Hotel This Will Do Quite Nicely, Tokyo.
The sun is shining, the sky is blue. I woke this morning with two comments returning to my waking condition.
Number One from Mr. Zak, in the restaurant yesterday evening. We asked him when he would want us to return to Japan. "With the next album", he said. I replied "I would rather hang myself". This didn't quite translate through the formal translation channels available, so Trey offered an alternative version: "Not anytime soon".
Number Two from Charlie Hewitt, who recently mentioned the touring strategy for this band leading to "the next album".
Those who see RF as Crimson Dictator, even Bandleader, or He Who Must Be Obeyed, might be interested to note that I have repeatedly stated I have no plans, nor intention, of making "the next album". And there are good reasons for this --
The bulk of the work falls to me, at the beginning and at the end, to Crimsonise a Crimson album.
I do not want that work.
I am not paid for that work.
The recording is mostly a joyless exercise for me, of alienation & unmusicality.
When the album is concluded, mastered, delivered, the reward is --
interviews interviews interviews.
Alternatively, pressure implicit/explicit to do interviews, promote, publicise.
I am not paid for these functions.
They are an ordeal.
It is not work that I seek.
It is part of making an album.
It is a brain-dead & unimaginative strategy.
As a strategy it has been superseded, by BootlegTV.
As a functioning strataegy, it is not yet up & running.
I do not have the energy to force this forward against the inertia of conventional thinking.
David Singleton, the originator of the strategy, is not a member of the band.
But, regardless of my notional position as Crimson Kingpin, and although none of this is newly expressed, seemingly none of it has been incorporated into KC touring strategy.
En passant, when I listen to TPTB, I do not hear the effort nor the distress that it caused me.
13.32
And, as if right on cue, from my pal who responded to the request for commentary on the last two US shows, LA & Anaheim, who was concerned that he had given offence, just in --
-- Anaheim was an odd one. From the third row, it seemed that the notes were there, but the music left -- So, after 40 years working the front line, do you feel that the audiences have changed?
I would say yes---a reflection of our increasingly dense culture. I can understand how Glenn Gould arrived at this: "at live concerts I feel demeaned, like a vaudevillian."
Had I not seen what you go through on the road firsthand, I would try to persuade you to hang in there, like a loyal Crimson fan should. But, having experienced it up close, I wish only that you be content, healthy and able to spend as much time as possible with Toyah. I'm not, by any means, suggesting early retirement, but perhaps a way will appear that will allow you to opt-out creatively again at some point. Until then, you still get to rock out with the best band in the word--- how cool is that!!?
22.54
Tonight, I am embarrassed.
The band lacked the being to properly embody King Crimson and, although the King hovered on several occasions, we failed in our calling. My main contribution was the set list: I included VROOOM & Dinosaur in the body of the set. Both were poorly placed & poorly played. Tonight, we were careless. I can handle honourable mistakes: you go for it & trip up in the attempt. But tonight, we played without care on too many occasions, and something was lost.
The audience were the largest & most vocal of these three nights in the same hall. It is not enough to say the hall is not an easy one to develop atmosphere: even in a dud hall, without much seeming atmosphere, you play with care. Tonight, we began, stumbled & fell. There was something off in the hall but, primarily, tonight was our responsibility. This is hard for me to accept. Actually, I don't accept it. But I acknowledge our failure, with apologies.
"To try is to fail."
