King Crimson / John Paul Jones last nite

Well Talkbass'ers, here’s my official review of last nite’s show: In a word: AWESOME.
For more details, please read on.

John Paul Jones opened the show, and he rocked hard. He played his Manson 8 and 10 stringers, mandolin, ukulele, and a bass pedal steel guitar (with Hugh Manson as bass tech).

The tracks from “Zooma” sounded even better live than on the disk. A power trio on steroids all the way, with Nick Beggs on Stick, and an unidentified drummer, who both smoked. (although Beggs could have worn pants instead of the kilt, but it was pretty funny regardless. Very ‘80’s looking!). Drummer was very Bonham-like, a heavy hitter. At times, they sounded Crimson-like in their arrangements, very creative, sound-scape type material. Jones had a laptop with Kyma synthesis software following some of his bass parts. Pure sonic pleasure. The music sounded very contemporary, which I found refreshing. Jones seems to be evolving rather than playing the old favorites. And, speaking of old favorites:

On the few Zeppelin tunes they played, Jones played the guitar riffs on bass / bass pedal steel , even better than Page! (Nobody’s Fault, In My Time of Dying, Black Dog). They did a killer version of ‘That’s the Way” (one of my favorite Zeppelin albums/tunes).

King Crimson played a great set, including mostly newer material with the current band (non-Levin/Bruford tunes, except for a fun version of “Elephant Talk” . The music sounded great, chaotic but engaging. You could barely see Mr. Fripp. It was even dark on his side of the stage intentionally! He and Belew played beautifully together, typical interlocking parts, very tight. Nice sonic experiments in the guitar synth department as well, big Fripp chord swells, reminiscent of his earlier ambient work at times.

Trey Gunn is a monster Stick player. The range of his playing was incredible, everything from grand piano lows to guitar leads, all at the same time. The drummer, Pat, was fantastic. Had that Bruford influence, but seemed to rock more. His playing mixed electronics and acoustics seamlessly. The two created a huge rhythm section that was nothing short of amazing. Their ‘improvisations’ were very cool, and like Jones, I think that their music is still evolving, instead of just playing ‘hits’.

If you like progressive music, go see this show. I’ve seem many shows in my day, and this was something unique and special. A real musicians show.

Thanks,
Kubla Khan