King Crimson to tour US in 2017

Indiscipline was the worst song at the show I saw in Red Bank in July. I looked at my wife and she looked at me at the same time with a WTF look when Jakko started singing it.

 

Agreed Islands and some of the other Wetton songs he sings well but Indiscipline was a disaster IMHO.

 

Assuming 2 of the 3 Islands songs were "Formentera Lady" and "The Letters", what was the third? If you say "Sailor's Tale", I'm going to be very jealous. Would rather have seen that then "F Lady".

 

I saw them do Islands, Letters, and Sailor's. Was tremendous.

 

Oh yeah, I guess it was "Islands" & "The Letters" I saw them do at The Greek, not "Formentera". Would still rather have seen "Sailor's Tale".

 

I can envision Jakko doing "One Time" (quite beautifully, I might add) without having to alter it to accommodate his style.

 

Fripp's already getting a bit of heat from Belew over their rendition of "Indiscipline" as it is. It may sound nice in theory, but they're not going to take on more Belew-era vocal material.

DGM World Central, Bredonborough.

 

Seeing how the sausage is made is never pretty... a good read, though.

 

Yah, too bad. I can see both sides.

Big fan of Ade, but King Crimson plays King Crimson music.

Nonetheless, if something smells cheesy, I wouldn't hesitate to say so.

I'm lookin' at you Indiscipline.

Adjust, please.

 

It makes me sad seeing this behavior from Fripp & Belew. If they can't just sit down and figure it out then my hope is that Fripp just drops any Belew lyrics from the Crimson sets. Play the songs instrumentally and everyone is happy. If Belew plays anything from his time in Crimson, let him do it and don't say a word. Take the high road.

 

What message does that send, then, if the vocals from SIX of the King Crimson studio albums are suddenly verboten territory for the current members of King Crimson? I would be very disappointed if they took this route to pacify a former member. Yes he is the composer of the lyrics, but why should he get a veto power over everyone else's musical freedom?

 

He shouldn't get the veto power, but it's a lot less hassle if they just skip the vocals on those songs. They have every right to play them and I wish that it didn't upset Belew for whatever reason it upsets him. He's not "King" Crimson, but he's proving very successful at turning this into a public argument between band members and fans alike. Not performing the lyrics removes a lot tension in the air and the already potent factions of fans on both sides.

 

It is odd, being that not Greg Lake, nor Boz Burrell, nor John Wetton, made similar demands on Fripp. Only thing that possibly comes close is maybe Gordon Haskell demanding back royalties, leading Fripp to swiftly edit him out of "Cirkus" on a certain release for a time (by having Belew re-record his vocal part on the track, no less!).

There is the difference there that each of those singers were singing lyrics, in most cases, written for them by a separate lyricist.

Does Belew rate any different here, since both the lyrics and vocal melodies / delivery were all his?

Perhaps Belew should have seen what he might be in for based on Fripp's reaction to Haskell. Thing is, I don't think Belew was expecting to ever not be asked back to the band.

 

What about the fans who want to HEAR King Crimson play those songs with the lyrics intact? They have to go see the Adrian Belew Power Trio do them? That's an amazing show of its own, to be sure (their gig here a few years back at Mod Club was one of the most memorable nights I've ever had). But it's certainly not King Crimson

 

The Crimson Project certainly isn't King Crimson either. I enjoyed that show (and I always enjoy Belew's trio shows, they're an incredible band), but it really missed that "secret sauce" that Fripp provides. He's the thing that makes it Crimson. As for fans wanting to hear the '81-'03 songs performed as intended, I don't blame them. I love those songs too. Only Adrian Belew can fully diffuse that situation. He's the one making it difficult. Sure, Fripp can do whatever he wants...and I think he does do what he wants.

 

Adrian's argument is an emotional one. He is upset at being asked not to participate in this latest version of Crimson after being their frontman for nearly 30 years --after such a long time and such a major contribution I'm not surprised he didn't think of himself as a replaceable part. I would imagine the only thing that gave him some solace was that the band was not performing the music he was part of, a few guitar instrumentals aside, so in a sense, he had not been replaced. But with the new Crimson now edging into performing material he sang, that solace is taken away.

Unsurprisingly, Fripp takes the logical position that whatever he says is King Crimson is King Crimson, and any music associated with that name should be fair game -- and almost everything this band is playing was originally sung by other people anyway. And other lineups of King Crimson played music recorded by their predecessors, and Adrian himself performs King Crimson songs under his own banner.

But Adrian is unhappy, and logic tends not to have much power to convince unhappy people.

 

Crimson ProjeKCt currently plays "Red" -- written solely by Fripp. Love some of his contributions, but Belew can't have it both ways.

 

"Indiscipline" is a hard one. It begs to be played, but something needs to go where Adrian speaks. I haven't heard the current incarnation of it, so I'll reserve judgment until I do.

I certainly wouldn't want to hear them tackle "Elephant Talk" or "The World's My Oyster Soup Kitchen Floor Wax Museum". There is absolutely enough instrumental music from that era, but c'mon. Am I really supposed to believe that Jakko couldn't do justice to "Three Of A Perfect Pair"? "Matte Kudasai"? "Sleepless"?

Methinks Adrian is being a bit too sensitive here.

 

Agree with every word. When I saw the current band do "Indiscipline" the crowd lost their minds UNTIL the singing began.

 

It's King Crimson not the Adrian Belew band. Most every band plays their back catalogue despite numerous personnel changes. AB needs to get over himself.

 

I don't disagree; like I wrote elsewhere, I think any public complaints are the result of Wife and Manager rallying around a jilted Adrian.

If I had to hand down a court ruling, it would be that King Crimson plays King Crimson music. Period. Whoever's there plays it as they may.

It doesn't mean I'm giving Indiscipline 2017 a pass, however.

It also doesn't mean I have a workable solution for it either. (Like I had a say in it... ) Neurotica worked rather well, with the talking vocal simply dropped.

Yeah, there was a similar, brief "huh?" here too. But to be fair, the guts of the piece, namely the instrumental, was a fire-breather. Crowd approval roar thereafter.

 

I had no issues with the sung-not-spoken version of "Indiscipline." I don't think Jakko is a charismatic frontman in any way, but he has a knack for competently delivering vocals from every era of the band.

 

Well, Jakko doesn't sing ALL of "Neurotica" (dropping the "no claw, no camouflage" bridge) so it just makes for a weird, unsatisfying arrangement, leading me to believe this and "Indiscipline" could work well without vocals of any kind.

 

I haven't yet heard this new version of "Indiscipline" but it does sound like a bit of an awkward fit for this band. Here are some tracks from the Discipline era that I would prefer: "Frame by Frame" (come to think of it "Meltdown" almost sounds like a re-write here), "Sheltering Sky", "Neal & Jack & Me", "Satori in Tangier", "Sleepless", "Larks' Tongues Part 3".

 

I saw my share of KC shows with Belew. I'm perfectly happy if they don't play anything from that era and focus on the earlier material, a lot of which I thought I would never see performed.