Photos/Writer: Rudy Lu

Prog Rock can be the most serious and technical of the rock genres. King Crimson KC) was perhaps the most serious of the genre going through many lineups and incorporating many styles of music. its last iteration celebrating the band’s 50th anniversary.

Beat is a quartet celebrating a KC’s output in the 1980’s. Specifically, the albums, Discipline, Beat & Three of a Perfect Pair.

Perhaps this was the most accessible period, having appearances on the late night music TV shows and MTV. Two of the members of that band are in Beat. Adrien Belew ( and Tony (Bass/Chapman Stick) Tony Levin were in that band. Virtuoso Steve Vai was recruited to fill the 2nd guitar spot, that was filled by KC founder Robert Fripp. Danny Carey representing the next generation of Prog Rockers on an enormous drum kit. Adrien Belew and Steve Vai both share the experience of being in the Frank Zappa bootcamp. Both were on many projects from there. Among them:

Belew went to with the Talking Heads and then with KC.

Vai toured with David Lee Roth and was with Whitesnake.

Tony Levin was a sought after studio musician in the 70s, went on to tour/record with Peter Gabriel and has been with King Crimson since the 80s.

Danny Carey is a member of Tool. Tool is a big fan of King Crimson, this monetarily more successful band had KC, had KC open for them during their 2001 tour.

Beat vs Crimson

The vibe of Beat is to have fun. The audience was encouraged to have fun. Belew entered the stage with glee along with a smiling Levin. With KC concerts, you were ordered to have fun with a prerecorded Fripp saying “Lets have a Party” in his usual professorial manner.

Vai on stage is a marked contrast to Fripp. Dressed in bright red suit with a contrasting black shirt and broad rimmed hat, he demanded attention. In contrast, Fripp sits on a stool with his guitars and lets the musical pyrotechnics speak for themselves.

1st set

With no warm up, the band instantly launched ito the frenetic “Neurotica” and “Neal and Jack” hitting the audience hard with what they were in for. “Now, we got the easy tunes out of the way, we were get more intense”, quipped Belew who was the primary spokesman for the band.

Following with “Heartbeat” which almost sounds 80’s convential except with unexpected starts and stops.

“Sartori in Tangier” had a Levin driven dance rhythm, inspired by the Moroccan City Tangier.

“Dig Me” resembled a wind up toy with garbled vocals as if one was drugged.

“Larks, Tongue & Aspic Part 3” closed the set. Named after the painting by Giuseppe Arcimboldo depicting a man’s face
populated by fruits and vegetables. This composition has many moods that it leads the listener through.

2nd set

“Waiting Man”-Danny Carey opened the 2nd set away from his kit on the lower stage playing some melodic electronic drums. He is joined by Adrien Belew on the same, Tony Levin echoing the drums, Vai playing a wild rhythm with Belew producing feedback on his g. uitar.

“Sheltering Sky”- We are returned to North Africa with exotic synthetic guitar traded by Vai and Belew. Vai dominating the upper register, Belew taking the lower

“Sleepless” is a Tony Levin tour de force. He plays this tune with his “funk fingers” , drumsticks modified to attach to his fingers, his invention. This is a more percussive sound than a slap bass. Very danceable.

“Matte Kudasai” means “wait please” in Japanese. This was the only performance that even closely resembled a ballad.Belew creating beauty and bird song using a slide in a nonblues context.

“Elephant Talk” is perhaps the most well known of the all the pieces in the performance. Almost a rap in its description of all the metaphors and similes for verbal miscommunication over insistent guitars, drums and Chapman Stick. Vai added a fun element to the piece with soaring sonics on his guitar.

“Indiscipline” closed the formal part of the 2nd set. This piece frequently opened the “3 headed beast” 2010’s version of KC. KC’s version opened with the 3 drummers at the front of the stage trading licks. The burden of this fell solely on Danny Carey. Danny did not try to replicate this aural spectacle or even imitate Bill Bruford. He held his own, as just one drummer sticking to the basics but still flashing his stuff. His version of polyrhythms showed through.

Encore
“Red” was a composition and album that marked the end of 70’s KC. This is the only composition none of this band played on the recording. It was dedicated to Robert Fripp. The menacing tone of this set the stage for the final tune.

“Thela Hun Ginjeet” is an anagram for violent crime in NY, A menancing tone but absolutely danceable almost Talking Heads in nature, except with virtusois musicianship.

Like many of these projects, they can only play every so often depending on the participating artists schedules. Their North American continues until 12/18. Hopefully this combo will unite again and excite other audiences with this music.

Setlist:

Set 1: Neurotica, Neal and Jack and Me, Heartbeat, Sartori in Tangier, Dig Me, Model Man, Man With An Open Heart, Industry, Larks’ Tongues in Aspic

Set 2: Waiting Man, The Sheltering Sky, Sleeplsess, Frame by Frame, Matte Kudasai, Elephant Talk, Three of a Perfect Pair, Indiscipline

Encore: Red, Thela Hun Ginjeet

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