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King Crimson
Sep. 14th, 2019 08:42 pmKing Crimson again. Chicago again. This time during their 50th anniversary tour. And at the amazing Auditorium Theater of Roosevelt University. It was designed by Dankmar Adler and Luis Sullivan, and built in 1889. Our seats were pretty high up, but that's OK. Even if we couldn't quite see the expressions on their faces, we could still see all the action.
The band was a seven-piece. Same as the last few times, but without the eighth man on keyboards and Mellotron. Stacy played a lot of keyboards and Mellotron. Fripp (guitar and Mellotron), Jaksyk (guitar and vocals), Levin (bass and Chapman Stick), Collins (reeds and flute) and Mastelotto, Stacy and Harrison (drums and percussion).
The show started slow for me. After the drumming intro, they did "Pictures of a City," and early song which I'm not familiar with. Then Neurotica (without vocals), which I'm not a big fan of. And the sound didn't seem that great. I was hoping that they'd get it fixed, and it did get better, but it never got to 100%. Fourth tune was "Suitable Grounds for the Blues." I don't even remember this one, and can't find it online to remind me. After that things picked up with "Red", "Epitaph", "EleKtriK" and "The Court of the Crimson King", which closed out the first set.
The second set was much more pleasing than the first, though it too started a bit slow. It included "Frame By Frame". This is an Adrian-era song I didn't expect to hear, but I was a bit disappointed. It just didn't sound right. Larks' Tongues sounded good, if not perfect, and "Easy Money" is a favorite and "Level Five", "Starless" and "Indiscipline" in a row is awesome. "Starless" is another favorite. The encore was an extended "21st Century Schizoid Man". Lots of drums, with some other interludes as well.
Mel Collins sat out a song or two, which I appreciated because I think he's often superfluous. There were still a couple of songs in which I could have done without him. For one of the mellow songs (I don't remember which), Stacey was playing keyboards, Mastelotto was on drums, and Harrison was silent, allowing the single drummer to carry the piece. That was great.
( setlist )
The band was a seven-piece. Same as the last few times, but without the eighth man on keyboards and Mellotron. Stacy played a lot of keyboards and Mellotron. Fripp (guitar and Mellotron), Jaksyk (guitar and vocals), Levin (bass and Chapman Stick), Collins (reeds and flute) and Mastelotto, Stacy and Harrison (drums and percussion).
The show started slow for me. After the drumming intro, they did "Pictures of a City," and early song which I'm not familiar with. Then Neurotica (without vocals), which I'm not a big fan of. And the sound didn't seem that great. I was hoping that they'd get it fixed, and it did get better, but it never got to 100%. Fourth tune was "Suitable Grounds for the Blues." I don't even remember this one, and can't find it online to remind me. After that things picked up with "Red", "Epitaph", "EleKtriK" and "The Court of the Crimson King", which closed out the first set.
The second set was much more pleasing than the first, though it too started a bit slow. It included "Frame By Frame". This is an Adrian-era song I didn't expect to hear, but I was a bit disappointed. It just didn't sound right. Larks' Tongues sounded good, if not perfect, and "Easy Money" is a favorite and "Level Five", "Starless" and "Indiscipline" in a row is awesome. "Starless" is another favorite. The encore was an extended "21st Century Schizoid Man". Lots of drums, with some other interludes as well.
Mel Collins sat out a song or two, which I appreciated because I think he's often superfluous. There were still a couple of songs in which I could have done without him. For one of the mellow songs (I don't remember which), Stacey was playing keyboards, Mastelotto was on drums, and Harrison was silent, allowing the single drummer to carry the piece. That was great.
( setlist )