Robert Fripp's Diary

Hotel Acceptable On The Edge

09.50

Hotel Acceptable, (On The Edge Of) Florence.

The mosquito buzzing around my ear, as I hit the pillow last night, returned around 04.00 this morning.

Rising early for sitting, and then to a reflective breakfast at 07.00, the official opening-time of the Pumping Chamber. The Chamber was already in use by a tour group and, probably, they had arranged a special early-sitting. Shortly after my arrival they left, followed by a continuous loud, loud clattering of cutlery & plates, primarily the result of one particular male waiter’s cleaning activities.

When I notice a person, directly responsible for lotsa noise, I wonder: is this person listening? Then I wonder: if they are hearing what I am hearing, would this influence/change their behaviour?

This morning’s breakfast-shouting between serving staff (aka Italian conversation) was within the dining area itself, rather than in a service area off to the side. The Noise Pollution Unit, in off-mode at my arrival, was switched on (by whom? for what reason? to serve which aim? for whose listening?) to Quiet Solo Piano. Tolerable, but contributing a small loss to my quality of life. Grumpy Ludwig’s String Quartets contribute an energy to breakfast-reflecting.

Meanwhile, the coffee & hot water pots were without any form of heating and, after an hour or two, the contents of both lukewarm. A male serving person fiddled under the table linen, seemingly to check the supply of electricity to the pots’ heating units. This did not, however, increase the warmth quotient of either. Considerately, he brought me my own personal small pot of (quite warm) fresh coffee.

Then the NPU changed to Quiet Female Voice & Piano and, in turn, Quiet Witless Rock-A-Pap. Not loud, but loud enough to infiltrate the senses with sufficient presence-of-absence to undermine the environment. This was no one’s fault. No one was to blame. No one was responsible. But, questions remain…

who chose to switch this on? what function does this serve? who chose the music? who is listening?

A reflective breakfast…

Any intelligent entity serves its own purpose. So, where there are multiple intelligent entities, unless they act in service to a common aim, their actions diverge in response to their diverging purposes. At yesterday evening’s LCG dinner, the toast was proposed once more: a common aim is deeper than blood; may we wish for each other what we wish for ourselves. And then we discussed the circumstances of our Udine performance.

On this tour I have asked, several times, of our main Italian promoter & the tour manager who works for him, not to introduce me to local promoters (as well as press, official photographers & fans who only want to say hello). There are reasons for this (other than deficiencies of character & being, such as Heartlessness). Experience from 37 years of life in the front line suggests :

1.         This is a significant distraction from my proper work; eg when business discussions are involved, and Robert is pressed to participate in them, this has the effect of dragging him down from the domain of “creative artist” (assuming the virtue) and throwing him into the glutinous tarpit of commerce & limited self-interest of those nominally supporting my interest.

2.         It has the effect of sucking on my energy field, and diminishing my sense of personal presence. I sense myself becoming less; I feel myself as being impinged upon; I find myself wondering: has this person a sense of what they are doing?

I do not recall (on this particular morning, in Florence) any person, asking to meet me within a professional context, who has added to my sense of personal wellbeing. Often, the meeting (to only say hello) takes the form of a monologue essaying the speaker’s subjective reactions to a particular piece of music in which I have an originating or contributory role. On occasions, I recognise something real within their experience.

Were the sceptical reader to ask - How can That Awful Man possibly be be aware of real experiences within another? Does he claim to have preternatural sensibilities? - I might reply:

There is a resonance, a sympathetic resonance, which people detect between themselves when their experiences are qualitatively the same, or very similar. There is no magic in this, and probably not much mystery either. We all have this capacity. What is required is, that we allow ourselves to be receptive to it. From a practical point of view, we then address the question of what it means to be receptive; and what we have to do, in order to develop receptivity in ourselves. This is a technical concern: how to do doing nothing. A musical analogy: how to listen to, and accept, silence.

Agreed, there are times to bear witness to the experience of being profoundly moved by the power of music speaking directly to us. At which point:

Is this the right time?
Is this the right place?
Is this the right person to receive my act of witnessing?

On Saturday evening, about 70 minutes before the performance, our Italian tour manager, representing our national promoter, appeared at my dressing room door to introduce me to our local promoter. My dressing room was small and narrow, as were all our dressing rooms, stretched along a corridor. The local promoter (introduced regardless of repeated requests made by me to be allowed my space) was a large gentleman. He stood & filled the doorway of the small, narrow room, leaning on the side of the doorframe, preventing all possibility of egress from the room.

Those readers who, while disputing & discounting the possibility of preternatural sensibilities, might nevertheless grant some credence to the use of the body as a gestural instrument (and therefore expressing intentionality); popularly termed body language. Perhaps they might also consider the possibility that if a person blocks the exit from a small, contained space, the intention could be to prevent the person within from leaving; in a word, imprison them. Whatever degree of agreement readers might have with these comments, the promoter nevertheless had a captive audient (myself) to hear his witness to a profound experience on hearing a particular KC track.

I was wondering: why would the tour manager act directly against my (repeatedly) expressed request that this situation not take place? To this question, I return below.

Before the Udine show, John had prepped the production manager, a female lady person of the gender woman, how to request of the audience that they refrain from photography, recording, etc. She did not herself make the announcement: the announcer was the Big Cheese Local Promoter, himself in person, he who had been witnessing to a Crimson Experience an hour before. The LCG, in the wings of stage left, and myself, at the side of stage right, stood during an extended monologue by the promoter. I asked our tour manager is he presenting a history of the Udine Jazz Festival? Reply: he is talking about the events of the festival.

I note that those who take the stage to introduce a performer rarely go on stage with the primary intention of introducing the performer. I note also, that those who take the stage to present information about events, just before the artist goes on, are rarely on the stage to present information about events. When the performance space has been prepared for an hour with chosen music, and the players standing poised in the wings, an announcement that demands so much for itself spoils something. This is, sadly, an approach I have known in many spaces where there is a “director” and, in Italy, where local promoters are present. When KC/RF sets the direction, informational announcements are made 15 minutes beforehand, and photography/recording announcements 5 minutes. The artist is not announced: by then, everyone present, and who has bought a ticket, knows who’s appearing. All of this aims to limit the disturbance to the atmosphere.

Eventually, our announcer in Udine left the stage, and I walked on. What I didn’t know at the time, and only learnt at dinner yesterday evening, was that before the promoter/announcer went onstage, he asked (literal translation) how the fuck is this group called? Or perhaps better rendered in English as what’s the fucking name of this group? Had he consulted the programme for the Udine Jazz Festival he would have learnt their name & also that The League Of Crafty Guitarists were a new trance electronic psychedelia group like Orb and The future Sound Of London.

Then, with our performance begun, the local promoter’s team began harassing our FOH sound mixer Sylvain over the house lighting, which was up. This is not the way we do it! The house lighting was higher than our preferred level (which is  low), but at the lowest the house could manage of its two available settings. The local promoters told Sylvain: this is what Robert told us! This claim was (what is referred to in Italy as) a “misunderstanding”. The promoter’s staff “misunderstood” Robert’s wishes regarding lighting, because Robert had not spoken with them on the subject. This is not how we do it! I wonder how many times I have heard this during my professional life.

Simultaneously on the side of stage right, John (mixing monitors), was also being harassed by the local crew. John, formerly a house mixer for The Bottom Line in NYC, simply told them to go away.

At the end of the set, plus encores, Director Nunez led The LCG off the stage & to the merchandising table. They played 3 acoustic pieces, Hernan looking at the promoter holding his mobile phone in the air, recording them.

Bringing together various strands of a reflective breakfast…

1.         The local promoters follow their own purposes.

2.         Our Italian tour manager, employed by our main Italian promoter (who has his own purpose) also serves his own purpose. His own purpose, also reflecting his employer’s purpose, is more closely linked to the purposes of local promoters than to ours. Both work with local promoters throughout Italy all the time & it serves their purposes to keep local promoters happy.

So, why would our tour manager introduce me to the promoter, when I had asked him not to? No prizes on DGM Live for this one.

Whenever touring away from home, or away from a country that counts as home, the player is vulnerable; this vulnerability is exploited, explicitly & implicitly. In any case, the player will leave the territory soon enough and (it is assumed by locals) be unable to follow through on any dispute.

 So, here we are: alone on the road, other than where we are fortunate enough to have local Crafties to provide support & assistance. The security situation, to an experienced character (Hernan worked in rock security for several years) is very lax. Were I on my own, and not part of this Team, I would be worried. But then, were I not here with this Team, I would not be here.

12.44  Online. And I have handed over three times the going US rate to get wifi access. Pooey pooey.

On the DGM Live Guestbook…

Gy:      Ok, photographers at a gig are annoying. Yes they have an effect on the performance,…

RF:      Annoying I can handle. The effect they have on a performance, regrettably, I cannot.

It is rather like saying – Someone has been killed! Can you handle it?

 Gy:      but I can think of a million (at least) internal activities...thought and feeling type stuff...that are infinitely more (at least) destructive to a performance of music than the mere act of intending to, and actually taking a photo.  

RF:      Mr. Grumpy is moving into subtle areas here.

I accept that, in the world of thought, thought is tangible. I accept that, in the world of feeling, feeling is tangible. But these are primarily functional issues. Intending to is very different. Intention is an act of will. (I can present no proof to support the statement but) when we intend, the act has already taken place. To put this slightly differently, in Mr. Grumpy’s terms, intention is more destructive than the automatic functional activities of thinking and feeling. Where thinking & feeling are intentionally negative – yow!

 Gy:      I’d rather someone punched me in the nose than attacked me psychically, put it that way.  

RF:      I know both, and make no recommendation either way.

Gy:      I’d rather someone took a photo of my performance than sat there quietly with very strong, missguided feelings towards me, the repercussions of which will follow both of us into the other world.

RF:      In this world, I know both.

Gy:      Robert, you think the fetishisationalistic nature of the photographer is a nuisance...

RF:      A nuisance is possible. A dangerous nuisance is difficult.

Gy:      wait till your dead, I think you may be surprised at the capacity for nuisance some of your camera-less fanatical admirers have in store for you.

RF:      Mr. Grumpy has moved us into even deeper waters here. So, what of dying?

Perhaps, the quality of our living determines the quality of our dying? If I am a jerk in life, I will be a jerk in death. If the place of my living is The Basement, then the Basement is reserved accommodation when I die. But, in life, I have the choice to move to a higher floor, if I am prepared to pay for the ticket. In death, I’m not so sure the ticket is available.

Can I get back to Mr. Grumpy on this, much later?

Music:: Posted by DrDick on June 21, 2006

Just remembered that I saw part of an interesting programme early sunday morning on BBC3 after returning home from a night out for a few shandys..... It was an interesting documentary about The Stone Roses and their "manager" - there were some really interesting comments from a music lawyer about the contract they signed! Reinforced totally what Robert’s been saying for decades. See this link http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcthree/tv/blood_turntable.shtml

"The music business can be ruthless. Musicians are desperate for success while their management are desperate for the spoils. Artistic integrity is encouraged, while the accounting can get complicated. Controversy can be developed as a selling point until the wrong feathers are ruffled. And when the lines between art and commerce are blurred there’s inevitably Blood on the Turntable. This new series ...... investigates three of the most contentious music industry battles, told by those on the frontline. All feature the usual ingredients: money, power, greed and ego."

Dr. Dick may not realise that the music industry lawyer, acting for the Stone Roses in their landmark case, was John Kennedy. John was awarded an OBE for his services in support of Live Aid and, if I had heroes, John would be one of them. John is widely respected as a Good Guy That You Can Trust in an industry renowned for its foundational principle of Exploit The Artist! (The second foundational principle was formulated by one major managerial player of the 1980s as The Artist Is Your Enemy! Decent, reasonable, moderate, honest reader of this Diary, I regret to inform you: this is not exaggeration).

In the early days of Endless Grief (1991) I needed a lawyer to represent my interest (nominally the responsibility of my management) against EG Management (who were my management) and who had not paid my royalties for 2 years, diverting the income to support their own affairs which collapsing under cash calls from Lloyds’ & the UK property market etc. etc. and well discussed elsewhere). John Kennedy’s name was first recommended to me (by someone well placed within EG) but at the time John was enveloped in the Stone Roses court case. Then, fortunately for me, the Stone Roses case was settled in their favour, and British law was re-written. John Kennedy became available, and represented me against the EG Group of Companies, Virgin Records & BGM Music. Prior to that, I had little notion of how it felt for a professional advisor to support my interest. But that’s another story, and one worth telling.

The only difference I noticed, in principle, between John Kennedy’s approach & mine was that John worked to get the best available in a fallen world; ie John accepted that the world was fallen, and was prepared to act pragmatically within it. Once, this was my own position.

(An aside: one example of how interbred the music industry is – during Endless Grief John was negotiating on behalf of a group called Small Town Hero in its dealings with a possible management firm - EG Management! Then post-collapse, it was trying unsuccessfully to re-establish itself. This while John was acting for me, against EG).

13.07  From an Italian pal, whose opinion I respect, of the Udine performance…

It is a strange concerto to me: - that man disturbing and you invited him to go, the first time during all the concerts I’ve see, in which you played (many) where a person was really terrifying - same thing for a guy at mixer, he spoke loud during all the concert, I didn’t say anything to him, and for this I payed his disturb.

Superbly put: I often find observations in a (seemingly) restricted vocabulary particularly informative.

16.17  Lobby call for 17.00.

23.27    Forte Belvedere, via S. Leonardo, overlooking Florence.

A wonderful venue, perhaps 1000 metres to the Duomo, as the crow flies, and 4 km to drive here.

I...

V…

VII…

VIII….

IX…

X…

Arriving, I was accosted, and kept moving.

Before the performance, I received a message that the promoter wanted to announce the “no photos” call in person. I declined this offer. We had our own person, a civilian and a Crafty, well prepped by John. When a professional makes the announcement, the audience sense this is a professional and there is a reaction, an antipathy. The professional implicitly threatens; the amateur appeals & invites empathy. I note, how many times the promoter/director wants to take the stage & pick up a microphone. Why might this be?

At the end of the performance, while we were acknowledging the audience, the flash went off. I left the stage. The LCG returned for Calliope, and Hernan reported dozens of flashes going off, and one of the Team saw VROOOM being vidded on a cellphone. As we were unfisting, I looked up to see a photographer, surreptitiously poking his camera into our private space. Why?