Queen Elizabeth Hall foyer

Robert Fripp
London
9 Mar 1996

Saturday 9th March

Within performance art, time-based works draw upon the artist’s endurance and stamina as one factor that makes up the experience. In music, one thinks of Charlemagne Palestine’s four-hour-and-more piano ruminations, and perhaps the progenitor of all such pieces, Eric Satie’s Vexations, which lasted a finger-numbing 18 hours when performed in 1963 by a team of pianists that included John Cage, John Cale, and many other notables.

Robert Fripp’s third day of the QEH residency notched up seven hours and 26 minutes worth of music between 1.00 pm - 10.00 pm. In that time, as with the previous day and the one that would follow, there were periods in which, as Fripp puts it, “Any interest in playing Soundscapes had long since flown away. Ideas. What ideas are those? A blankness of thought and imagination.” The solution facing the performer might be to quit or, as the guitarist would later note, “Get to the end of what you know, then take the jump into the unknown.”

10 April 2025

Just For You
ARTICLES

Complete Salisbury Cathedral Soundscapes.

Robert Fripp performed on four consecutive afternoons in the...

MORE

Rough Trade Frippertronics

On This Day 40 years ago, Robert Fripp played at the Rough T...

MORE

Gibson Stereo guitar.

With the DGM releases of The Cheerful Insanity of Giles Gile...

MORE

Toyah & Robert's Weekend

Toyah & Robert's latest Upbeat Moments & a vintage Sunday Lu...

MORE

Toyah & Robert's Weekend

Toyah & Robert's Weekend

MORE

Toyah & Robert's Weekend

Toyah & Robert's latest Upbeat Moments & a brand new Sunday...

MORE

Going Mobile:

When the League of Crafty Guitarist’s sound engineer abruptl...

MORE

Guitar Craft Course with RF

An Introduction To Guitar Craft & The Guitar Circle, directe...

MORE

Toyah & Robert's Weekend

Toyah & Robert's Weekend

MORE

Toyah & Robert's Weekend

Toyah & Robert's Weekend

MORE

Toyah & Robert's Weekend

Toyah & Robert's latest Upbeat Moments & vintage Sunday Lunc...

MORE

Toyah & Robert's Weekend

Toyah & Robert's Weekend

MORE

Toyah & Robert's Weekend

Toyah & Robert's Weekend

MORE

Giles, Giles & Fripp New Editions.

The Cheerful Insanity of Giles, Giles and Fripp (The Songs),...

MORE

Toyah & Robert's Weekend

Toyah & Robert's Weekend

MORE

Happy Birthday Robert!

King Crimson's guitarist turns 79 today. To mark the occasio...

MORE

Toyah & Robert's Weekend

Toyah & Robert's Weekend

MORE

Toyah and Robert's Weekend.

Catch up with Toyah and Robert's latest weekend on YouTube.

MORE

Toyah & Robert's Easter Weekend

Toyah & Robert's Easter Weekend

MORE

Toyah & Robert's Weekend

Toyah & Robert's Weekend

MORE
DIARIES

Satch Bus.

09.23

Satch Bus.

We arrived at Hotel Adeq...

MORE

Satch Bus.

10.53

Route 66 gives a route of 1535 mil...

MORE

Cabin 6020, Silja Ferry >Stockholm.

16.21

Cabin 6020, Silja Ferry >Stockholm.

...

MORE

Satch Bus.

10.29

Bags at 09.30, lobby 10.00, set off for Got...

MORE

Satch Bus, outside venue, Copenhagen.

24.47

An experientially long overnight drive, inc...

MORE

Hotel Pricey And The Staff Are Superb, Amsterdam.

10.47

Breakfast this morning with Joe alone. He w...

MORE

Hotel It-Is-Almost Posh, Amsterdam.

09.10

Into the breakfast room at 06.30 for a quie...

MORE

The Basement, Chateau Belew.

10.28

The Basement, Chateau Belew.

The su...

MORE

The Basement, Chateau Belew.

05.30

One proper response to being alive is joy....

MORE

The Basement, Chateau Belewbeloid.

16.41

The event of the day: Martha Belew is 31 to...

MORE

Los Molinos.

07.23

Rising at 05.52, or 04.52 UK & body tim...

MORE

Crimson Tourbus, Outside Hotel Acceptable, Phoenix.

01.00

Crimson Tourbus, Outside Hotel Acceptable,...

MORE

#504, Hotel Quite Acceptable, Vancouver.

00.15

A supportive & generous audience and wh...

MORE

Hotel Quite Acceptable, Vancouver.

11.03

The weather is changeable, a blue sky rapid...

MORE

Hotel Quite Acceptable, Vancouver.

23.57

We arrived at Denver International Airport,...

MORE

Hotel Quite Acceptable, Denver.

10.42

The sun is shining, the sky is mostly blue,...

MORE

Hotel Quite Acceptable, Denver.

20.04

Snowbound in Denver. Rising at 08.30, a not...

MORE

Room Most Acceptable, Hotel Quite Acceptable.

11.00

Driving snow is blowing past on the other s...

MORE

Hotel Quite Acceptable, Denver.

23.15

And with free Ethernet access, too. A call...

MORE

Mobile HQ, Crimbus.

12.47

We left our hotel punctually at noon and ar...

MORE
DOWNLOADS

Entropy Pulse

Summers & Fripp
Arny's Shack
2 Jun 1982

MORE

D'Auteuil" Club

Robert Fripp
D'Auteuil Club
20 Jan 1998

MORE

Salisbury Cathedral Day 4

Robert Fripp
Salisbury Cathedral
5 Jun 1997

MORE

ND Ateneo

Robert Fripp
ND Ateneo
10 Jun 2007

MORE

Music For Quiet Moments 23 - Elegy Pt2 (Rome 20 Jun 2006)

Robert Fripp
DGMHQ Soundworld 1
2 Oct 2020

MORE

National Art Center Ottawa

Robert Fripp
National Art Center Studio
13 Aug 1979

MORE

Finger Lakes Art Center

Robert Fripp
Finger Lakes Arts Center
25 Jun 1997

MORE

Teatro José Tamayo

Robert Fripp
Teatro José Tamayo
17 Apr 2007

MORE

Music For Quiet Moments 35 - Drifting Gently (Chattanooga 27 Feb 2006)

Robert Fripp
DGMHQ Soundworld 1
25 Dec 2020

MORE

Winnepeg Art Gallery

Robert Fripp
Winnipeg Art Gallery
9 Aug 1979

MORE

World Financial Centre 2nd Performance

Robert Fripp
World Financial Centre 2nd Performance
4 Dec 2010

MORE

Music For Quiet Moments 38 - Elegy Pt I (Hannover 15 Oct 2009)

Robert Fripp
DGMHQ Soundworld 1
15 Jan 2021

MORE

Tribal Stomp Festival

Robert Fripp
Tribal Stomp Festival
8 Sep 1979

MORE

Mud Club

The League Of Gentlemen
Mudd Club
20 Jul 1980

MORE

Matrix Studios

Robert Fripp
Matrix Studios
13 Feb 1982

MORE

Piazza Prampolini

Robert Fripp
Mundus Festival, Piazza Prampolini
23 Jun 2006

MORE

The Bottom Line 2

Robert Fripp
The Bottom Line
13 Dec 1997

MORE

Park West 2nd Performance

The League Of Gentlemen
Park West 2nd Performance
11 Jul 1980

MORE

Nautica Stage

Robert Fripp
Nautica Stage
24 Jun 1997

MORE

November 22, 1998 Fripp Unplugged

Robert Fripp
The Painted Bride
22 Nov 1998

MORE
ARTISTS

Robert Fripp

MORE
PHOTO GALLERY