An excellent show. I had been told the venue was not all that wonderful beforehand, but I enjoyed the setting very much, along the river with downtown Cleveland as a backdrop.
I was only there for the awesome light show, of course. Well... seriously, while I thought maybe a little color and varied setting would have been nice, I truly appreciate the simplicity of not having a visual stimuli bombardment as so many people feel they have to deliver these days.
I must add a slight critical not...
An excellent show. I had been told the venue was not all that wonderful beforehand, but I enjoyed the setting very much, along the river with downtown Cleveland as a backdrop.
I was only there for the awesome light show, of course. Well... seriously, while I thought maybe a little color and varied setting would have been nice, I truly appreciate the simplicity of not having a visual stimuli bombardment as so many people feel they have to deliver these days.
I must add a slight critical note, which might put me in a small minority. The overall level was too loud. It does seem to be an overall generally accepted practice for live performance sound reinforcement today to pretty much hammer people with as much level as they can take. King Crimson is certainly music that requires some power and size, but in my opinion, the simple fact is that I think if the overall level had been brought down somewhere around 6 to 8 dB, maybe even a little more, it would have been just about right; still plenty big and powerful, and not grating. As it was, in all but the relatively quite parts, the levels made everything mush together in sheer aural overload. On that note, another item, not at all unique these days, is the silly practice of feeling a need to have everything below around 100 Hz or so just massive. I'm still bewildered about how, when, and why, exactly, it became general FOH mixing practice to make the kick drum the most important element, in any live music. I don't get it. It's just silly, and really wears after not long.
That said, a wonderful show. Absolute musical excellence.
Written by Brian Gardner
Music is a Great Friend
There are a lot of reasons this show was personal to me. It has been nearly two years since I have been physically present at any concert and, despite listening to KC albums for nearly twenty years, had never gotten to experience a live show of theirs. Also on my mind was my late uncle Trent. Years ago Tony Levin played bass for a song ("Brother's Keeper") that Trent had recorded. Seeing Tony helped, in some small way, help me think fondly of my uncle and the company he kept.
The set was ever...
There are a lot of reasons this show was personal to me. It has been nearly two years since I have been physically present at any concert and, despite listening to KC albums for nearly twenty years, had never gotten to experience a live show of theirs. Also on my mind was my late uncle Trent. Years ago Tony Levin played bass for a song ("Brother's Keeper") that Trent had recorded. Seeing Tony helped, in some small way, help me think fondly of my uncle and the company he kept.
The set was every bit mind melting as I had hoped. I felt chills during the performance of "Islands" and throughout the set felt as though I had gone on a meta-journey comprised of many voyages of emotion and surprise.
This concert was something I didn't know my heart needed until I was in it. I want to express my gratitude to the band and the many folks engaged (road crew, management, etc.) for getting this tour off the ground. I don't know if I have ever felt so happy at a concert before. Thank you.
