The guitarist developed a strong connection to the country, beginning in 1993 when the Robert Fripp String Quintet visited at the invitation of promoter and Crafty Guitarist, Hernan Nunez. They played three dates in advance of a planned Guitar Craft course at Seminario San José in Gándara in March 1994. There was great interest in the course, and a previously unknown appreciation was found to exist for the music of King Crimson in South America. “When I went to Argentina, I was told Crimson were second to The Beatles there. I didn’t know, because I’d never got any royalties,” Fripp told Classic Rock’s Martin Kielty in 2013. The Fripp Soundscapes tour visited four cities and yielded the 1999 Live in Argentina CD. They were his first solo concerts in more than a decade, and later in the same year, King Crimson would also make its return to live performance in Buenos Aires when the Double Trio lineup debuted there on September 29.

Soundscaping in Argentina in 1994 (photo: Martin Franich).

Robert writing in the sleevenotes to the CD:

“Soundscapes provide a vehicle for my most immediate and personal musical work, which is varied both in performance and recording whether as collaborator, contributor or producer. Soundscapes are improvised and largely governed by the time, place, audience and the performer's response to them. If the reader protests that it is obvious and self-evident that this must be so, that performances unfold in the moment of their unfolding, I can only reply that most musical situations of my experience pay little attention to the time, place and personae of the musical event. 

And this remains the best way I know of making a lot of noise with one guitar.” 

Download Robert Fripp @ 80 Vol.5  2006.   

Follow the Spotify playlist: Robert Fripp @ 80  

Or listen on the official YouTube channel:

Polygon Portal, the 360° spatial audio listening room in the heart of Soho, is proud to announce three landmark events celebrating the legacy of Robert Fripp and King Crimson. Taking place across June 2026, these are not concerts — they are immersive listening experiences, delivered through one of the world's finest spatial audio systems, placing audiences inside the music as never before.

Together, these three sessions form a singular journey through some of the most radical, inventive and enduring music in the rock canon.

THE EVENTS

ROBERT FRIPP — EXPOSURE Saturday 13 June, 14:30

A celebration of Robert Fripp’s 80th birthday year. Exposure, his 1979 debut solo album, was hailed by The Wire as “the Sergeant Pepper of avant punk” — a pivotal, deeply personal record that has rarely been heard the way it deserves. At Polygon Portal, the album plays in full in immersive spatial audio. The spatial mix otherwise exists only inside Fripp’s 32-disc Exposures boxed set, making this a rare public opportunity to hear it outside of that release. Fripp collaborated with David Bowie, Peter Gabriel, Brian Eno and David Sylvian, and as co-founder of King Crimson stands as one of the most restlessly inventive forces in rock history. 

Book tickets: https://polygon-productions.live/portal/listening/robert-fripp/

KING CRIMSON — ISLANDS Thursday 18 June & Sunday 28 June

The world premiere of Steven Wilson’s new 2026 spatial mix of Islands. Released in 1971, Islands sits at the midpoint of one of the most restless creative periods in rock history — delicate and searching, with strings, woodwind, Mel Collins’ saxophone, and Peter Sinfield’s surrealist poetry. In 360° audio, the orchestration spreads across the room; the space between instruments becomes part of the music. Wilson’s new stereo, 5.1 and spatial mixes are due for commercial release in September 2026 — this is the first opportunity anywhere in the world to hear the spatial mix, in the exceptional acoustic environment of Polygon Portal.

Book tickets: https://polygon-productions.live/portal/listening/king-crimson-islands/

KING CRIMSON — RED Wednesday 24 June, 20:30

The first public listening event of Red in 360° spatial audio. Released in 1974 and featuring Fripp, Wetton and Bruford, Red is lean, heavy and emotionally charged: the crushing title track, the volatility of One More Red Nightmare, the monumental Starless. A culmination and an ending, arriving just as that incarnation of the band dissolved — a record that has only grown with time. At Polygon Portal, Red plays in full, its details finally given room to breathe.

Book tickets: https://polygon-productions.live/portal/listening/king-crimson-red/

ABOUT POLYGON PORTAL

Polygon Portal is a 360° spatial audio listening room located in the heart of Soho, London. Powered by one of the world’s finest speaker arrays — with sound sources positioned in every direction, including overhead and behind the listener — the Portal dissolves the boundary between audience and music. Drums can arrive from overhead; a melody can drift in from behind; vocals can soar straight through the room. You are not in front of the music. You are inside it.

The Portal is operated by Polygon Productions, a company that has spent years deploying immersive spatial audio technology at festivals and events around the world — from Wonderfruit in Thailand to Bonnaroo in the United States — and is now bringing that expertise to an intimate, dedicated listening environment in London.

The first chapter of Polygon Portal runs through June 2026, with limited availability across a full programme of listening sessions and wellbeing experiences.

Website: polygon-productions.live

All events: polygon-productions.live/portal/listening/

The week got off to a fine start on Monday with some work to do at FX in Acton before heading to the Beat concert at the Eventim Apollo in Hammersmith.

We were in town to pick up tape transfers for current and future projects, including half-inch reels of the first Robert Fripp and the League of Crafty Guitarists album, and DATs from early soundscapes tours, Sylvian/Fripp and more.

11 DATs and 2 half-inch reels were waiting for us at FX.

After cheerfully discussing the relative merits of a number of tape formats we bade farewell until next time and returned to the set of rusty car parts that were standing in for “a 1952 Studebaker coupe” for the evening. At least the coupe part was beyond dispute. However when we turned the key, we were met with silence: the battery appeared to be well and truly dead. Cursing the stupidity of our life choices that had led to this moment, we rang the doorbell again. 

A big thanks to Teo and everyone at FX Rentals who sprang into action to try to assist us with sundry leads and electrical gadgets. These guys are no strangers to keeping shows on the road, with the incredible array of rental gear that is available for musicians 24/7, and we couldn’t have chosen a nicer place to break down - off-street parking, free tea and loads of gear to look at! Stormy particularly enjoyed all the drums, but as he tapped out the rhythm to The Sheltering Sky on a practice pad, was that going to be the closest we got to hearing the music of 80s Crimson? Was the evening going to be lost in Acton? The words to Dig Me had never felt more apt.

Waiting Man: Stormy settles in for an evening on the FX sofa.

An hour’s wait and a decision taken, the evening would not be abandoned. A new battery was procured from a man in a yellow van (other breakdown services are available), and we were once again “moving wheels” and heading as fast as the 20mph limit would allow, toward that temple of rock n roll in Hammersmith, calling us back for the first time in too long. It was going to be thrilling just to be in the cavernous room so full of musical and personal history. The last time Stormy was there, he was at the side of the stage recording David Sylvian with an array of ADAT machines and, quite possibly, making some future recovery work for the FX Copyroom in the process. 

The nostalgist in me insisted we park by the Cafe on Fulham Palace Road, from whence the whole thing began when Robert Fripp, Greg Lake, Ian McDonald and Michael Giles first set up to play in the basement on January 13, 1969. A short walk “in this great roaring city”, access to the venue swiftly gained, and the concert began.

The evening consisted of two sets with a 20-minute intermission and an encore. The first half focused on Beat material and those, rarely heard in a live setting, deep cuts from Three of A Perfect Pair.

Close your eyes, and you could have been back at the nearby Hammersmith Palais in 82; in fact, open them, and there was enough evidence on stage from the era (and not just Adrian and Tony). There were the Roland JC120 amplifiers, Tony’s Three Of A Perfect Pair Music Man bass and Adrian’s Mike Getz, Mondrian-inspired, paint job on his Twang Bar King Fender Mustang, and Tony even seemed to be wearing the same white jacket, all of which helped to bring an authentic connection to the 80s. Adrian’s main axe for the evening was a newer addition though, in the form of his Parker Fly, from which he coaxed sundry animal noises and industrial sounds of the apocalypse. Tony Levin was surrounded by basses and often found himself multitasking, as on Industry, where he doubled the synth bass part while also tapping on his Stick.

Hammersmith in earlier times, King Crimson at the Palais in 1982.

Setting up stage right, Steve Vai wasn’t there to play Robert Fripp, but brought his own theatrical flair to the occasion and proved a great combination with fellow Zappa alumnus Adrian, but still nailed those signature moments; the pin trumpet guitar motif on The Sheltering Sky was spine-chillingly spot on.

And holding it all down was Danny Carey from Tool on drums. The room sound was slightly unforgiving, and those tricky polyrhythms, even for the top-tier musicians, led to a few recoveries being needed. 

Part two opened with the rhythmic pulse of Adrian and Danny on Waiting Man and featured the big hitters from Discipline, plus Tony breaking out the funk fingers for Sleepless, and concluded with the drum-driven tour de force Indiscipline. To the people who spent the evening on their phones, you missed a great concert. Thankfully, this was relatively few as most people chose to use their eyes and ears to experience the event. 

Respect was paid to those without whom none of this would be possible when Adrian recalled his 80s band mates, Bill Bruford and Robert Fripp, and introduced the first encore, Red. Robert was not in the house, but had already seen the band with manager David Singleton on opening night in Wolverhampton. 

“A superb show in Wolverhampton last Sunday night. Was it King Crimson? No, and it didn't need to be - it's BEAT! The first show of any tour provides its challenges - guitars stop working or disappear from the mix, is it 5 or 4 beats at the end of Red? - and none of it matters. Gratitude to Tony and Stevie and Danny and Belew for keeping the music fresh and alive. My only disappointment: not the right time for a monster margarita with my old bud Ade after the show.”

But the stars were out tonight in Hammersmith in the form of friends and family from the DGM and Panegyric teams and Crimson members, Jakko Jakszyk - celebrating his birthday - plus Mel Collins, Jeremy Stacey and Bill Bruford.

Next stop Paris, and “The Seine alone at 4am”. Happy touring to everyone in the team and to the audience members who help to bring the music to life!

SPOILER ALERT: The Setlist  

1st Set:  

Neurotica
Neal and Jack and Me
Heartbeat
Sartori in Tangier
Model Man
Dig Me
Man With an Open Heart
Industry
Larks' Tongues in Aspic (Part III)

2nd Set:  

Jakko joined King Crimson as vocalist and second guitarist in 2014, having previously been a member of the 21st Century Schizoid Band from 2002 to 2004, playing the music of King Crimson alongside ex-members of the band. He went on to work with Robert Fripp and Mel Collins, as part of a Crimson ProjeKct, on the 2011 album A Scarcity Of Miracles.

This was followed by seven hugely successful years touring the world in celebration of King Crimson's 50th anniversary, including three consecutive sold-out nights at the Royal Albert Hall in London, and other memorable dates at Radio City Music Hall in New York, the Roman amphitheatre in Pompeii and the Rock in Rio festival. He appears on the forthcoming 2014 NYC live album, released on 2CD and 2LP on July 10, which begins a new series documenting each year of the 2014-2021 King Crimson lineup. Later in 2026 there will be a 2 x Blu-ray release of the entire 19-date U.S. tour from 2014. 

Last year saw Jakko release a new solo album Son of Glen which he describes as “A romantic fantasy narrative based on what I discovered about my real father after decades of fruitless searching for him”.  It's a companion piece of sorts to his acclaimed memoir Who’s The Boy With The Lovely Hair, and explores many of the themes and the subjects that the book touches upon. Check out his extraordinary story here

Meanwhile Jakko has been out earning a musical living on tour with Thomas Dolby and has just completed dates in the UK and Ireland, which previewed Thomas’s new symphonic work ahead of its orchestral premiere later this year.

Jakko on stage with the Trevor Horn band.

He is also now lead vocalist and guitar player in the Trevor Horn Band with a festival appearance coming up at Rewind in Henley-on-Thames on August 22nd, and a full tour later in the year featuring the music of the veteran producer.

Photo of Jakko by Alan Jones.

Tony can be heard unaccompanied on upright bass during this nightly improvised section of the concert, live from Albany in New York. Sid Smith writes: “The abiding musicality of his tone and note choices feels appropriate to the moment, as he imbues them with meaning, depth, and a presence that is as recognisable as it is distinctive.”

Download: Tony's interludes

Or listen on the official King Crimson YouTube channel:

Tony has been a core member of King Crimson since 1981, playing on the groundbreaking trilogy of albums Discipline, Beat and Three Of A Perfect Pair. On Sunday he will be heading out on the road for the highly anticipated Beat European tour, playing the music of the 80s Crimson live with Adrian Belew, Steve Vai and Danny Carey.  

The tour begins with two nights in the UK before taking in France, Germany, Austria, Denmark, Czech Republic, Switzerland, Belgium, Spain, Italy, Croatia, Bulgaria, Turkey, Romania, Hungary, Poland, Estonia, Finland, Sweden and Norway. Full details here.

Tony has recently returned from a Levin Brothers tour, playing jazz with his brother Pete in the Northeastern USA and Canada and earlier in the year, with fellow Stick Men Pat Mastelotto and Markus Reuter, took part in The Cruise To The Edge followed by tour dates in Chile, USA and Canada. 

And today sees the announcement of the first full length Stick Men studio album since 2016's Prog Noir, the Crimson-themed Let's THRAK Again, inspired by the 1995 THRAK album, and fully sanctioned and supported by King Crimson founder Robert Fripp. 

"Let's THRAK Again is 60 minutes of pure, kinetic energy. We didn't just write 12 new compositions; we designed an entirely new sonic vocabulary for them." 

The album will be available as a 1-CD special limited edition merchandise item on the Beat tour, while the definitive full 2-disc version of the album  is available to pre-order on Bandcamp: Let's THRAK Again.  This expansive edition features 2 versions (Reel One & Reel Two) of the album material with completely different mixes, alternative parts, and a unique track order, offering a profoundly different listening experience from the BEAT tour exclusive 1-disc edition.

The album will hit all major global platforms on September 14th, coinciding perfectly with the kickoff of the official Let's THRAK Again USA Tour.

And what better way for Tony to unwind after the Beat tour before he heads out again with the Stick Men than by joining Adrian Belew and Pat Mastelotto for another Three Of A Perfect Pair Music Camp at Full Moon Resort in Upstate New York? The annual event takes place from August 3-7.  “Adrian Belew, Tony Levin and Pat Mastelotto join forces for a getaway featuring performances, workshops, open mics, and exquisite dining. A rare opportunity to learn, play, and make friends with this renowned trio!”

Recorded at Eno's flat in Maida Vale, West London on 8th September, 1972, with Fripp playing his Les Paul through his custom pedalboard, while Eno operated a pair of modified Revox A77 tape recorders, for what would become the album No Pussyfooting.

Brian Eno and Robert Fripp.

It was the beginning of a musical collaboration that would lead to Fripp working with Bowie on the Heroes sessions in 1977 and a series of albums and a tour as the experimental music duo Fripp & Eno.

The Melody Maker article that led to Eno's solo career.

The opening commentary, in conversation with David Singleton, has the full story of how Bryan Ferry's failed audition to become the singer in King Crimson led to Roxy Music being signed by EG Management, which in turn paved the way for one of Robert's most enduring musical partnerships with the band's synth operator, Brian Eno. 

Robert at Majestic Studios for the Here Come The Warm Jets sessions, September 1973.

Their first experimental foray on The Heavenly Music Corporation was followed a year later by Fripp adding a burning guitar solo to Baby's On Fire on the first Eno solo album Here Come The Warm Jets.

Download Robert Fripp @ 80 Vol.4  The Heavenly Music Corporation (Edit)

Follow the Spotify playlist to listen to Baby's on Fire: Robert Fripp @ 80  

Or listen on the official YouTube channel:

Islands was the sole studio album by the Fripp, Collins, Burrell and Wallace line-up and the last to feature Peter Sinfield as a full creative partner. It was the record that closed one chapter of King Crimson history while quietly sketching the next. Historically, it captured the band in a brief but amazingly fertile formation, with material developed under touring pressure and recorded between live dates. Musically, it is where the group’s early sound was stretched to its limit and began to fracture into something tougher, stranger and more open-ended. While the album contains widely varying types of material across its six pieces - hints of the future present on material such as Sailor’s Tale with Fripp’s sharp guitar work and Collins’ searing saxophone sit comfortably alongside the purely orchestral Prelude: Song of the Gulls – Islands has a cohesive story to tell as a collection of music and a reflection of King Crimson at that particular moment in time, a story that can be heard, most completely, in this release.

KCXP5014 Islands

Disc 1    CD

2026 mixes - Produced and Mixed by Steven Wilson

1. Formentera Lady
2. Sailor’s Tale
3. The Letters
4. Ladies of the Road
5. Prelude: Song of the Gulls
6. Islands

2026 Elemental Mix - Produced and Mixed by David Singleton

7. Formentera Lady
8. Sailor’s Tale
9. Ladies of the Road
10. Islands

Disc 2 Blu-Ray

I            2026 Dolby Atmos, DTS HD-MA 5.1 Surround & 24/96 Stereo 

1. Formentera Lady
2. Sailor’s Tale
3. The Letters
4. Ladies of the Road
5. Prelude: Song of the Gulls
6. Islands

II            2026 Instrumental, 24/96 Stereo

1. Formentera Lady
2. The Letters
3. Ladies of the Road
4. Islands

III           2026 Elemental Mixes, 24/96 Stereo

1. Formentera Lady
2. Sailor’s Tale
3. The Letters
4. Ladies of the Road
5. Islands
6. Prelude: Song of the Gulls

IV          Complete Recording Sessions, 24/96 Stereo

Islands Studios 

July 22^nd, 1971 Ladies of The Road Early Uptempo Takes 1 & 2

Command Studios 

Aug 2^nd, 1971 Ladies of The Road Takes 1 to 5

A Peacemaking Stint Unrolls Takes 1 to 3

Aug 25^th, 1971 Checking Levels

Ladies of The Road Take 1

Band Jam

Ladies of The Road Takes 2 to 4

Aug 26^th, 1971 Band Jam 2

Ladies of The Road Takes One to Five

Ladies of The Road Backing and Overdubs

Ladies of The Road Vocals and Overdubs

Sept 1^st, 1971 Ian Drum Check

The Letters Section One First Two Verses

The Letters Section Two Riff

The Letters Section Three Solo Takes 1 and 2

The Letters Section Four Last Two Verses

The Letters Intro Overdubs

The Letters Riff Overdubs

The Letters Vocals and Piano Last 2 Verses

The Letters Backing and Flute Last 2 Verses

Sept 8^th, 1971 Formentera Lady First Two Verses Takes 1 to 5

Formentera Lady Backing and Overdubs

Formentera Lady Vocals and Overdubs

Sept 9^th, 1971 Band Blow

Sailor's Tale Bass, Drums and Overdubs

Sailor's Tale Sax and Banjo Guitar Overdubs

Sailor's Tale Piano and Guitar Overdubs

Sailor's Tale Mellotron Overdubs

Oct 1^st, 1971 Prelude Rehearsals and Flute Takes 1 to 3

Islands Takes 1 and 2

Oct 2^nd, 1971 Prelude Takes 1 to 3

Oct 3^rd, 1971 Prelude Takes 1 and 2

Islands Master Piano, Guitar and Wind Overdubs

Islands Master Keys and Mellotron Overdubs

V           Original Mixes - 30th Anniversary Master (24/96 Stereo)

1. Formentera Lady
2. Sailor’s Tale
3. The Letters
4. Ladies of the Road
5. Prelude: Song of the Gulls
6. Islands

VI          Live at Summit Studios March 1972 - Quadraphonic Sound

1. Pictures of a City
2. Cadence and Cascade
3. Groon 
4. 21^st Century Schizoid Man
5. Improv: Summit Going On
6. My Hobby
7. The Sailor’s Tale
8. The Creator Has A Master Plan (including Summit and Something Else)

KCLPR4  Islands Elemental Mix LP (200gram Super-heavyweight vinyl)

 Side A 

1. Formentera Lady
2. Sailor's Tale
3. The Letters

Side B

1. Ladies Of The Road
2. Islands
3. Prelude Song of The Gulls

For King Crimson fans, Islands – 2026 David Singleton Elemental Mix is both a compelling standalone listening experience and an essential companion to the original album — offering fresh insight into the sessions, a renewed immediacy to the performances, and a rare opportunity to hear this distinctive work from a radically different angle.

Pre-order from Burning Shed.

It is 55 years since the first release of this album and we also have the opportunity for fans to listen to the album in Atmos for the VERY FIRST TIME at Polygon London before the release date of the CD/Blu-ray in September.   

Events take place on Thursday 18th June at 7pm and Sunday 28th June at 9pm and tickets can be purchased here. 

Following the release of the digital single Hope in the RF@80 series, the Robert Fripp String Quintet album The Bridge Between is now available to download for the first time from dgmlive.

It was one of the first CDs issued by DGM in 1994 and has been out of print for many years, but as of today, The Bridge Between can be downloaded from DGM Live and is making its debut on streaming services. Burning Shed also has a limited number of CDs available to purchase.

Mostly recorded live on tour in 1993, The Robert Fripp String Quintet comprised Robert Fripp on guitar, Trey Gunn on Chapman Stick, and Hideyo Moriya, Paul Richards and Bert Lams of The California Guitar Trio on acoustic guitars.

Download: The Bridge Between.

Order the CD: limited stock available from Burning Shed.

Today at 18 GMT...

Tomorrow at at 12 GMT...

“In strange and uncertain times a reasonable person might despair, but hope is unreasonable and love is greater even than this”, Robert Fripp.

Robert Fripp was 80 on 16th May 2026. To celebrate this, DGM is curating a Fripp@80 series, with weekly digital releases throughout the year drawn from Robert’s solo and collaborative work. Each piece will be accompanied by commentaries from Robert and David Singleton explaining the background to each selection. 

Recorded live at the Nottingham Playhouse on Sunday evening June 20, 1993, Hope was originally released on The Bridge Between CD in October, 1994. 

Written by Italian Crafty Guitarist Antonio deHonestis and Robert’s guitar tech of many years, John Sinks, who also had a background in Guitar Craft. The Robert Fripp Quintet comprised Robert Fripp on guitar, Trey Gunn on Chapman Stick, and Hideyo Moriya, Paul Richards and Bert Lams of The California Guitar Trio on acoustic guitars.

The Robert Fripp String Quintet.

“The Quintet slipped into existence as a response to an invitation from Anita Contini of Olympia & York for me to perform in The Atrium of the World Financial Centre in New York. I invited Trey Gunn to join me for one performance and The California Guitar Trio for another. These two performances took place on May 19th, and 20th. 1992. Around these shows we added several other dates for which we gratefully acknowledge the support of John Paige, Harold Oliver, WMUH at Muhlenberg College, and Michael Tedesco, amongst others. 

In November 1992, now The RFSQ, we visited Japan for television, club and concert performances, and in May 1993 Argentina and California. The following month we played in England, by mistake, at Zefferelli's, Ambleside, and the Nottingham Guitar-Festival.”

The Nottingham Guitar Festival.

Download Robert Fripp @ 80 Vol.3  Hope

Follow the Spotify playlist: Robert Fripp @ 80  

Or listen on the official YouTube channel: