The preceding several tours of this formation, Tony was playing his yellow Stingray, his Stick and an NS Designs EUB, though a Kemper profiler. Last night, he was playing a different 'ray, had no EUB, and had some kind of rig he was controlling with what I think was a iPad or other tablet on that stand, and he was fussing with it a lot. Normally, he's got a nice characteristic sound in the mix, not bright, but with enough low mids to have some texture. Last night, the bass was surprisingly muddy, and the Stick, as you say, was inaudible when he first plugged it in, and also EQed to deliver essentially only low bass when he turned it up. Stuff I notice as a bass player, but which didn't ruin the musicality of the concert.
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Good band did everything wrong
- Thread starter LBS-bass
- Start date
Fripp has retired from touring in the past, but he's getting up there in age and I wouldn't be surprised if he means it this time. This makes me even more happy that we splurged for the good seats.They just announced this will be their last US tour.
There was a guy sitting next to me who must be incredibly wealthy because he told me he has seen them 50 times and is always in the front row. Going to shows like this is apparently his hobby and he won't sit anywhere else. Must be weird to have that kind of money, but good for him. Nice guy, and he really enjyoed the music.
Fripp and Mrs. have a zany YouTube series called Toyah and Robert's Sunday Lunch.
Toyah & Robert – Cool stuff and more!
Toyah & Robert – Cool stuff and more!
Agree his bass could have been mixed better. It was mostly somewhat muddy, but at one point he played something loud and high in an open space, and it was kind of overly bright sounding in that register. It was still a great show, in spite of the technical flaws.
And speaking of technical flaws, how about the Les Paul that went tumbling to the floor during the opening set? How many Gibson headstocks have been amputated in the past 65 years? I don't know, but add one more to the list.
At a Stickmen show, I carried Pat Mastelotto's drum kit into the venue. My back still hurts. Markus had to rescue me. 
~Nick
~Nick
I was there last night. It was amazing, especially since it was the first big show I had been to since covid. Some jerk two rows in front of me wouldn't shut up and got into an argument with the people in front of him. Can't believe I almost witnessed a fist fight at a KingCrimson show...
No, the venue was doing a good job of keeping up with that on their own. They were vigilant about no photos from the very start, which is why I have no photos of the Zappa thing or of the California Guitar Trio, which played an unbilled early set. They were also incredible.
Have you read the Thunes interview in the book In Cold Sweat? Great stuff.
After seeing his Covid Concerts with his wife, Mr. Fripp has elevated himself to an even higher level with me.
Saw him when I was younger and some of his playing left me cold as I played guitar at the time.
Not sure, but while I like his intense concentration, when a smile breaks across his mug when executing something complex and the audience understands it as well, makes me wonder if he had to wait long for the audience to catch up, learn and understand what he did so many years ago?
Oh man, I didn't get tickets to see them on this tour. Will have to see if there are still tickets available for the two shows near me.They just announced this will be their last US tour.
Glad I got to see them on their last tour, that might end up being my goodbye.
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That's fantastic!
This concert looks like it was terrific - and I'm blown away that the band was taking pictures of the crowd! That's how it SHOULD BE!!! Welcome back to live shows for as long as we're allowed to do them, folks!
side note about the awesome sarcasm of the OP post's "wrong things" list:
- since at most of the gigs I've done in my life, out of thousands of gigs, I was expected to use a music stand and wear a tux or a suit or similarly dress to the nines.... I think all of the OP's sarcasm points are exactly what I like to see in a pro music group. Dress up, play music that is complex enough to benefit from charts for some of the musicians, and put on a great show! UPDATE: haha I missed tony back there with his giant SLR hahahaha
What a great line-up also, from who I recognize in the photo at least! OP, great post, love the sarcasm, love that fact that you loved the show, and LOVE the fact that a drummer was taking photos of the live crowd!!! LoL great stuff
This concert looks like it was terrific - and I'm blown away that the band was taking pictures of the crowd! That's how it SHOULD BE!!! Welcome back to live shows for as long as we're allowed to do them, folks!
side note about the awesome sarcasm of the OP post's "wrong things" list:
- since at most of the gigs I've done in my life, out of thousands of gigs, I was expected to use a music stand and wear a tux or a suit or similarly dress to the nines.... I think all of the OP's sarcasm points are exactly what I like to see in a pro music group. Dress up, play music that is complex enough to benefit from charts for some of the musicians, and put on a great show! UPDATE: haha I missed tony back there with his giant SLR hahahaha
What a great line-up also, from who I recognize in the photo at least! OP, great post, love the sarcasm, love that fact that you loved the show, and LOVE the fact that a drummer was taking photos of the live crowd!!! LoL great stuff
Nope. I would never be bored out of my mind with great music. The most complex music often benefits from music stands.... hence why orchestras and big bands typically all are reading from charts.I'm sure they were incredible.
That doesn't change the fact that if you had gone to a local bar and watched a band of old guys on stage in shorts and white New Balance sneakers, sitting on stools, behind music stands you would have been bored out of your mind.
At this point, Levin and Fripp have fallen into a totally different category. They've been awesome for so long they can get away with doing "An intimate evening with" shows.
You n Bubbah and Stinky and Snake playing at the bar n grill can't.
I am curious as to what was on Tony's stand. I can't imagine that he hasn't played this stuff often enough to have it down by now. However, they did change up a LOT of stuff with new arrangements, so maybe he needs notes for that.
As an example, I knew that they were planning to do "Indiscipline" on this tour. Jakko has great vocals for the early stuff- Greg Lake and John Wetton had very similar vocal qualities, and Jakko nails it. But I wondered how he was going to handle the Belew stuff, which is so different. Indiscipline is basically spoken word.
Well, not last night. He and Levin did a raucously silly sing-songy harmonized version of it, which was amazing. The whole arrangement was different, with a swing beat superimposed over the traditional straight stuff. Incredible. Never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined what they did with that song. So maybe he has lyrics on that stand, or arrangement notes, or both. I trust that he needed it for something though, and I'm glad it gave him whatever he needed to get that job done so brilliantly.
I hope so too. They milked it for all it was worth. From the first notes on the stick, the drummers started hot dogging and this went on as they played the intro chords up and down and over and over again. Tons of fun, especially if you knew that song and how much they changed it up.
awesome! New arrangements explain the music stands for sure.
Was tony singing in the show, based on what you said about that new complex arrangement? He started taking his vocals pretty seriously some... wow, time flies, ok many... years ago, and he's become quite the skilled vocalist, despite having a rather unique vocal tone
