again and were more a mixture of RF’s League of Gentleman, Steve Reich, Talking Heads and a bit of 1972-74 KC.

Back then, it was very exciting to go to a concert, since there was no internet around and you had no clue what the band actually would play. Personally, I was hoping for a mix of the Discipline album, some Exposure related stuff, some New Wave stuff of the harder kind and some KC material, which I considered brilliant. Funnily, I was hoping for Circus, which did not really fit, but I did not care. The audience was also a wild mix of people, consisting of punks/new wavers, ambient lovers and hippies alike, all looking to find "their" version of Fripp. And while some listeners complained that Fripp played way to artsy for New Wave and Punk, others were missing their Schizoid Man and Crimson King. Others again were hoping for more Frippertronics and were equally disappointed. However, while the concert proceeded, they all were taken by the sheer energy of the band and most of them surrendered to the music.

The opener were Frippertronics from the tape (Let the Power Fall) (just as the Heavenly Music Corporation for KC 72-72), which was taken up by the band and developed into Discipline. THG followed and I could not believe my ears, when I heard the announcement for Red. I never ever thought, I would be able to hear this track live. Nowadays, nothing special at all but back then, I mean, KC still had been dead, dead, dead, just a few months before... Outstanding of the new tracks were definitely The Sheltering Sky and the encore version of Thela Hun Ginjeet, which is the best version I have ever heard. It became clear then that the spirit of LoG could be transported into sth. much more professional and still be fresh.... That encore, of course, was not the only surprise, since the first encore was Lark’s Tongues in Aspic Pt II, which was one of my favourite KC tracks of all times.

Later concerts of KC, including Neal and Jack and Me are great as well. The difference is, KC 1981 were "hungry" and you sense this in each note. I can understand a bit Fripp’s disappointment with the latter versions of 1981-84 KC and even though Beat and ToPP are great albums as well, they never came together as nicely as Discipline did. Different from the Moles Club release, all versions are perfect and still are delivered in a very fresh way. Highly recommended. M.P.

P.S. Interesting was also to see the different size of audience for LoG and KC 1981. While I was able to see LoG with about 100 other fellows, KC drew easily a crowd of 2,000 I would say....

The Chatter auf Deutch is sehr ungewohnlich   February 16, 2006
Written by dubhthaigh

This is Deutsch with a KC this time. The performances are exceptionally fun to listen to, and for a boot tape (God Bless German technology) it certainly sounds better than the Moles Club premiere. As I Basil Fawlty my way through the between songs chatter from the tapers (which in some cases is quite funny), I find myself enthralled, warts and all, with this performance. Maybe it’s my own biases for this team and its following double trio, but I still feel the rush of "what was that!!!!!?????!!!!" that I got out of seeing and hearing them in Philly at the abominable Tower that year everytime I listen to them perform live via KCCC or these downloads. Second only to seeing, though not hearing, The Beatles at the Atlantic City Convention Center in ’64!

"Sheltering Sky" and early-"Neal" and "Discipline" give me goosebumps and I find myself transported, remembering many, many things. I’m told we can not remember time, only the places in which time happens. That being so, this music recalls places of remembered beauty. Matte kudasai

Terrific Live '81 Set   February 15, 2006
Written by baldrick
This is a very good cleaned up audience recording of King Crimson circa 1981.  Its significance stems from the fact that there are very few high quality live recordings available from 1981: a year when King Crimson re-emerged with arguably one of the best records of the 80s and from all accounts were playing some of the best concerts by this version of the band.  The performances are stunning and the songs are played with a great deal of verve and just seem to have a lot more punch than the same songs recorded live 2 or 3 years later.  Essential listening if you’re a fan of  80s King Crimson.

Highly Recommended   February 13, 2006
Written by jblock
Excellent representation of the Fall 1981 tour. There’s a power and freshness to the music that’s evident through the clamor of this audience recording. The unique improv intro to the encore Thela is clearly of the moment. Nice to hear the embryonic Neal Jack and Me. Highly recommended.

Audio Source: Audience Recording

DGM Audio Quality Rating:

Average Customer Rating:

Purchase  $12.95 (What is FLAC?)  $9.95

Submit a Review

This show's fan reviews

This show's band diaries

This show's press clippings

All reviews