Robert Fripp Frippertronics Tour

Yeah, I saw this at Madame Wong's in L.A. It would have been 1979, I believe, since I moved out of the area in January, 1980.
He politely requested an audience member to refrain from recording -actually requested his cassette from him- and gave his reasons for doing so. The guy put up a bit of a fight before acquiescing.
You have to give a bit of yourself to be able to appreciate these performances: the first part is a bit like watching someone knitting. But, after a while, when full stereo imagery is achieved and the sound is moving around the room, it becomes magical.

 

Must have been around that same time I got to see this at The Bottom Line NYC. At one point Fripp had multiple loops playing, and left the stage to walk around the audience. He encouraged the audience to to converse and just exist and do what they will in this aural environment.

 

Also odd in that he was "in residence" for a week, and played regular shows at lunchtime, when hundreds if not thousands of office workers were passing through the space.

 

Wow, thanks. That may indeed have been the show I saw.

 

That link lets you purchase a single show download or the entire run of 3 shows.

 

I saw him at the Winter Garden, World Financial Center (NYC), May 19, 1992. It was free.

 

Yep, me too, and I was an NYU student as well. Heck, we should have gotten together. Weren't we all sitting on the floor?

I knew very little about Fripp back then other than his music. So, innocently enough, I brought my prized import copy of LTIA in its protective plastic envelope in hopes he'd sign it. Not only did he NOT sign it, I got snarled at for my trouble.

 

Reading these posts, it’s interesting how Fripp’s attitude towards the audience has changed over the years. I wonder if his refusal to autograph is due to items ending up on eBay?

 

Found this thread after a tweet from Brian Eno on the History Of Looping Music.

Saw Fripp on his Frippertronics tour in a lecture hall at the University of Waterloo in Ontario. Would have been around 79/80. Just Fripp & his 2 tape decks. He tried to present as a lecture, but nobody could understand his esoteric points. Something like comparing music to obscure religions. It was great to see how he did it, but I would have prefered more playing and less talking - or at least tell us things we can understand.

Saw a much better show in Toronto at the El Mocambo on June 18, 1980 with his League of Gentlemen tour.

 

I saw Robert Fripp on 3/6/1983 at Berkeley's Wheeler Auditorium. Some Frippertronics and then Q & A.

BTW, a lot of Frippertronics recordings are available from DGM Live for download.

 

I would love a physical box set of the best Frippertronics material along the lines of the KC boxes

Some of the DGMLive downloads are utterly sublime

 

I saw Fripp circa 1980-81 for “An Evening of Frippertronics and Conversation”. Can’t remember where, probably NYC. He talked about the reformed KC and the forthcoming Discipline album. I asked him who was going to write the lyrics and he answered, “Adrian Belew.”

 

Yeah, I'd be over that like a rash....

 

I count two!

 

Indeed, when i think Frippertronics, this is what I'm thinking of. The Soundscapes are something different, albeit using similar techniques.

 

IIRC unfortunately those don't include his soloing over the loops

There are some tracks...can't recall now...that more closely replicate the live shows...The New World and...??

The soloing over the Frippertronics bg is so wonderful...like endless versions of Heavenly Music Corp. and Evening Star

 

i have a friend who saw him do this at Tower Records in Berkeley around 1980. He said he heckled Fripp in the middle of the frippertronics set and Fripp responded with some blazing noisy solo. The sort of interaction that would be frowned upon these days (by me!) but the story is good when he tells it.

 

I think God Save the Queen is one of the most ridiculously obscure albums ever. I love it, both the batsh!t side with Byrne ranting, and the other side even more, I adore..

 

Yeah, me too. I knew he was there, and stopped in for 15-20 minutes. Amazing sound bouncing around the Financial Center.

 

The infamous West Coast swing...

 

Madame Wong Chinatown show review by Ken Tucker.

 

The back of "Let the Power Fall" has a list of many of the 1979 dates:

 

I saw him do the Frippertronics thing in the summer of 1979 at the Kitchen in NYC. On the way in everybody was handed a cassette of lectures by J. G. Bennett, Gurdjieff disciple and Fripp's spiritual guru. The Polydor person made me promise not to tell Fripp that the label had given me a free ticket. It was all kinda weird, but the music was great.

 

Agreed, especially today when music tastes are ever wider than before. From what I've heard GSTQ and LTPF are unique. The Soundscapes are similar, but the rudimentary, formative, nature of these two make them very special indeed. Even at the time I was hoping we'd get more albums like that - alas that wasn't to be.

A box set with these, and similar recordings, would be an instant buy for me. I love the simplicity, the crudeness, the adventure, like tentative steps on some distant shore........