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  Underrated show (especially by Fripp) October 14, 2010
Written by DeVito
There’s more than enough energy in this concert to carry me through the uneven bits. Red is hot and heavy, Thela has good Belew guitar-twisting and some nice beats from PM, FraKctured is hot and sloppy, One Time is nice, Cage is eery, Larks’ IV is heavy, E.T. has more hot Belew, Thrush features some burning Fripp, and Heroes is solid. A good setup for the following night.
Better than I remember June 8, 2007
Written by kalnins
This night at LA’s HOB was the only instance (out of 5) where the live KC left me cold. I had not been able to develop much of an interest in the TCOL material before the show despite repeated listens so perhaps this is not surprising. Subsequently Heavy ContstruKction came out, and then the London DVD from this tour, and I began to very much appreciate the material. I now feel TCOL has 3 stone classics: LTiA4, FraKctured and the title track, but you wouldn’t know it from the studio CD. Listening to the HOB show now, these key tracks are played in a surprisingly tentative manner, but are enjoyable nonetheless--something I was not able to appreciate at the time. The renditions of the1980s material still sound limp to me, and the improvisations are a little subpar. So a solid if average show, then! I remember being disappointed enough at the time not to attend the second night. Big mistake. Arturs
Superb May 25, 2007
Written by lightsweet
Hearing this song, critics will say "these guys have played the same stuff for 35 years". But it is precisely what has made KC so exceptional : not only walking their own unique path, but also being actually capable of improving their production all along. A sharp contrast to the majority of artists who peak out early and then never get the courage to give up once the well has dried up (a remark, that, unfortunately, applies to a number of old KC alumni ...).
October 24, 2000
Written by Robert Fripp
15.12
Sunset Marquis, Los Angeles. This is the hotel where King Crimson broke up in 1969. More accurately, where Ian & Michael decided to leave. Not a good omen for the band meeting on our arrival here, Sunday. So, on Sunday evening, we had a formal group meeting with David Singleton who flew in specifically to meet with the group. Group meetings are always awful. They provide the opportunity for members to air their grievances, vent their negative concerns with the band's business, express their frustrations & draw attention to all that is wrong with the group's life & activities. Of which, may I say, there are always plentiful examples. No decisions of value are taken. The important decisions are usually taken one on one, bumping into each other in coffee shops, getting in or out of a van. Discussed informally, a consensus emerges, is agreed & accepted. The aim of this particular meeting was to open discussions on the future the group wish for themselves. My own view is that, for the first time, this particular group of people are able to make choices & decisions for the first time. This is connected to process: once a wagon is rolling, it develops its own momentum & internal necessities. There are few places in any process where one can intervene profitably, take action to keep the process on course & complete it without something being lost. At this particular point, at this particular time, this incarnation of Crimson has the opportunity to take decisions regarding its possible futures. One concern has to do with the public presentation of Crimson. If RF does the interviews, the group continues to be presented & represented as the crusty old progressive rock outfit worthy / unworthy of veneration. "Prog rock pond scum set to bum you out" as the LA Reader had it when we played here in 1995. If RF doesn't do interviews, then the "group" is seen as being unwilling to promote itself. That is, RF is presented with a double bind. Another concern (mine) has to do with Crimson getting out of the Crimson Ghetto. Or as Adrian has it, the Crimson plateau. Essentially, do we wish to embrace a creative future (the top line) or the bottom line, which is the conventional pattern of Crim returning to active service every few years? Both are valid. And what about the opportunities in between? Another concern (Pat) has to do with the publicity & promotion for this tour & album. Why hasn't DGM done more to promote the shows & follow up with reviews? The answers to this are simple: firstly, it's a Virgin tour (TCOL); and, secondly, no one pays DGM to promote & publicise. This is a part of DGM getting inexorably pushed by its artists into being an old-fashioned record company, although the royalty structure is based on DGM being a distribution company. That is, for the $1 DGM receives on each record sold, $1 is spent to pay the office bills & staff wages. That is, all the wages except David Singleton (who is grossly underpaid) & RF, who isn't paid at all (actually, on one occasion) although he holds a large debt from setting up the company. All this and more from the King Crimson group meeting. But what of the KC show last night, at The House of Blues? I felt it was awful, but why? Did the set list restrict the show's process? A continual series of small mistakes cumulatively unseated its unfolding. We recovered the flow to a degree during the encores - perhaps 90% says Pat. David felt London was a better show, but suggests the bar is getting higher for what is accepted as a norm for this Crim.
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