Heaven On Earth
In March of 1990, I was living - for a very brief period of time - in Poughkeepsie, NY when this tour came around. I had absolutely no idea what, or who, The League of Crafty Guitarists was. I only knew that the advertisement for the show was calling the show "Robert Fripp." There was absolutely no mention of the Crafties. So, I showed up very early, hoping to use my incredible bullshit skills to wrestle an interview out of Robert, while pretending to be a reporter from m...
In March of 1990, I was living - for a very brief period of time - in Poughkeepsie, NY when this tour came around. I had absolutely no idea what, or who, The League of Crafty Guitarists was. I only knew that the advertisement for the show was calling the show "Robert Fripp." There was absolutely no mention of the Crafties. So, I showed up very early, hoping to use my incredible bullshit skills to wrestle an interview out of Robert, while pretending to be a reporter from my former university’s campus rag, doing a story for the music column. Naturally, the rep for the Crafties told me that Robert was completely off limits, and that this show was not about him, but about Guitar Craft, and the Crafties. He told me that I was free to interview any of the Crafties who were willing to answer questions. I had no clue who the Crafties were, so I declined to interview any of them. What a shame I coudn’t go back in time NOW, knowing full-well who they are! I would actually be able to ask them some intelligent questions!So, as you can see by the tour history, I caught this show the following night after this recording was made. I sat in my seat, and watched the Crafties file in, one by one, carrying their guitars, and taking their seats in unison. I watched as they began to play on queue, without any "1, 2, 3, 4!", or any other prompt. I listened to the most unusual music I had ever heard before. It was absolutely stunning...magnificent...a revelation. I was positively blown away, and I really wish I were a more eloquent writer to adequately describe just how amazing this show truly was. By the way, the opening act was Trey Gunn and Bob Muller. Trey was playing a 10-string polycarbonate Chapman Stick, and Bob was playing tablas. They were un-fucking-believable. My jaw was on the floor throughout their entire performance. I wish to GOD that I could find a recording of that opening act. It was to die for. Trey is a genius, and Bob is one of the most brilliant percussionist/drummers I have ever had the pleasure of watching and hearing play. He is absolutely incredible, and it shocks me to no end that he is not more widely recognized for his virtuosity. Go get "The Joy Of Molybdenum" and listen to that motherfucker play. He is a god.I will never forget March 30, 1990. That was the night that music spoke to me in a way that it has only done a handfull of times throughout my entire life. I don’t think that I have been that blown away by music since that evening, with the notable exceptions of seeing Tool on their Lateralus tour, and when I saw KC perform The Power To Believe in Chicago those two nights in a row in March of 2003 at Park West. The second night, I stood right in front of RF, literally hugging his monitor speaker, watching him play from only about 4 feet away. How lucky I am that one of those shows is on my iPod. What an album, and what a tour. Who would have ever thought that one of KC’s greatest albums of all time will probably be their last, and that they were able to create that level of genius that late in their careers. Absolutely unreal!! The Rolling Stones can blow me!!! They retired 25 years ago, except . . . . nobody told them!!Oh - and how could I ever forget KC on Halloween night in 1995 in Ft. Worth, Texas, when, as the band was leaving the stage right before the encore, some dumbshit from the audience threw his band’s CD onto the stage, I guess in hopes of getting someone from KC to listen to it, but the idot threw the thing like a boomerrang, and it hit RF right in the side of the head. I mean, it had to have hurt like hell. He probably sustained a mild concussion! I was shocked when he was kind enough to return several minutes later for the encore. I thougth for sure that he was going to call it a night after that debacle. But that show, as well, was truly magical. It was the first time I ever got to see KC live, but that is not why it was magical. The double-trio was a brilliant concept, in my humble opinion, and the setlist was phenomenal. Plus, I got the pleasure of seeing Bruford perform that night, and what a treat that was! Mastellotto was doing a resepctable job on that tour, but was clearly overshadowed by Bill. Even when Bill was laying back, and Pat was doing most of the playing, Bill just had this natural ability to mix up the rhythm and make the performance so much more interesting. The guy is a musical genius. But anyway, this is about the Crafties, sorry!! But goddamn!!! What a show that one was!!!I have seen SO MANY concerts in my life. Everything from Mannheim Steamroller, to Dead Or Alive, to Rush, The Misfits, Iron Maiden, Mariah Carey, Peter Gabriel, The Cult, The Killers, P-Funk, Gypsie Kings, Rob Zombie. You get the idea. I’ve seen A LOT of shows. Hundreds of them, and from every possible genre, with the exception of rap and country. I’ve seen blues bands in dark basement bars in Chicago, I’ve seen Bluegrass bands, been to many, many, many classical performances, and seen some really terrible pop music shows (like Depeche Mode, for example - complete rubbish!!!). But KC is truly magnificent, and in a league so far beyond nearly everyone else....BUT THIS SHOW - RF and the League of Crafty Guitarists - ranks in the top 4 or 5 shows I have ever seen in my lifetime, out of the hundreds that I have seen. YES, IT WAS THAT GOOD. I HIGHLY encourage everyone who loves music to purchase this, and to make sure you get the FLAC version, because you REALLY want to hear it without distortion or EQ loss. SO . . . . . in return for this glowing review, I am really hoping that you boys and girls at DGM will find a recording of the opening act of this show (Trey and Bob), and make me a copy!! (-:To all of the Crafties: Thank you so much for your wonderful talent, and for doing this tour. You guys most definitely deserve far more recognition for this work, especially the compositions. These are just such brilliant compositions. Oh, that brings up one other issue: At this show, RF and The League of Crafty Guitarists were selling a cassette tape of studio recordings of most of these compositions. It was called "Get Crafty." Has this not ever been released on CD? If not, WHY NOT???? It is my favorite Crafty recording. It is fucking awesome and deserves to be released on CD. I actually have TWO of these cassettes. One has never been played! It is mint, 21 years later!! PUT IT ON CD, PLEASE!!
