California Guitar Trio
Opening Act: Los Gauchos Alemanes
Empie Theater
Muhlenberg College
Allentown, PA
Saturday, September 2, 1995
Section Center, Row A, Seat 113
unknown ticket price
My mom does not like rock music. She does not like rock concerts. Back in the days when I could only go to concerts with adult supervision, my dad went or my friends' parents took us. Mom would never go. My mom also doesn't like driving to unfamiliar places. It is so very strange, even fourteen years later, to admit that my mom has seen Robert Fripp in concert. And she drove me to Allentown for that very purpose.
I was 20 years old and had just become a King Crimson fan in the last year or so. I get this feeling when I just discover a new world of music, I have to do everything, lest I never get another chance. Well, Robert Fripp was doing a soundscape tour, and the closest he was coming to home was an hour and a half away in Allentown. And I had to go. In later years, I'd skip some of his soundscape shows that were local to me. But this was my first opportunity to see one as a fan, and what if I never got another chance? I had to go.
One little problem. I didn't drive.
I called my best friend and concert buddy Angela. She didn't share my love of progressive rock. But, she gone with me to the Yes concert in Allentown the year before, because I needed a way to get there. Not this time. I was a good friend, but not worth having to see Robert Fripp and his soundscapes.
I moved back home for the summer. My relationship with my mother was strained. We had a huge fight about my traveling to New York by myself for a King Crimson concert. That was still fresh in our minds one day when we went out to lunch.
I told my mom about the Fripp show, and how Angela didn't want to go. I said the fateful words, "I guess I'll check the Greyhound schedules."
My mom said the even more fateful words, "I could take you."
She was so scared of me traveling somewhere by myself again that she was willing to put up with a concert. She was serious. She didn't even volunteer my dad to take me. Did I want to put up with her enough to have her along with me at the concert? Yeah, I wanted to go and this was convenient. I gave her the same deal I gave Angela - I paid for the tickets, dinner, any ancillary expenses in return for the transportation. I tried to prepare her, by explaining that we'd be seeing a guy playing guitar by himself with lots of sound effects, rather than a full band.
The concert was held in a college auditorium. Tickets were available through the college, instead of Ticketmaster. I called right when tickets went on sale, and got two seats in the front row, center section. They were the second and third seats off the aisle. We get to the venue with no problem. There is no stage; the musicians played on the same floor as our front row seats ten feet away from us.
The first act was Los Gauchos Alemanes. I never heard of them since, but they were students of Fripp's. They played a short set. Then, Fripp came on and started a soundscape. It's hard to describe what a soundscape is: Fripp plays some notes into his machine, and the machine plays them back as background while Fripp plays something new. Soon, it's many layers of sound, sometimes with a melody, sometimes more abstract. Fripp can either play more notes or play with the sounds that he's already created.
"When's he going to start?" my mom whispered to me.
"He has started"
"This is it?!" loud enough for people sitting nearby to hear (and probably Fripp as well). That was followed by, "If I had paid for this, I'd want my money back."
I'm not imagining how loud she was; there's a review of this show on the old King Crimson e-mail list Elephant Talk that mentions my mom's outburst. That reviewer described it:
An impatient woman sitting a row behind us complained audibly during the first soundscape, "I wouldn't have come if I had known it was going to be like this. I thought you said this guy was a guitarist!"
I thought the show was paced very well. It would be tough to listen to hours on end of soundscapes. During this show, Fripp would play a soundscape, then the California Guitar Trio would come out and play a few songs. This repeated a few times. My mom liked CGT better. I did too. I didn't love the soundscapes, but it was fascinating to watch Fripp play them. I could really observe what was going on.
My favorite part of the show was towards the end. Fripp, Los Gauchos, and CGT all walked up the steps of the auditorium. Standing on the steps, all holding acoustic, unamplified guitars, they started playing. It was King Crimson's Vrooom. The juxtaposition of the powerful studio track and the eight acoustic guitars quietly playing the same melody was jarring. I laughed, as did some other people in the audience. My mom wanted to know what was so funny. I tried to explain that we recognized the song, but it didn't usually sound like this!
The band then walked over to the aisle near our seats. They stood on the steps, starting at the front row, and played Thrak. For their last piece, the stood at the front of the audience again, and played a piece I didn't recognize. We had to stand up to see them playing in the far aisle. One guy was still standing, and Fripp gestured to him to sit down.
One thing odd about this show was the no words were said to the audience for the entire show. I heard Fripp counting the band in and saying a song title to the band, but that's only because I was sitting close enough to hear it. Not just Fripp. CGT and Los Gauchos didn't say anything either. The evening ended on a friendly note. The Los Gauchos guys got our attention and gestured to the audience to follow them. We walked out to the lobby, where they played another piece for us. And that was the end. Good way to clear people out of the theater.
I think I blocked the drive home out of my memory. I know my mom didn't hate the entire concert, but she sure did hate the soundscapes. Really, this wasn't a bad show to go to with a parent. It was in a civilized venue and it wasn't loud. I have to say, I've gotten a lot of mileage out of people meeting my mother and then telling them she's seen Fripp in concert.
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