I had the privilege to see Beat a 2nd time last Sunday. I reviewed the first NYC show in a lengthy and detailed post, so I’ll limit these remarks to some brief observations, fun anecdotes and beautiful photos.
As a micro-refresher: Beat is the music of progressive rock band King Crimson performed by Crimson alumni Adrian Belew (guitar, vocals) and Tony Levin (bass, Stick, synth), plus virtuoso Steve Vai on guitar and Tool’s Danny Carey on drums. They played songs from Crimson’s three 1980s albums: Discipline (1981), Beat (1982) and Three of a Perfect Pair (1984). You can hear all the songs performed on this playlist.
The gilded Kings Theatre in Brooklyn’s Flatbush neighborhood takes my breath away every time.
Nearly everyone I talked to was seeing Beat for at least the second time. Only a small percent of the population listens to King Crimson, but the people who do really love it.
I observed a father taking his Tool fan son to expose him to King Crimson. Their generational preferences perfectly mirrored the influence between bands.
Also sighted: a woman! Not only voluntarily attending but dragging a boyfriend along. “Musically, I’m definitely the man in this relationship.”
The October show at the Beacon set a high bar, but the Beat boys managed to surpass it. Attendees around me agreed the band sounded tighter. Intros, endings and transitions were generally crisper than before and everything in between was richer. The increased comfort level allowed the players to have more fun and embellish their individual contributions.
I noted in the previous review that Belew wasn’t as bold or powerful as expected. Tonight his voice sounded superb and he packed far more punch on guitar parts that lacked it last time, including a nasty solo in the middle of “Neil and Jack and Me”. Even on songs like “The Sheltering Sky” where he opted for airier lead lines, his levity sounded more introspective than tentative. The flying saucer sounds during the main instrumental passages of “Frame by Frame” sounded cooler too.
I also complained in the previous review that Danny Carey drummed more forcefully than melodically.
This time his melodic bells and whistles were all over the place, perfectly punctuating the music and sounding very much like himself rather than just a powerful imitation of 80s Crimson drummer Bill Bruford.
And he went even harder on his “Indiscipline” solo.
Tony Levin, always rock solid, added spicy unaccompanied intros to “Sleepless,” “Sartori and Tangier” and “Elephant Talk.” He slapped out the former on bass guitar using Funk Fingers, his patented attachment of two drumsticks to his right fingers. For a brief moment the “Sleepless” intro sounded like the Talking Heads’ “Making Flippy Floppy” bass line. He tapped the latter two on the Chapman Stick, a 12-stringed instrument with the combined range of bass and guitar played by tapping the frets rather than strumming. The Stick produces a softer, warmer sound than bass guitar and allows Levin to simultaneously play a guitar and bass line with each hand. He probably used it on 80% of the songs.
Guess I haven’t mentioned Steve Vai yet. He was stellar just like last time. I’d listen to a recording of every “Sheltering Sky” solo he’s played on this tour one after the other.
Belew and Vai have developed real guitar chemistry. The guitars play interlocking arpeggios during the transition between the beginning and the middle “clouds” section on “The Sheltering Sky”. This lasts less than a minute on the studio version, but tonight they savored that sublime moment for nearly five minutes.
After opening the show with barnstorming renditions of “Neurotica” and “Neil and Jack and Me”, two rhythmically intricate beasts, Belew explained, “Thought we’d start out with the easy ones.” They proceeded into “Heartbeat”, probably the most straightforward and radio-friendly pop song Crimson has ever written. “That gets a little chuckle every night, so I keep saying it,” he added.
Knowing the audience wouldn’t provide any oohs or ahs, Belew skipped the unveiling ceremony of his guitar for the Three of a Perfect Pair songs. “Do you remember this?” he asked to modest cheers. “It’s older than I am now.”
He went on to explain “Dig Me” to the crowd: “This is a song about a car from back in the 50s or 60s when cars were so gorgeous, not these square boxes.” Was he making a dig at Tesla’s Cybertruck?
At the end of the first set, Belew told the audience they’d be playing more songs from the 1st two albums after the break. This was funny for two reasons: (1) they played four songs from the 2nd album in the 1st half and only one in the 2nd half; (2) they played more songs from the 3rd album than from the 2nd album in the 2nd half. But who’s counting?
Many men spent the entire intermission in line for the men’s bathroom while the women’s bathroom saw scant traffic. Fittingly, the song the band chose after the break was “Waiting Man”.
During the Simmons drum intro to “Waiting Man”, Carey and Belew threw in different tricks to keep each other on their toes, and their smiles looked genuine.
The band’s tightness showed on the zanier numbers. The ending of “Indiscipline” was a master class in organized chaos, with Vai, Belew and Carey simultaneously soloing and Levin tapping in a different time signature with each hand. Nobody missed a beat.
If these guys sounded this much better just two months later, imagine how much they could gel after a year. Online comments sections are already bubbling with wishes for this group to tour South American or Europe, record their own material, perform songs from other years of Crimson, or even add non-Crimson songs from the members’ various other bands into the set. I’d say after 66 shows in under three months, these guys have earned some rest before whatever comes next.
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