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.