King Crimson
Park West
Chicago, IL
Saturday, March 15th, 2003
Section/Aisle: DANCE (General Admission)
$40
This is Part 2 of my King Crimson in Chicago series.
The next day, I had an epiphany. It wasn't about King Crimson. It was about Chicago. Chicago is a big city! A real, walkable city, with lots of stuff going on. Logically, I knew this already, but I really felt it for the first time that Saturday. We had a nice breakfast at the hotel and then went for a walk. I went to Michigan Avenue, the Magnificent Mile, and it gave me the same feeling as walking in Manhattan or my hometown of Philly. I was getting my city-fix! I didn't even buy anything, but being around the people, the atmosphere, the vitality of the sidewalks and the outdoors, I was in my element.
Roy and I did a couple things that have become our Chicago tradition. We debated what time to get in the general admission line. I decided on 4:00. It was based on the number of people who had already been in line the day before when we got there, and the fact that this day was a Saturday when most people would have off from work and could get in line earlier. I have a good feel for what I need to do at general admission shows. Roy thought it was ridiculously early and didn't take me seriously at first. I won.
Since we'd be in line over dinner time, we had a late lunch near Michigan Avenue, at Mike Ditka's restaurant. Neither of us are fans, but it's become a tradition and we eat there almost everytime we're in town. We also stopped at the Borders on Michigan to pick up some stuff to read while waiting in line. It was a fun day in general to be out. The city was celebrating St. Patrick's Day and dyed the Chicago River green.
We took a cab to the club and got in line. Roy was disappointed that the Ben and Jerry's down the street was closed. The wait passed easily, and we grabbed a great spot in the front row, center. Roy told me that the wait was worth it for this view.
King Crimson concerts are always different. With my favorite band Yes, I'll see them live multiple times on a concert tour, but it's about the joy of seeing my favorite music over and over again. Crimson both does a lot of improvisation and also changes their setlist from one show to the next. They keep most of the same songs, but change the order and drop in some different songs along the way.
This led to one of my favorite Crimson live moments of all time. I'm definitely in the "song" camp when it comes to Crimson. As I've said already, their heavy instrumental stuff is exhilarating live, but not what I like to listen to at home. This night, they played one of my favorite songs from Thrak, One Time. I was so happy to hear it and see it being performed. It segued into a newer piece. Musically, it worked well, but I had all this happy energy and I wanted to applaud One Time. And then, they segued back into One Time to finish the piece. It was just a beautiful moment and a happy surprise.
Yeah, I know. I saw five shows by the double trio lineup playing lots of songs from Thrak; I don't want Crimson to live in that time period, but it's when I became a fan and a nice place to revisit. A visit to the King Crimson live website tells me they also played Dinosaur and Vrooom that night. I think Dinosaur has been played at all twelve Crimson shows I've seen.
We hung around after the show. I chatted with another fan who was very mellow. He also liked Yes, and said how much he liked Jon Anderson's god awful The More You Know album. We bumped into him at another show one time, and he told us that strange fact again. We got to talk to Adrian again, and Roy told him how much we enjoyed One Time mixed with The Power to Believe. Adrian told us whose idea it was, but neither Roy nor I can remember now.
The next morning, we went back to the little deli for breakfast, but it was packed. So we did the fancy Sunday brunch at the hotel. It was delicious and a great way to end the trip. We drove home with me thinking how much I learned about Chicago. I didn't have to wonder when we would make this five hour drive again. We were returning the very next week to see the Tony Levin Band at Martyr's.
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
King Crimson in Chicago on Pi Day
King Crimson
Park West
Chicago, IL
Friday, March 14th, 2003
Section/Aisle: DANCE (General Admission)
$40
The King Crimson-related website DGM Live has requested stories of seeing the band live in Chicago. It's taken me weeks and I only finished the first of three times. Here it is.
My life had a very big change in 2000. After three years of a long distance relationship, I relocated to St. Louis and moved in with my now-husband Roy. We were both King Crimson fans. Ironically, this caused me to be a less active fan for awhile: I missed the ConstruKction of Light album and tour. It seemed a waste to buy it since we would soon be combining our music collection and this would be a duplicate. I never got to have "new album fever" with this one, excitedly playing it until I knew all the material. Roy saw a pre-show in Nashville before I moved, and Crim played Philly afterwards. They didn't play St. Louis. Subsequently, I never warmed up to this album, and I don't really love the post-TCOL material like I do Thrak.
I was homesick. Growing up in Philly, I could always see bands in my hometown or in New York. I found out that bands would skip St. Louis altogether and maybe we'd get to see them in a city five hours away. I missed the concert opportunities and city living in general. I did get to see a few Crimson shows in 2001 - a Nashville rehearsal show and then St. Louis and Madison, Wisconsin over Thanksgiving weekend.
I had been to Chicago a few times for other concerts, but we never spent much time there. It was always staying at a cheap hotel out in the suburbs and driving in for the concert itself. That all changed in March 2003. King Crimson was playing two nights at the Park West. I was glad to see them at a general admission venue. I love being able to get in line early and watch a band from the front row. No Ticketmaster ticket-buying hassles. I love being able to stand up and dance at concerts without getting in anyone's way. I love making eye contact and feeling like I'm part of the energy of the concert, rather than just an observer.
I don't remember if it was my idea or Roy's, but we stayed at a hotel downtown this time. The historic Palmer House hotel. We drove up the day of the show. Friday, March 14th, 2003. Did I mention I love being in the front row for concerts? I'm also anal about getting in line early enough to do it. We got in town around 4, and I wanted to be there already! We checked in quickly and grabbed sandwiches from a deli next door. No time to have a nice dinner. We took a cab to the Park West and ate while waiting in line. We got there just in time - the doors opened soon after we got there. The line went all the way to the corner. Thankfully, most people were waiting to get seats, further back. More room up front for me! I remember we had to stand off to the side, but I think we were in the very front. (I'm quite short, so anything less than front row in an everyone standing situation means I have a very obstructed view.)
Had The Power to Believe come out yet? I liked it alright, and really liked EleKtrik, But nothing else on it grabbed me like the songs from Discipline or Thrak. I have the DGM download of the 3/14 show to refresh my memory. The setlist was almost entirely made up of Power to Believe and ConstruKction of Light material. It was very brave, but also smart. Crimson has had so many different eras and lineups and fans can be divided over their favorites. Rather than being a classic rock band and relying on that back catalog, Crimson was fresh and new. Sometimes I feel like I liked them pushing boundaries up to a certain point, and then I selfishly want them to stay there for awhile and play the stuff that interests me most.
Anyway, it doesn't matter what I thought of their recent studio material. King Crimson blew me away live that night. The heaviness of their recent stuff was forceful live and I was completely in to the performance. Being able to stand up and move around to the music helped a lot. These general admission concerts have had a different focus on me - it's less about the music I love from 10 years ago and more...fun... within the Crimson framework. Seeing this amazing live band playing right in front of me and getting to feed off the energy on stage is great no matter what the setlist. I think I appreciate them more as a live band now than when I saw them in the double trio era.
Listening to the DGM soundboard of the show, it's not as relentlessly heavy as I remember. ConstruKction of Light has some good dynamics. Still, I don't need to hear ProzaKc Blues again. EleKtrik is challenging to dance to! I was glad Dinosaur made it into the setlist as an encore. It's like visiting with an old friend.
I don't remember if it was after this night or the next, but after the show, we started chatting outside with some other fans. Two boys (still teens?) came in from Kansas City for this show. One asked me if I had seen Crimson back in the 70s. Ouch. I hadn't been born yet. Then they asked about the 80s. Do these kids have no concept of adults' ages? I was only about 10 years older than them. I was only fake offended, but they should learn not to assume women are so much older than they are. Anyway, Adrian Belew came out after the show and recognized Roy and me from other shows. He said hi and I pointed out these boys who had come from Kansas City. He talked to them for a bit. He was really sweet to them and they were so excited! Watching that interaction and other fans' enthusiasm with meeting their favorites is up there with meeting my favorite musicians myself. I'm glad I got to enable it.
Park West
Chicago, IL
Friday, March 14th, 2003
Section/Aisle: DANCE (General Admission)
$40
The King Crimson-related website DGM Live has requested stories of seeing the band live in Chicago. It's taken me weeks and I only finished the first of three times. Here it is.
My life had a very big change in 2000. After three years of a long distance relationship, I relocated to St. Louis and moved in with my now-husband Roy. We were both King Crimson fans. Ironically, this caused me to be a less active fan for awhile: I missed the ConstruKction of Light album and tour. It seemed a waste to buy it since we would soon be combining our music collection and this would be a duplicate. I never got to have "new album fever" with this one, excitedly playing it until I knew all the material. Roy saw a pre-show in Nashville before I moved, and Crim played Philly afterwards. They didn't play St. Louis. Subsequently, I never warmed up to this album, and I don't really love the post-TCOL material like I do Thrak.
I was homesick. Growing up in Philly, I could always see bands in my hometown or in New York. I found out that bands would skip St. Louis altogether and maybe we'd get to see them in a city five hours away. I missed the concert opportunities and city living in general. I did get to see a few Crimson shows in 2001 - a Nashville rehearsal show and then St. Louis and Madison, Wisconsin over Thanksgiving weekend.
I had been to Chicago a few times for other concerts, but we never spent much time there. It was always staying at a cheap hotel out in the suburbs and driving in for the concert itself. That all changed in March 2003. King Crimson was playing two nights at the Park West. I was glad to see them at a general admission venue. I love being able to get in line early and watch a band from the front row. No Ticketmaster ticket-buying hassles. I love being able to stand up and dance at concerts without getting in anyone's way. I love making eye contact and feeling like I'm part of the energy of the concert, rather than just an observer.
I don't remember if it was my idea or Roy's, but we stayed at a hotel downtown this time. The historic Palmer House hotel. We drove up the day of the show. Friday, March 14th, 2003. Did I mention I love being in the front row for concerts? I'm also anal about getting in line early enough to do it. We got in town around 4, and I wanted to be there already! We checked in quickly and grabbed sandwiches from a deli next door. No time to have a nice dinner. We took a cab to the Park West and ate while waiting in line. We got there just in time - the doors opened soon after we got there. The line went all the way to the corner. Thankfully, most people were waiting to get seats, further back. More room up front for me! I remember we had to stand off to the side, but I think we were in the very front. (I'm quite short, so anything less than front row in an everyone standing situation means I have a very obstructed view.)
Had The Power to Believe come out yet? I liked it alright, and really liked EleKtrik, But nothing else on it grabbed me like the songs from Discipline or Thrak. I have the DGM download of the 3/14 show to refresh my memory. The setlist was almost entirely made up of Power to Believe and ConstruKction of Light material. It was very brave, but also smart. Crimson has had so many different eras and lineups and fans can be divided over their favorites. Rather than being a classic rock band and relying on that back catalog, Crimson was fresh and new. Sometimes I feel like I liked them pushing boundaries up to a certain point, and then I selfishly want them to stay there for awhile and play the stuff that interests me most.
Anyway, it doesn't matter what I thought of their recent studio material. King Crimson blew me away live that night. The heaviness of their recent stuff was forceful live and I was completely in to the performance. Being able to stand up and move around to the music helped a lot. These general admission concerts have had a different focus on me - it's less about the music I love from 10 years ago and more...fun... within the Crimson framework. Seeing this amazing live band playing right in front of me and getting to feed off the energy on stage is great no matter what the setlist. I think I appreciate them more as a live band now than when I saw them in the double trio era.
Listening to the DGM soundboard of the show, it's not as relentlessly heavy as I remember. ConstruKction of Light has some good dynamics. Still, I don't need to hear ProzaKc Blues again. EleKtrik is challenging to dance to! I was glad Dinosaur made it into the setlist as an encore. It's like visiting with an old friend.
I don't remember if it was after this night or the next, but after the show, we started chatting outside with some other fans. Two boys (still teens?) came in from Kansas City for this show. One asked me if I had seen Crimson back in the 70s. Ouch. I hadn't been born yet. Then they asked about the 80s. Do these kids have no concept of adults' ages? I was only about 10 years older than them. I was only fake offended, but they should learn not to assume women are so much older than they are. Anyway, Adrian Belew came out after the show and recognized Roy and me from other shows. He said hi and I pointed out these boys who had come from Kansas City. He talked to them for a bit. He was really sweet to them and they were so excited! Watching that interaction and other fans' enthusiasm with meeting their favorites is up there with meeting my favorite musicians myself. I'm glad I got to enable it.
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