King Crimson in Chicago 8/06/2008 - Day 1

King Crimson
Park West
Chicago, IL
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
$67.50
General Admission

What if you could go back in time and relive your favorite moments over again? Bands relive their glory days all the time with hits heavy reunion tours. King Crimson never fit that mold. Too forward looking, too edgy. They did what they wanted and hoped the audience would follow. But here they were on their 40th anniversary tour, playing no new material. They hadn't toured since 2003 and I was so happy to be seeing them again, but would Crimson lose something by becoming a little more like every other band?

On the other hand, when a band progresses their sound with every new album and lineup, as a fan, I liked some eras more than others. My feelings about the Crims changed over time. When I first saw them live, it was for their then-current album Thrak, one of my all-time favorites. Crimson could do no wrong. I never liked the double-duo albums ConstruKction of Light or Power to Believe as much. I saw them live seven times during this period, and the concerts themselves had a different vibe than before. Every show I saw during this period was general admission, standing up close by the stage, my favorite concert environment. While the band focused on their new material, I'd still get to hear a few of my favorites. But for this set of shows in Chicago, it was like going back in time. I saw the setlist they had played at a warm-up show, and it would be heavy with songs from the 80s albums and Thrak. Even if (in theory) King Crimson were slightly less cool for reliving the past, they were going to be celebrating my favorite time of the band.

I was so excited about these shows and the trip to Chicago. Roy and I had found out that Crimson would be doing a short tour this year - multiple nights in Chicago, Philly, and New York. This is what I save vacation days for! After the Yes tour was canceled, my mantra was "At least we'll get to see King Crimson". We decided to take the whole week off from work and spend some extra time in Chicago. We booked a nice little bed and breakfast in the Gold Coast neighborhood - close enough that we could walk to and from the Park West each day.

We took Megabus up to Chicago instead of driving. We wouldn't have the hassle of driving or having to pay for parking or gas, but it had some downsides. The Megabus trip takes the same amount of time as driving, but that doesn't count walking to the train station in the rain, taking the train downtown, and other waiting. It also meant we lost some flexibility in timing. We watched some of the fan interviews on the DGM Live site, and people were getting in line early! We had always had luck getting in line around 4, and that's the earliest we'd be able to on Wednesday. I wasn't sure that would be early enough.

The Megabus trip provided a bit of excitement. We went to St. Louis' Union Station to pick up the bus. We got something to drink inside at a Starbucks, and heard from the cashier that Paul McCartney stayed at the Hyatt Regency hotel at Union Station that night before. This is the first I heard of his Route 66 vacation and it was exciting to think we were in the same building and we could possibly run into him that morning. Turns out, he was there several days earlier, but it's been fun following the story.

We got to Chicago, checked in, and walked to the Park West. We got to the line a little after 4, and there were a dozen people in front of us. I assumed the front area by the stage would be all standing, and that some people in front of us would opt for seats further back. That's how it was all the other times we'd seen Crimson here. We'd still be able to get to the front row. Of all the people in line at that time, only one couple was from the Chicago area (or Illinois for that matter). Everyone else had traveled. Roy found a diner on Clark Street and bought some food. We ate food from there each day. I recognized some people in line and the time passed quickly.

The doors opened. I was dumb-founded to see seats! In the orchestra pit! I wanted to stand and dance, like I had the previous times at the Park West. There were long tables perpendicular to the stage. Amazingly, with all the people in front of us, Roy and I were able to grab front row seats. Some people waited in line all that time, and then went to the merchandise booth before securing seats. Some others grouped together at one table rather than spreading out to all the front seats. My seat was directly in front of Tony Levin. Roy was to my left, between Tony and Adrian.

The show started on time, and we stood and applauded them. The first piece was a drum duet. It was new and it quieted some of my fears of the "greatest hits oldies tour". King Crimson has had dual drummers before, and this was the first tour with the duo of Pat Mastelotto and Gavin Harrison. This piece was new, but it made me realize that all of the songs had to be rearranged for this configuration. While it was going on, I saw Adrian Belew look at me and recognize me. I waved hello to him and he smiled and nodded back.

The next song was ConstruKction of Light. This is one of the songs I like best from the double duo era of the band, so I'm glad they included it. Tony had never played this song live before this tour, and he wrote on his website how difficult it was to learn. I mostly paid attention to his playing. I don't know the song well enough to say if he nailed it, but it sounded great to me.

I feel like I say this at every general admission concert, but sometimes the price of an excellent view is a poor mix. We hear the sound mostly from the monitors rather than the loudspeakers. This time, it was excellent. I could hear Tony, Adrian, and Robert clearly. In fact, it wasn't too loud from where I was sitting. I only used an earplug in my right ear to filter Gavin's drums a bit. My view was great too. Fripp has been sitting with a giant effects box in front of him, blocking any view of him from a lot of the audience. But we could see him easily at our angle. He was even well lit! In fact, Roy and I liked these seats so much we decided to try for them each night. I usually like standing right in front of Adrian, but this gave a good view of the whole band and good sound.

I don't remember the order of the rest of the songs. I do have to call out Frame by Frame and Three of a Perfect Pair. I've seen King Crimson do these songs, and I've seen the Adrian Belew Power Trio do them. But I so missed Tony Levin's backing vocals. The extra vocals and the parts where he's singing in unison with Belew add so much to the songs. It was also a really weird visual - I wish I could have gotten a picture of this. I was sitting right in front of Tony. With the stage height, my eye level was about up to his knee and I was looking straight up. Whenever he came to the microphone to sing, I got a view of his front teeth, mustache, nose, and glasses. It was an odd angle. I loved watching Tony play. I used to see him play often, but it's been years since we've been able to. He has such stage presence, without looking corny or staged. On Three of a Perfect Pair, during the "Complicated" and "Aggravated" lines, I was looking back and forth between Adrian and Tony, watching each of them sing.

The other songs that night were:
Level 5
One Time - Adrian had some trouble during this song
Dinosaur - There's a false ending to this song and then it picks up again. Some people don't know, and cheer when the band stops playing briefly. This time, Adrian seemed to wait until people applauded before starting up again. I never applaud during the false ending.

Vrooom / Coda: Marine 475
B'Boom
Red
Talking Drum
Larks' Tongue in Aspic II
Neurotica

B'Boom and Talking Drum are also songs that featured the drum duet. From reviews I've read of Nashville, a lot of people felt the drums were the star of the show. For me, I was paying so much attention to Tony and Adrian, it was the Tony and Adrian show. Adrian didn't talk much during the show. He said "Thank you very much" towards the end, and that was it. But his enthusiasm was conveyed well to the audience throughout the show.

Crimson did two sets of encores, which I've never seen them do. Roy called these in total "the greatest set of encores ever". Encore 1 was another drum duet, Thela Hun Ginjeet and Indiscipline. This was my first time hearing Indiscipline live since 1996. I thought of my friend Zoey. I took her to see Crimson in 96, and she was not yet familiar with the Discipline album. She left the show raving about Indiscipline, and for years, we would recite it in unison. Encore 2 was Sleepless and Elephant Talk. I noticed there were two songs played in Nashville that they did not do here - Walking on Air and Sex Sleep Eat Drink Dream, both from Thrak.

I gave a lot of standing ovations. It felt weird - for years I've been standing at Crimson concerts and applauding. Now, I was sitting during the show and standing up for selected songs to applaud. I tried to be judicious and not stand up automatically for every song, but I did most songs anyway. The songs themselves deserved it and the performances were that good. At the end of the show, the whole band (except for Fripp) came to the front to receive applause. Tony gave his setlist to the woman sitting two people to my right. Pat was looking at the people up front. He saw me and waved. I haven't talked to him that many times, and the last time was 5 years ago. Did he remember me?

After the show, we hung out to watch the band leave. I bought a CD called the "tour box" and I was hoping to get it autographed. Roy walked over to CVS and the crowds in front of the theater started to taper off. There weren't many people there when I saw Gavin Harrison leave. Or was it not Gavin? He's kind of non-distinct looking so I wasn't sure even though I just saw him onstage. I opened up my tour box booklet to look at his picture again. It was him, but he got into a cab, and I wasn't able to ask for an autograph.

Pat left next. People applauded him, but he didn't stop and didn't acknowledge anyone.

Adrian came out, carrying a guitar. He saw Roy and me, and told us he was glad to see us there. Someone else interrupted him, so we didn't get to say anything to him. While he was talking to the other person, he said the band would be hanging out at their hotel bar, the Encore. Such a dilemma for me. With that info, do I find out what hotel it is and stalk them? My favorite band Yes never seem to mind, but I didn't want to cross any boundaries here. Besides, I didn't know where it was and didn't have internet access to find out. Adrian didn't sign any autographs, but we saw him walk to the corner and pose for a picture with some fans.

We talked to a fan after the show. Everyone going to King Crimson shows should know how Robert Fripp feels about autographs, recordings, and photographs. He finds the latter two distracting, and getting caught recording or taking a picture during a show can get you thrown out. There are signs up and announcements made. This guy who was behind us in line (wearing a Fripp t-shirt, so you'd think he'd know the drill) sat in front of Fripp. I saw someone hold up an album to the stage, hoping he'd sign it. It was this guy. He showed us that he took a picture of Fripp on stage. Why? I can understand secretly recording a show. I do think it's unobtrusive and usually undetectable, and it gives you a great memento. But the picture turned out lousy, there are plenty of legitimate pictures of the show on the official sites, and it's so risky. If Fripp had seen him, he would have been thrown out. I've been to other Fripp shows that ended early because of photos. He could have ruined it for everyone. Fripp fan was hoping to see Robert on his way out to get the autograph. I didn't know whether I should bother explaining that it wasn't going to happen.

Fripp fan did do us one favor. There are multiple exits from the Park West. Adrian, Pat, and Gavin went out the front door. There's also a side door. It's probably best to stand on the corner and keep an eye on both of them. Anyway, the Fripp fan told us that Tony Levin was signing autographs by the side door. I ran over. He signed my tour box booklet for me. Years ago, I had seen Tony in concert and talked to him so often, he remembered me from show to show. He even remembered that I was from Philly after I moved. But we last saw him five years ago, and I don't think he recognized me from back then. He did recognize us from sitting up front. I told him we were going to all the Chicago shows. I was amazed to see Tony leave by getting into the driver's seat of his own car. I'm used to seeing musicians being chauffeured around, not as in control of their surroundings as Tony was.

It was still relatively early. The band went on stage at 7:30, no opening act, and played until 9:20 or so. The band all made their exits by 10:30. Roy and I took a cab to Pizzeria Uno and finally ate dinner. Then we walked back to the bed and breakfast to rest up for the next day of Crimsonizing.