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#730 Hotel Acceptable, Loew’s Midtown Motor Inn, 8th. Avenue between 48th. & 49th., NYC.
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Morning reading & coffeeying in the room…
Computing & practising.
Soundcheck call for 16.00, the venue a 6-block walk from the hotel.
00.10 The venue I…
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NYC is a city with a lot of energy; to walk onstage & stand / sit in front of it quite an experience.
The first night has the power of the First; the second night is usually “better” and has the inherent weakness of the Second. At the Keswick, the venue has a bad sound, and it took the first night to get a handle on the sound (which nevertheless is uneven throughout the space).
Any venue carries with it the history & spirit of the place, and this is to be met & accommodated; and the first evening in any venue takes a period of adjusting to its sonic properties. Sound in the venue tonight was flat, so good.
Tonight, Ade’s level in my monitors was very variable. This is particularly difficult when playing our fast interlocking parts, such as Frame, TOAPP & TCOL. If I can’t hear Ade, or myself, or us together, or our relationship with the drums, then it’s problematic.
Ade has been having some difficulties on this tour finding the right balance between hearing himself & the drums of terror, without being overwhelmed by either. One Time at the Keswick is an example of getting hung out to dry by when not being able to hear what’s happening.
At soundcheck, I set Ade’s level in my monitors to Frame; and if Ade’s foot is back on his pedal, the small hairs in my inner ears shrivel during his monster solo on Level Five. If I can’t hear Ade or there’s a hearing-discrepancy between the Gavtelotto Beast With Two Backs, then I’m hung out to dry. What to do? Play off the beat, stop playing, keep going until it locks? What to do? There is no one answer. The one answer is: the answer lies in the moment, thinking on your feet (or guitar stool) while dealing with all manner of arisings & calls on the attention. And mostly this is not thinking: thought is too slow when train wrecks are taking place in front of 2000 people. The response is instinctive.
No complaints. This is just what it is: a technical matter for the working player.
Band clunkers needn’t derail a performance. As an audient, I enjoy & learn from good players dealing with an unexpected & unintended arising. So, mistakes are difficulties to be addressed, and rarely problematic. My prime interest is in the integrity of the performance; that is, the “life” of the Whole Event.
I have learnt to accept & live with many small mistakes. Buzzes. Bad notes. Wrong patches. Bad tuning. Forgetting changes, even forgetting whole sections of repertoire material played (and even composed) over 36 years. Where there is goodwill, and honest mistakes, the performance continues: the Music continues. These small not-rightnesses can really really piss me off. That is, they would if I gave myself permission to be pissed. As an older player, I hold my focus on the centre, the periphery & then what is in between.
Tonight felt much like the 3rd. night in Chicago & the first night at the Keswick. As playing-performances, these were not very different from my 2 preferred nights – the second in Chicago, the second at the Keswick; but with a different registration in the heart.
The Celebrating so far: for the first 4 shows (two in Nashville, two in Chicago) I sensed an innocence in the audiences. From the 3rd. night in Chicago, something changed.
Tonight: overall, an honourable KC debut in NYC; an uneven trajectory nearly off-railed on occasion, with some superb moments. I felt the presence I know as King Crimson enter during Red.
Yet I felt something missing in the centre. When I consult my heart, if I find there is an absence yet the playing is “going well”, this is an indication to me that something is not as it might be in the audience. Intention is far more powerful in its effect than small mistakes. Intention, maintained throughout a performance, has surprising effect. Tonight, there was something missing in the Being of the event, yet I can’t say what it was. In terms of the playing, probably nothing much was different from other evenings: same mistakes, different places.
What are we stealing?:: Posted by CaptainFisheye on August 14, 2008
An opportunity. And sadly, that the opportunity might remain open & available is the reason I do this. But the opportunity is only a possibility, without guarantees; the only payment a player aspiring to musicianship receives.
First night in NYC... Posted by MojoBundy on August 15, 2008
I’m salivating thinking about the new Crim material that could come from this line-up.
That possibility has taken a step backwards, following the file-sharing of the first Keswick I show. It continues to surprise me that audients act as if their behaviour has no effect, no consequences. Are bootleggers & tapers qualitatively different? Not in their effect upon the performance. It is especially remarkable that anyone nominally claiming to support the work of Crimson would tape / bootleg, knowing that this is non-consensual. This is itself an indication that the motivation behind the taper has nothing to do with supporting KC: it is a form of egotism.
Because you can do it, clearly doesn’t imply it’s the right thing to do. There is no way around this principle: intentionally non-consensual action constitutes a form of violence & is without conscience. Action without conscience carries its own consequences, although these may not become apparent for decades. When they are clearly seen, it may be too late to address their effect. But, if my head is placed where sunshine never falls, what concern is this?
As the band was standing, acknowledging the audience, I left the stage when the flashes went off.
Nevertheless, an honourable NYC debut.
Pneumatic drills are working heavily & loudly across the street.
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"Accept nothing less than what is right."
