Men with Sticks in Chicago

Stick Men
Opening Act: The E-Mics
Martyrs'
Chicago, IL
Saturday, May 15, 2010
General Admission
$25

Even if you've never heard of Tony Levin, without a doubt, you have heard his music. He's played bass for Peter Gabriel, John Lennon, Paul Simon, in addition to being the long-time bass player in King Crimson. He's the best known player of an instrument called the Chapman Stick, a guitar/bass hybrid where each finger can play notes independently, like on a piano. Tony's current project features the Stick. His band is called Stick Men, with Tony and another musician on Stick and Pat Mastelotto from King Crimson on drums.

Stick Men weren't coming to St. Louis, but they were playing Chicago on a Saturday. Roy and I could drive up and back without taking any time off from work. The show was at Martyrs, and I've had some bad experiences there in the past. The club could get hot, no air movement, and quite smoky. I haven't been back since Illinois banned smoking, so maybe it would be better now.

Martyrs is so laid-back. Usually at a club for a general admission show, people will line up outside, wait until the doors open, and then file to a position by the stage. Martyrs is open as a bar earlier in the day, so their doors are always open. We got in around 6 and walked right in. They said someone would come around and check for tickets later. The opening band was still sound-checking. we sat down near the bar for a while. I wanted the space by the stage right in front of Tony, but I didn't want to be in anyone's way. There were some other fans there already. When everyone cleared off the stage, we walked over to our spot and stood... for the next six hours.

We were the only two people standing there, still some hours before the show was going to start. We saw Tony Levin walk into the club. He talked to a couple fans. Then he walked right over to us to say hi. Roy was wearing his Papa Bear Records t-shirt, for the record company that Tony owns. Tony noticed it and said he liked the t-shirt. I think that's why he stopped for a little longer, instead of just walking by. He told us he has almost sold out of the original run of those shirts. (Roy's had his for at least a dozen years.) Roy got to tell him that he enjoys Tony's website and blog and reads it often. Tony said he was heading upstairs to update it now.

My favorite types of general admission shows are the ones where there's a standing-room-only pit in front of the stage with seating further behind it. Especially for older bands, most of the people who get there early will vie for the seats, leaving the front of the stage for me. It takes the pressure off. Roy said Martyrs was this type of venue. I didn't think so, since there was only a row of seats by the back and a couple tables off to the side. But he was right; all those seats were filled before the front row was.

People started filling in. The merchandise booth was opened. Roy and I didn't end up buying a t-shirt, but I wanted to buy the new Stick Men CD. The band would hang out after the show to sign autographs; I knew I'd be buying this, so I didn't bring anything else to get signed.

But the copies of the new CD were already signed. I asked if they had any copies that weren't signed. The guy standing next to me quipped that the signatures would rub off easily. I explained that I was hoping to get this signed after the show. It was at the next comment that I realized I was talking to the "other" Stick player in the band, Michael Bernier. He said they signed them all in advance to cut down on doing so many autographs after the show, but they'd sign anything. I told him I was looking forward to the performance.


I really liked the opening band The E-Mics. It was two guys on guitar and vocals. Nice harmonies, nice guitar work. One of the musicians uses a saxophone for one song to change the sound up. The harmonies really made it work, it came across as a full sound, much more than if either of them were performing alone. Apparently, they opened for Adrian Belew in Chicago, and one of the band members was learning Three of a Perfect Pair. He played a measure of it on guitar a couple times. I think I liked this duo more than Stick Men.

I've been to three very different types of concerts this month. There was a pop band decades after their peak in popularity, struggling to play newer material when fans want to hear the old stuff. There's the soon-to-be classic alternative band, still at their peak, with an arena full of fans, and this band can play anything. Most of the fans know every song. Stick Men is something else entirely. It's a small crowd, all there on faith that we'll like the music given Levin and Mastelotto's other work. Stick Men have one album out, which came out a week ago, and they're playing the whole thing. This is really, really alternative.

The opening song was familiar, a reworked version of my favorite King Crimson song Indiscipline. It went on as an instrumental for so long, I wondered if they weren't doing the spoken word lyrics. Michael Bernier did the vocals. I think it's hard to judge, because this isn't being sung but spoken, but I thought he came across as mimicing Adrian Belew's delivery.

The next few songs were all unfamiliar ones. The real treat of this concert was seeing some of my favorite musicians so close. Pat Mastelotto had his drum kit at stage center, at the same level as the other musicians. Usually, his drum is on a riser further back on the stage. We could see everything he was playing, both the drums and the percussion work.

The show was divided into two 45 minute sets and an encore. It was in the second set that the stillness of the air began to bother me. It wasn't hot really, but it got uncomfortable. Smells just did not dissipate. Roy thought it smelled like a skunk at one point, but I think it was b.o. from people sweating. This place has some overhead fans, I don't know why they weren't using them. I got restless. I could see the songs listed out on Tony's setlist. There was an improvisation that went seemlessy into one of the new songs. In fact, all of the songs were unfamiliar after Indiscipline until the last song of the main set. They did a cover of Red, a King Crimson song from before either Levin or Mastelotto joined the band.

The encore was a special treat. Stick Men did an arrangement of Stravinsky's Firebird Suite. This piece is best known to Yes fans as the classical piece that starts off most Yes concerts. There's a Pavlovian response of anticipation and excitement. Roy and I chose this as our processional music at our wedding. I have to admit, I'm not too familiar with the Suite other than the finale. But when Tony Levin played that melody that I know so well, I got chills.

After the show, I asked Roy to reach over on stage and grab Tony's setlist. We took seats by the bar and some drunk guy wandered up to us. I recognized him. He tried to squeeze in between Roy and me during the show and I wouldn't let him. He rambled on about how we need to go to Winnipeg and how Lincoln Avenue (where Martyrs is located) isn't where it's at. This went on and on. Finally, I told him I needed to talk to my husband. He stopped talking, but still stood there. Privately, I said. Finally, he left us alone. We could have walked away, but I didn't want to give up our seats.


Levin came out to talk to fans and sign autographs. Mastelotto was taking apart his drum set, but walked over to the edge of the stage to sign autographs. They both signed my newly purloined setlist. Some bands give them away after the show. I wonder if other bands mind taking these things. Tony Levin said it was a good idea to get it, so he was fine with it. Roy told him we drove up from St. Louis, and Tony wished us a safe drive back. Roy got to tell Pat Mastelotto how much we enjoyed watching him play. He thanked Roy and walked over to shake his hand.

I'm not sure I would travel up to Chicago to see this band again. I talked about this experience with a coworker who is not a rock music fan or concert-goer. He didn't have any assumptions and asked me some insiteful questions and wondered if it was because it was unfamiliar music. I don't think so. I go to a lot of concerts and festivals where there's music I don't know. I even liked the opening act E-Mics, and I had never heard of them before. I just don't love Stick Men's sound. I don't dislike it and I enjoyed seeing these musicians in concert. I'd see them again locally. This was a quick trip - we arrived in time for deep-dish pizza dinner and went to the show. We didn't do any Chicago-touristy things, so it was all about the concert.

However, when you add in giving up a whole weekend and sitting in a car for five hours each day, it wasn't worth it for me. I don't think that makes me any less of a Tony Levin fan. He works with a lot of different projects, and there are some I like more than others. I'm glad I got a chance to see this one, so I don't feel like I've been left out. For the next tour, I can make an informed decision.

King Crimson in Chicago 8/07/2008 - Day 2

King Crimson
Park West
Chicago, IL
Thursday, August 7, 2008
$67.50
General Admission

Even though I went to bed the night before around midnight, I woke up at 6:30am. It was another beautiful day outside, a full 15 or 20 degrees cooler by the lake than it would be in St. Louis. The weather was such a relief. I got ready for the day and went for a walk down and back up Michigan Avenue before Roy woke up. Most of the stores were still closed, but I got to do some window shopping before the street got too busy. I'm wearing a pedometer for a walking contest at work, and I ended up with over 23,000 steps that day.

Once Roy got up, we went out for the day. We didn't have any real plans. Vague ideas to go to a modern art gallery that Roy visited last time we were in the city. Maybe just walk around until it was time to get in line. We did find the gallery, but decided not to go in. Roy said it had been free last time, and that was part of the charm. I didn't want to pay and only be there a short time. We walked down Lake Shore Drive and ended up at the Navy Pier. It's a big tourist attraction, but I had never been there before. Part of it was a touristy mall, and the outside part reminded me of the boardwalks along the Jersey shore. We walked outside to the end of the pier, and then we sat and looked at Lake Michigan for awhile. There's a museum of stained glass that we walked through.

I wanted to get in line by 2. We took a cab back to the b&b and rested a bit, which we both needed. We walked to the Park West and we were first in line. I was happy and we high-fived each other.

It's fun to play "spot the Crimson fan" at events like this. You look at the people walking by, and try to figure out if they are there for the concert or not. Two college-aged women walked past us, talking in a foreign language. I didn't think they were King Crimson fans. I was proved wrong when they got in line behind us. They came from Sweden just for these concerts in Chicago. It turned out that they had been to the Park West earlier that day and no one was in line yet, so they went to the petting zoo in Lincoln Park for awhile. They saw Roy and me do our high five and decided to get in line behind us.

Roy had gone back to the diner he found Wednesday to get some lunch for us. One of the Swedish women asked me a question, which helped to break the ice. We talked for a good part of the day. Their names were Karen and Kit, and Karen was the more talkative one. I don't know if Kit didn't speak English as well or if she was just shy, but they were both very friendly. They only had tickets for Wednesday and Thursday. The Friday show went on sale afterwards, and they weren't aware of it until they got to Chicago, and the show was sold out. They often went to shows in Europe, but this was their first visit to the US. They never had the chance to see King Crimson before, but they had seen Porcupine Tree a number of times.

I had to laugh hearing them trying to order some food. It can be confusing enough to order for a delivery when you're waiting in line outside a concert venue. They were trying to explain it over the phone. But when they were asked for their phone number and had to explain it was an international phone number where you had to dial +42 first... I was half expecting the restaurant to think it was a prank. However, the food got delivered.

While we were waiting in line, I got to meet Sid Smith, the author of the King Crimson biography and webmaster for DGM Live. He was taking pictures of people in line. I pointed out we were three women in front of the line, so he interviewed us about that. I don't see that part on-line yet, but check out DGM Live News. You can see us at the front of the line in "DGMLiveTV Episode XII: Turning This World Around". Roy is interviewed at the start of "DGMLiveTV Episode XIII: On The Frontline" talking about Adrian Belew. When Karen was interviewed, she wisely mentioned that she needed tickets for Friday. She didn't ask for help, but maybe someone would be able to help her out.

The doors opened, and I was a little frustrated to see there were already people sitting in the theater. Some people were friends of the band and had access to the theater before the doors opened. They grabbed the front center seats. Thankfully, our seats in front of Tony were still available. It just bugs me that I waited in line so long and other people can walk right in. I just think the general admission shows should be more fair.

This show took a while to hit me. I talked to Roy about it later, and he described it better than I could. It's like we were spending too much time listening to the individual instruments than the show as a whole. While I could hear all the instruments clearly, the bass was loud in the mix. I had to concentrate on the various instruments, and it was pulling me outside of the full impact of the band.

It wasn't until towards the end of the show that it really became transcendent for me. It was Sleepless, which surprised me. It's a song I enjoy, but I don't expect to be blown away by it. But they reworked it from the night before. It had a drum duo and bass part in the middle that really lifted it and made it exciting. The rest of the show kept up this momentum.

This is the setlist, although I got the physical sheet of paper the next night. I'll tell that story in my next blog.


I've been trying to work out what my goals are in a concert. I certainly enjoyed the entire show, but I was observing the performance rather than being in the moment for the first part of the show. Not that there's anything wrong with that. But I want that adrenalized rush from a concert. It's a lot easier for me to reach that and focus on the music when I'm moving to it. Sitting, especially so close that I can see all the little details, puts me into observing analytical mode. Some people want that at concerts and I like being able to do it sometimes. But I'd rather have the rush of feeling like I'm part of the music, and that wasn't happening for a lot of this night.

I had some good contact with the band. Adrian and Tony both saw me in the same seat as the show started, and they both acknowledged me. Did Tony take a picture of me? He was holding his camera and I thought he mouthed the words "I got you" to me. He's uploaded his pictures of the Thursday night show and I'm not in them. Roy is though. Here is the link. I can see Roy on the left in the two last pictures of the audience on this page. Pat gave me a little wave after the show as well. Adrian spoke 50% more words this time: "Thank you very much, thank you".

We had a bit of action near us. The seats were set up by long tables running perpendicular to the stage. There was a slight aisle near my seat. Right before the encore, some guy ran up the aisle, crouched down in front of the stage, and held up his iPhone to take a picture of Tony. People were telling him he wasn't allowed. Tony shook his finger no at him. The guy was still holding the camera up. Finally, Tony leaned down over the stage and said "You can't do that". He put the camera away but stayed next to me, crowding us more. He's lucky he didn't get thrown out.

The show ended and we decided to hang out again to try to meet the band. There were two guys trying to sell an extra single ticket for the next night. They had gone to Thursday's show and planned to see Friday, but decided to see the Smashing Pumpkins instead. I knew our Swedish friends needed tickets, and I wasn't sure if they had been able to procure them yet. We waited a while, and then decided to just buy the extra ticket. Even if the girls didn't need it, someone else would want it, and it would save these guys from having to come back the next day to sell it. They gave it to us below face value, for $60.

Robert Fripp's sister Patricia was at this show. After the concert, she was outside mingling with fans and signing autographs. I didn't get anything signed, but I lent her my Sharpie pen to sign autographs with. She's fun to listen to.

We met another guy, who I think was an autograph seller. He hadn't gone to the show, and peppered us with a lot of questions like, what time did the band leave the night before, what doors, who signed things, and not a single question on what songs the band played or how the shows were. And then later on, he had to ask which one Pat was.

Roy was waiting towards the back of the venue, and I was waiting on the corner. I saw Pat Mastelotto walk by. This was one of my favorite moments of the whole trip. He didn't stop to sign anything the night before, but I was the only person there this time. I asked him if he could sign something for me. He did, and he asked me more questions and carried the conversation more than I did. It was a very nice feeling, like he wasn't being bothered at all by me.

Pat knew I had been sitting in front of Tony both nights. He asked me about my tshirt. It was a Crimson shirt from the double trio era, that has pictures of album covers in circles. He knew it was older and asked if I got it from the DGM website. No, I bought it at a show in 1996. He signed my tour box. I told him I thought Sleepless was really good that night. His response was something like "oh, you liked it?" like he was surprised.

The next part got surreal for me. Pat was holding a cup. It was full of M&Ms, and he told me to take some. I grabbed a few, and Pat told me "No, you have to take more. Otherwise I'll eat them all." He poured M&Ms into my hand overflowing. He left at this point. I had a cupped hand full of M&Ms and my other hand was full too. I found Roy, told him the story, and we ate the M&Ms. This is when the autograph guy asked me which one Pat was and runs after him. He got a signature too, but not any candy.

We saw Tony Levin leave from the front door. The autograph guy had a bunch of things for him to sign. It worked out well, because we got to chat with Tony while he was signing things for this guy. Roy asked him if the Tony Levin Band will tour again soon and later if he'll tour for the Stick Man album. Tony is putting a new band together with another stick player in order to play the Stick Man material. I hope we get a chance to see it. I told Tony that I thought Sleepless was my favorite that night. He said "Sleepless? We did the drum bit on that one" Hm. It was like he was collecting data on everyone's favorite song and processing my answer.

We hadn't seen anyone else in the band leave, and we hadn't seen the Swedish girls. Some guy who had been backstage was outside and told us everyone in the band had left. I didn't know whether to believe him or not. (Someone had told me the same thing before Pat and Tony left.) I told Roy I wanted to wait a little longer. We waited, and we saw Karen and Kit again. They had gotten backstage passes and had been able to meet the band. They still needed tickets, but said Pat was going to see if he could get any extras for them. I told them we had a ticket for them, and they were so relieved. Now they only needed to find one more. It was below face value too. Kit tried to give me some extra money for it, but I didn't take it. I'm glad we waited long enough to see them, and I believed them when they said the band had left.

Roy and I walked back to the bed and breakfast. It seemed to take a lot longer than our walk there this afternoon. I felt safe though. We walked through a lot of busy nightlife type areas in Old Town and on Rush. I had thoughts of going out to dinner after the show, but it was almost midnight and we were too tired. We ended up raiding the fridge in our room and eating some muffins that were there for our breakfast. Not quite what I planned, but I had had those M&Ms to tide me over.

It's a Dangerous Place!

King Crimson
Opening Act: California Guitar Trio
Sunday, June 4, 1995
Town Hall
New York, NY
Section Right Orchestra, Row M, Seat 23
$27.50

Three days after seeing King Crimson for the first time, I saw them again. Like I said before, I think I realized how much I like this band literally while looking at the tour dates. I realized this was not some band I could see once, but needed to see more. And given their history, before they broke up again.

I've been enjoying writing up some of these more memorable concerts. But I lose the autobiographical thread by jumping out of place. I don't want to get too in-depth with my mom issues, but here's a little background. When I was growing up, my mom and I had a lot of conflicts. Too many arbitrary rules and punishments.

I was a good kid. I realized that I had goals I wanted to achieve - go to a good college and get a good job. Be independent. Get away from home. I also realized that my mom's rules had nothing to do with my goals, and more to do with her frame of mind at the time. So if I could do what I thought was reasonable and not get caught breaking her rules, good for me.

This story could have happened with any parent, nothing spectacular, but I was not having this conversation with a typical parent. So, when I decided I was going to see King Crimson in New York, I was going to do it. The "big city" aspect didn't scare me, I grew up in Philly and that whole city was my playground. And I had been to New York before for concerts, albeit with older fan chaperones. I had street smarts. And I was an adult, I was 20 years old. But I had moved home for the summer and my mom raised a shitfit. "It's a dangerous place", she said, unknowingly quoting King Crimson. She was actually not going to let me go.

This could have been any mother's overreacting comments to a daughter. But I was hearing with the same voice as "you can't go out tonight" with no good reason or "you're grounded because you looked at me funny and have a bad attitude" or "you're just as bad as your brother" and every stupid thing I had to deal with as a teenager. This issue became my big fight to do what I wanted to do without having to sneak around to do it (except when I wanted to keep something private, of course).

Eventually, my sheer force of will won. It must have been, because logic never won an argument with my mom. I was going to take Amtrak up that afternoon. Go directly to the venue. Take a cab directly after the concert to the train station. The one point I didn't win was after arriving in Philly - I would have just taken the local train back home, but she insisted that she and my dad were going to pick me up at the train station in Philly at one in the morning. Fine with me.



The day of the concert, I arrived in New York City. I wore my new red tshirt with the VROOOM artwork. I ate at the train station. The weather was gorgeous. I asked a cop how to get to the venue's address and walked there. And sat there for several hours. The goal was to see the band enter the venue and get some more autographs. I brought my Discipline LP, where I only needed Fripp's autograph and my THRAK. I had only learned about Fripp's attitude about fans and autographs at the show in Philly days earlier.

I wrote up my encounter with Fripp for Elephant Talk a few months later.

"Fripp arrived and was walking towards the entrance of the Town Hall. Remembering the warnings I had received from other fans, I was careful not to walk right up to him. I walked to within ten feet of him, and asked him if he would please sign my Discipline album. He looked at me and said "Can I blow you a kiss instead?" This was not what I was expecting to hear from him, and for a moment I was speechless. He blew me a kiss and walked away. I think I thanked him afterwards. The rest of the day I remember being absolutely thrilled that Fripp spoke to me. Fripp is the only musician I've ever met who wouldn't sign an autograph for me. He has his reasons, and I'd never ask him again, but I'm really glad that he did take a moment to speak to me."

I was more successful getting Pat Mastelotto's autograph. He was very friendly and asked my name.

"Rhea."
"How do you spell that?"
"R-H-E-A"
"What is it again?"
"Rhea. R-H-E-A"
"Ohhhh. Like Rhea Perlman"

He signed it "To RHEA. Pat Mastelotto. Thanx!"



I don't remember talking to anyone else in the band, but Tony waved to me on his way out. I don't know if he recognized me from the other day in Philly. Later on, before the doors opened when a crowd had gathered out front, he opened up the stage door and started signing autographs for people. So cool.

I don't know if I was posting anywhere online at this point in time. I can't find any review I wrote of this show. I do have this show on cassette, and the setlist is:

coda: Marine 475
Frame by Frame
Dinosaur
Heartbeat
Red
B'BOOM/THRAK
Matte Kudasai
Sex Sleep Eat Drink Dream
People
Vrooom Vrooom
Elephant Talk
Indiscipline
drum duo
The Talking Drum
Larks' Tongues in Aspic Part II
One Time
Vrooom
coda: Marine 475 (again)
Walking on Air

There was one additional song from my previous show, Heartbeat, but the setlist was in a slightly different order so you'd never know what they'd play next. The concert was enjoyable. I felt stifled sitting still in my seat, so I asked the people next to me if I could switch seats with them. I was now in the far aisle and up and dancing.

After the concert, I hightailed it outside and took the first cab to Penn Station. No problem catching my train. It was worth it not just to indulge my musical passions but to be able to go where I wanted to.

If you have a good eye, you'll notice that Fripp's signature is on my Discipline and THRAK covers. I'll tell that story some other time. ;-)