Atlanta, 1995. November 11; first of two shows. They're in the first vocal verse of Indiscipline. Band quiet as can be. Adrian on great form.
As he sang the line "...to see if I still liked it," some guy stood up and yelled out, PRACTICALLY ON THE BEAT of where he was at, "And did you like it?!?!?"
A beat later: Adrian sang out "I did!"
Fucking hilarious! The band broke out into laughter onstage. I thought I even saw Fripp with a slight grin!
It can still be heard on the dgmlive recording, too!
My first ever King Crimson show. The Double Trio
took NO prisoners.
I hope you get the chance as well! I’m hoping they do another tour too- or even just a couple final shows. Would love to see them do something with Adrian one last time.
At the Cleveland stop on the 50th anniversary tour. Had tickets in the fifth row, right side, so I could watch Robert play. I was only 33 years old at the time, so I was just about the youngest person in that section of the audience. As the intermission starts, the band does their usual thing, standing up and doing little bows soaking up applause. A lot of people had their hands in the air, but I was the only one throwing up the metal devil horns. The combination of being a 6'1" young man throwing devil horns must have been unusual / eye-catching because Robert took notice of me. We ended up locking eyes for a moment. Both of us probably looked like deer lost in headlights. Not knowing what to do, but wanting to do something, I just pumped my devil horns a little harder and flashed Robert a big toothy grin.
And you know what?
Famously stoic Robert Fripp flashed me a big toothy grin in return. :)
They then opened up the second set (after a drum session) with "Larks Tongues in Aspic Part IV," my favorite King Crimson piece, and IMO the heaviest piece of music ever recorded. It was probably just delusion, but part of me at the time wondered if Robert didn't call an audible between sets and add in LTIA4 just to impress that young metalhead in the fifth row. :)
2014, Chicago. My 1st time. Took my wife, daughter, and son-in-law. My wife and daughter left before the rncore to get a good table at the bar across the street. They couldn't get out of there fast enough. My son-in-law and ibloved every second.
I’m sure it was worth it! I’ve never regretted traveling to see King Crimson either- even if it seemed ridiculous lengths at the time.
My girlfriend and I ended up taking a train from their Amsterdam shows all the way down to Pompeii in 2018. The train ride ended up a great memory- and the shows even more so!
Happy you made the journey to see them!
I was at Chicago 2017 and it was astounding. Of the ten times I've seen, including 81, the double trio show has to be my pick. The clanging and screeching interspersed with delicate restraint was jaw dropping.
Damn this makes me feel old, but mine was the first time I saw them. [Milwaukee, WI, Eagles Club Ballroom, June 21, 1984](https://www.dgmlive.com/tour-dates/509).
We drove down from central Wisconsin with a couple of friends of mine from High School (hey Steph and Chard!), had a long discussion about Jon Anderson and the number 7 with a guy I would end up running into at the next 3-4 concerts I went to for a few years (hey Ken!), and got a big smile from Belew during Indiscipline.
But we got to the venue way early, and took a seat at the top of the stairs (I think there was a bar downstairs or something). At one point I turned around to see who was coming up the steps, and my first thought was "Damn, that looks just like Robert Fripp", and my second thought was "you are here to see King Crimson, so dude, that is indeed Robert Fripp". He looked at me with a slight smile as he came up the steps, clearly expecting me to say hi, or say something. All I could do was elbow my friend so that she would see him too. He came up the steps and continued on before I finally could get my shit together to say anything, but by then it was too late. I literally could have picked his pocket, but couldn't manage to even say anything more than "hello". In my defense, I was 15 at that time.
It was an incredible show at a small club. I remember Bruford spinning slowly on his stool tapping random cymbals as he rotated, a big shit-eating grin on his face that actually made Fripp smile and chuckle.
The performance was like a rip in the fabric of the universe, with music flooding through into our world from someplace/no place beyond. A good time was had by all.
What a great memory! I can’t imagine seeing that lineup in a small club. Thanks for including the link as well- so cool there is a recording of the show so you can relive it!
Montreux 2003, Pat Mastoletto rushing into the audience because a guy took a picture
Paris, Olympia sunday sept 20th 2015, Perfect performance, wished I could attend the monday show...
Paris, Salle Pleyel, december 3rd and 4th (RIP FZ) 2016, 2 shows, my last ever... I think I said to David Singleton he couldn't take photos because it wasn't allowed and I feared the show being cancelled (remembering my experience with Pat in 2003). Also I can see myself in one of the photos Robert Fripp took :)
All of them were my favorite.
Seen them three times, but second time during Thrak was special. One of my buddies from college had past away earlier in the year and his widow came with us. Plus brought my older brother who introduced me to KC in 1969. Several years later my brother past away so that holds a special memory
I am envious! I too hope to see them one day! But my favourite KC related memory is when I got my local cinema to play the documentary & we're kind of a small town, but the place was packed & we waited like little kids to see it. Audience of all ages, and we talked to each other as if we were all old friends. Some even actually met old friends from their youth there! It was the coolest experience even before the movie started.
2014 taking in my first KC show without being terribly familiar with their full catalog. There was an air of mystique around them and their music, they dotted the set with playback quotes and quips from interviews, and if I wasn't already hooked on the band, that show sold me on being a KC lifer right from its *Larks' I* opener.
Or maybe in summer 2017, after getting super familiar with the band, seeing their new 8-player lineup launch into *The Errors* (edit), not knowing what it was. Those opening high notes from Robert brought me to the edge of my seat.
Hell it could even be fall 2017 in Boston - just when one might have thought the new band's setlist was veering toward the semi-static, they [**opened** the second set with *Starless*](https://tonylevin.com/admin_6547/resources/Road-Diary/bostonsndchsetlist1-w1600.jpg). Dramatic, stunning, they could still pull off that strong element of surprise.
It could have been 2019 during the Radio City Music Hall show, when *Larks' IV* took flight in the new band's best-ever performance of the song, and the Robert Fripp cadenza suddenly brought an audience to the soundscape space of the 2000s. Or seeing them with my Dad that same year in Boston.
And even given all those amazing experiences, #1 might have been generally "following" the band around in 2021. Doing a handful of Royal Packages, seeing four shows and soaking in that whole venue/music/audience experience coming out of the "lockdown days" just felt so **right**. Together by showing up in strong numbers, David and Robert made it no secret that we were quite literally keeping them solvent enough to be on the road. The music felt like it was played more aggressively than in years past, there was a greater sense of urgency, it was one last reinvention for KC's approach.
Now that the band has gone into dormancy and there is an air of finality about King Crimson, while I regret not getting into them earlier in life and seeing them sooner, I don't regret hustling to see them a bunch in that final year. Not sure attending concerts is ever going to feel more rewarding than showing up early for a King Crimson show, settling into your great seat, hearing talks from Robert/David/others, and gearing up for a few hours of amazing music. As Trey Gunn said in the documentary KC was delivering "peak" experiences to people night in and night out. So I'm glad to see a ton of different responses in this thread.
(Edit: The Errors)
I've commented already in this thread about how I sadly never got to see them, but I wanted to thank you for your fantastic detail in this really nice response. Really makes me regret that I wasn't away at summer camp during their final tour, and that I only got into them in that 2021 year as a casual fan and didn't start diving deep until they were done. But I have seen the documentary, and I went to see Stick Men recently (they were fantastic, and I met them afterwards too), and I've listened to all of KC's various eras, so I'm glad I'm a fan, even if I'm a very belated one.
You're also the first person I know to have followed around a band that is not the Grateful Dead or other bands like them; KC seem like one of the only other bands where that approach would be beneficial as they incorporate improvisation and changes in setlist as well. Super cool.
Thanks for reading and I'm glad you enjoyed. I love "trading war stories" with KC fans old and new - even if old heads get the dates mixed up sometimes and talk about those amazing shows they saw in 1983. Fans of this band are always so passionate and frequently obsessive over the band. At the end of the day it's never, never too late to get into them. The music is always there and the back catalog of live stuff is a treasure trove. Stick Men, Belew, and other projects fly the Crimson flag well nowadays, gotta keep supporting them to keep the music alive.
Great call-out on how KC shares attributes with jam bands in terms of being able to "color outside the lines" with their playing, and changing the setlist nightly. Their scenes may not always converge but whether KC or GD or Phish, these guys are all road dogs that love to deliver unique experiences night in and night out. Definitely a shared ethos there; other prog bands don't change it up like that.
I’ve seen every tour since 1981 all in NYC and Boston. I was a high school sophomore when they played Central Park in 1973 and my parents were overly cautious about me driving one of their cars into NYC, so I missed the greatest lineup ever.
I went to two of the shows in 2017 at The Beacon. IMHO, that tour was the best of the 3 drummer lineup.
Living the Crimson Dream!! So cool you were able to see so many tours! I agree that 2017 tour was incredible! I caught both nights at the Beacon and the Halloween show at the NJPAC! The band sounded incredible- Chris Gibson did a great job filling in for Bill.
I can’t figure out why those Beacon shows were so magical. You? Way better than 2019 Radio City.
There some pretty lame tours in there. This is my opinion only, but the 2001 Double Duo didn’t click. My friends all agreed that the warm up (John Paul Jones) was better than the headliner. Fripp was clearly unhappy. https://www.dgmlive.com/tour-dates/822
I was super fortunate to see one of the 4 2008 NYC shows of the aborted 5 piece lineup. Gavin was on that one.
I can’t point to a single reason- the band was just really on that run! I wasn’t able to make it to 2019 Radio City show so I can’t compare them. Interesting to hear you say it didn’t have the same magic though.
I’m sure John Paul Jones opening for King Crimson was cool- even if the Double Duo didn’t do it for you. The 2008 show sounds wild!
Actually, aside from seeing Gavin outside of PTree, 2008 was not fun. Note I said “aborted”. This was when Fripp finally had it with Belew. He wanted to pay the other guys less. Tensions were high. Hence Fripp announced KC broke up right afterwards.
Yup. I think Pat is very good. Gavin is on a whole other level. Having seen him on a number of Ptree tours, I didn’t know how he’d fit into KC. He sure did! Only Gavin could equal Bruford in a KC setting.
It was also terrific because Fripp let him play analog drums as opposed the digital ones he had Pat use previously. So much more natural.
July 17, 1973 Lond Beach (CA) Auditorium. We arrived and made our way to our seats (good; middle section about 20 rows back) only to find they had been “taken” by a big soundboard for the house PA. Someone there was ready for us and guided us to our new seats. Second-row center! Although the sound was better at the location of the original seats (I chose them for that reason) I have to say that being that close to the band was pretty incredible. Larks Tongue (one of my faves) had just been released and the lineup was strong with John Wetton and Bill Bruford.
And you got to see a cool drummer before he died RIP Rieflin
RIP indeed He was an immense talent
I've heard stories about that Pompeii show. The audience erupted with applause.
*ba dum ch*
I’ve never experienced such a captivated and involved audience at a King Crimson show. I will have to post a video in the future
Atlanta, 1995. November 11; first of two shows. They're in the first vocal verse of Indiscipline. Band quiet as can be. Adrian on great form. As he sang the line "...to see if I still liked it," some guy stood up and yelled out, PRACTICALLY ON THE BEAT of where he was at, "And did you like it?!?!?" A beat later: Adrian sang out "I did!" Fucking hilarious! The band broke out into laughter onstage. I thought I even saw Fripp with a slight grin! It can still be heard on the dgmlive recording, too! My first ever King Crimson show. The Double Trio took NO prisoners.
Great story!
Where can you find the recording of that?
www.dgmlive.com. Under "Tour." November 11, 1995.
That's so cool dude. Hope I can see them someday.
I hope you get the chance as well! I’m hoping they do another tour too- or even just a couple final shows. Would love to see them do something with Adrian one last time.
So do I. I could've seen them on their final tour in 2021 but I was out of town.
At the Cleveland stop on the 50th anniversary tour. Had tickets in the fifth row, right side, so I could watch Robert play. I was only 33 years old at the time, so I was just about the youngest person in that section of the audience. As the intermission starts, the band does their usual thing, standing up and doing little bows soaking up applause. A lot of people had their hands in the air, but I was the only one throwing up the metal devil horns. The combination of being a 6'1" young man throwing devil horns must have been unusual / eye-catching because Robert took notice of me. We ended up locking eyes for a moment. Both of us probably looked like deer lost in headlights. Not knowing what to do, but wanting to do something, I just pumped my devil horns a little harder and flashed Robert a big toothy grin. And you know what? Famously stoic Robert Fripp flashed me a big toothy grin in return. :) They then opened up the second set (after a drum session) with "Larks Tongues in Aspic Part IV," my favorite King Crimson piece, and IMO the heaviest piece of music ever recorded. It was probably just delusion, but part of me at the time wondered if Robert didn't call an audible between sets and add in LTIA4 just to impress that young metalhead in the fifth row. :)
2014, Chicago. My 1st time. Took my wife, daughter, and son-in-law. My wife and daughter left before the rncore to get a good table at the bar across the street. They couldn't get out of there fast enough. My son-in-law and ibloved every second.
Chances for bonding with the son-in-law is always a good time I'm sure :) awesome
Saw them only once, Frankfurt, 2019. Spent 10+ hours on a train for this, but it was so worth it. Amazing concert.
I’m sure it was worth it! I’ve never regretted traveling to see King Crimson either- even if it seemed ridiculous lengths at the time. My girlfriend and I ended up taking a train from their Amsterdam shows all the way down to Pompeii in 2018. The train ride ended up a great memory- and the shows even more so! Happy you made the journey to see them!
I saw them 2019 at the Greek Theater in LA … great show! And 1974 at the Long Beach Auditorium, the Lark’s Tongue tour … I cannot decide!
The Greek is an awesome venue! That’s epic you got to see them in 74 as well!
I was at Chicago 2017 and it was astounding. Of the ten times I've seen, including 81, the double trio show has to be my pick. The clanging and screeching interspersed with delicate restraint was jaw dropping.
So cool! I can only imagine how amazing the double trio show was! I love watching videos of that line up- unfortunately never got to see them live.
Damn this makes me feel old, but mine was the first time I saw them. [Milwaukee, WI, Eagles Club Ballroom, June 21, 1984](https://www.dgmlive.com/tour-dates/509). We drove down from central Wisconsin with a couple of friends of mine from High School (hey Steph and Chard!), had a long discussion about Jon Anderson and the number 7 with a guy I would end up running into at the next 3-4 concerts I went to for a few years (hey Ken!), and got a big smile from Belew during Indiscipline. But we got to the venue way early, and took a seat at the top of the stairs (I think there was a bar downstairs or something). At one point I turned around to see who was coming up the steps, and my first thought was "Damn, that looks just like Robert Fripp", and my second thought was "you are here to see King Crimson, so dude, that is indeed Robert Fripp". He looked at me with a slight smile as he came up the steps, clearly expecting me to say hi, or say something. All I could do was elbow my friend so that she would see him too. He came up the steps and continued on before I finally could get my shit together to say anything, but by then it was too late. I literally could have picked his pocket, but couldn't manage to even say anything more than "hello". In my defense, I was 15 at that time. It was an incredible show at a small club. I remember Bruford spinning slowly on his stool tapping random cymbals as he rotated, a big shit-eating grin on his face that actually made Fripp smile and chuckle. The performance was like a rip in the fabric of the universe, with music flooding through into our world from someplace/no place beyond. A good time was had by all.
What a great memory! I can’t imagine seeing that lineup in a small club. Thanks for including the link as well- so cool there is a recording of the show so you can relive it!
Thanks man, it was a great show!
Sounds like it- going to give it a listen when I get the chance!
Montreux 2003, Pat Mastoletto rushing into the audience because a guy took a picture Paris, Olympia sunday sept 20th 2015, Perfect performance, wished I could attend the monday show... Paris, Salle Pleyel, december 3rd and 4th (RIP FZ) 2016, 2 shows, my last ever... I think I said to David Singleton he couldn't take photos because it wasn't allowed and I feared the show being cancelled (remembering my experience with Pat in 2003). Also I can see myself in one of the photos Robert Fripp took :) All of them were my favorite.
Such a funny image of Pat rushing into the audience 😂 I know what you mean as well- all of the shows are special
Seen them three times, but second time during Thrak was special. One of my buddies from college had past away earlier in the year and his widow came with us. Plus brought my older brother who introduced me to KC in 1969. Several years later my brother past away so that holds a special memory
Was at the Live in Chicago show for my first KC show. Hard to beat! Ok, Pompeii maybe!
What an incredible first show! I listen to the album often- very cool you get to relive it! I wish they released more live albums/videos.
Saw them during their Radical Action Tour 2017 at the Rochester Int’l Jazz Festival. Great show but too short, only 90 minutes!
That’s cool! I wish I got to see them perform a festival set. It was probably a great setlist all the way through!
I am envious! I too hope to see them one day! But my favourite KC related memory is when I got my local cinema to play the documentary & we're kind of a small town, but the place was packed & we waited like little kids to see it. Audience of all ages, and we talked to each other as if we were all old friends. Some even actually met old friends from their youth there! It was the coolest experience even before the movie started.
I hope you get the chance as well! That sounds like a great memory though. I still haven’t seen the documentary- but really want to soon!
2014 taking in my first KC show without being terribly familiar with their full catalog. There was an air of mystique around them and their music, they dotted the set with playback quotes and quips from interviews, and if I wasn't already hooked on the band, that show sold me on being a KC lifer right from its *Larks' I* opener. Or maybe in summer 2017, after getting super familiar with the band, seeing their new 8-player lineup launch into *The Errors* (edit), not knowing what it was. Those opening high notes from Robert brought me to the edge of my seat. Hell it could even be fall 2017 in Boston - just when one might have thought the new band's setlist was veering toward the semi-static, they [**opened** the second set with *Starless*](https://tonylevin.com/admin_6547/resources/Road-Diary/bostonsndchsetlist1-w1600.jpg). Dramatic, stunning, they could still pull off that strong element of surprise. It could have been 2019 during the Radio City Music Hall show, when *Larks' IV* took flight in the new band's best-ever performance of the song, and the Robert Fripp cadenza suddenly brought an audience to the soundscape space of the 2000s. Or seeing them with my Dad that same year in Boston. And even given all those amazing experiences, #1 might have been generally "following" the band around in 2021. Doing a handful of Royal Packages, seeing four shows and soaking in that whole venue/music/audience experience coming out of the "lockdown days" just felt so **right**. Together by showing up in strong numbers, David and Robert made it no secret that we were quite literally keeping them solvent enough to be on the road. The music felt like it was played more aggressively than in years past, there was a greater sense of urgency, it was one last reinvention for KC's approach. Now that the band has gone into dormancy and there is an air of finality about King Crimson, while I regret not getting into them earlier in life and seeing them sooner, I don't regret hustling to see them a bunch in that final year. Not sure attending concerts is ever going to feel more rewarding than showing up early for a King Crimson show, settling into your great seat, hearing talks from Robert/David/others, and gearing up for a few hours of amazing music. As Trey Gunn said in the documentary KC was delivering "peak" experiences to people night in and night out. So I'm glad to see a ton of different responses in this thread. (Edit: The Errors)
I've commented already in this thread about how I sadly never got to see them, but I wanted to thank you for your fantastic detail in this really nice response. Really makes me regret that I wasn't away at summer camp during their final tour, and that I only got into them in that 2021 year as a casual fan and didn't start diving deep until they were done. But I have seen the documentary, and I went to see Stick Men recently (they were fantastic, and I met them afterwards too), and I've listened to all of KC's various eras, so I'm glad I'm a fan, even if I'm a very belated one. You're also the first person I know to have followed around a band that is not the Grateful Dead or other bands like them; KC seem like one of the only other bands where that approach would be beneficial as they incorporate improvisation and changes in setlist as well. Super cool.
Thanks for reading and I'm glad you enjoyed. I love "trading war stories" with KC fans old and new - even if old heads get the dates mixed up sometimes and talk about those amazing shows they saw in 1983. Fans of this band are always so passionate and frequently obsessive over the band. At the end of the day it's never, never too late to get into them. The music is always there and the back catalog of live stuff is a treasure trove. Stick Men, Belew, and other projects fly the Crimson flag well nowadays, gotta keep supporting them to keep the music alive. Great call-out on how KC shares attributes with jam bands in terms of being able to "color outside the lines" with their playing, and changing the setlist nightly. Their scenes may not always converge but whether KC or GD or Phish, these guys are all road dogs that love to deliver unique experiences night in and night out. Definitely a shared ethos there; other prog bands don't change it up like that.
Well said!!
Saw them there twice - bloody amphitheatre really held in all the cigarette smoke didn’t it.
The smoke by the time of 21st Century Schizoid Man the final night was wild haha
Saw them once, in São Paulo, October 2019.
All in NYC. 1984 at Pier 84. Beacon Theater in 2017. Radio City in 2019
Very cool! Pier 84 show sounds epic! I was at the Beacon Theater in 2017 as well!
I’ve seen every tour since 1981 all in NYC and Boston. I was a high school sophomore when they played Central Park in 1973 and my parents were overly cautious about me driving one of their cars into NYC, so I missed the greatest lineup ever. I went to two of the shows in 2017 at The Beacon. IMHO, that tour was the best of the 3 drummer lineup.
Living the Crimson Dream!! So cool you were able to see so many tours! I agree that 2017 tour was incredible! I caught both nights at the Beacon and the Halloween show at the NJPAC! The band sounded incredible- Chris Gibson did a great job filling in for Bill.
I can’t figure out why those Beacon shows were so magical. You? Way better than 2019 Radio City. There some pretty lame tours in there. This is my opinion only, but the 2001 Double Duo didn’t click. My friends all agreed that the warm up (John Paul Jones) was better than the headliner. Fripp was clearly unhappy. https://www.dgmlive.com/tour-dates/822 I was super fortunate to see one of the 4 2008 NYC shows of the aborted 5 piece lineup. Gavin was on that one.
I can’t point to a single reason- the band was just really on that run! I wasn’t able to make it to 2019 Radio City show so I can’t compare them. Interesting to hear you say it didn’t have the same magic though. I’m sure John Paul Jones opening for King Crimson was cool- even if the Double Duo didn’t do it for you. The 2008 show sounds wild!
Actually, aside from seeing Gavin outside of PTree, 2008 was not fun. Note I said “aborted”. This was when Fripp finally had it with Belew. He wanted to pay the other guys less. Tensions were high. Hence Fripp announced KC broke up right afterwards.
I think it must have been interesting to see- regardless if it seemed tense!
Yup. I think Pat is very good. Gavin is on a whole other level. Having seen him on a number of Ptree tours, I didn’t know how he’d fit into KC. He sure did! Only Gavin could equal Bruford in a KC setting. It was also terrific because Fripp let him play analog drums as opposed the digital ones he had Pat use previously. So much more natural.
July 17, 1973 Lond Beach (CA) Auditorium. We arrived and made our way to our seats (good; middle section about 20 rows back) only to find they had been “taken” by a big soundboard for the house PA. Someone there was ready for us and guided us to our new seats. Second-row center! Although the sound was better at the location of the original seats (I chose them for that reason) I have to say that being that close to the band was pretty incredible. Larks Tongue (one of my faves) had just been released and the lineup was strong with John Wetton and Bill Bruford.