Adrian BelewMusic

[Duke]

I went up to Philly on Saturday afternoon for a free concert at Penn's Landing. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the bill included guitarist Adrian Belew. I've been a fan of his since he played for Frank Zappa in the late '70s, and I love the early-'80s King Crimson lineup featuring Belew's wild, freeform playing set against Fripp's rigidly controlled but frenetic melodies.

Anyway, Belew was fronting a three piece featuring a 6-string bass player named Mike Gallagher, and a drummer also named Mike whose last name I missed. While they weren't Tony Levin and Bill Bruford, they formed a very tight combo and they really seemed to enjoy playing together. They played a furious 45-minute set, hitting 3 of Belew's King Crimson compositions (Frame By Frame, Three Of A Perfect Pair, and Thela Hunjinjeet) interspersed with some of his own work and some largely improv stuff.

Judging by his looks, he's getting older, but he's lost none of his wild form and pace. He was all over the neck, with huge tremolo arm action, pounding on the body of the guitar and picking out notes behind the bridge, all while managing the feedback to perfection. Much of the audience had no idea who he was, but he blasted through his set and really seemed to play to those of us who were responding. It was a great little show, and the price was definitely right.

Any Belew/Crimson fans here?

 

[Touring Mars]

That must have been a real treat... anyone who can mix it with Messers. Zappa and Fripp (not to mention Bowie and the Talking Heads) must be doing something pretty special...

I've been a fan of Crimson for a long time, although I have to admit I didn't get into their newer stuff (post 1975) until very recently.. but I did buy 'Discipline' a couple of months ago, which is incredible... ! 👍 I've heard most of 'Absent Lovers', featuring the live performances of Mr. Belew... infact, I heard the live version of 'Discipline' from 'Absent Lovers' (on my mates iTunes collection) before I heard the studio version... I only figured out it was live at the end of the song...

I've never had the privilege to see either Belew or Crimson live at any point though... indeed, my only Crimson-related claim to fame is that Bill Bruford was waiting outside Virgin on Oxford Street, London when I had just bought my PS2 and GT3... could have got him to sign my PS2, but that would have been pretty absurd...

 

[Duke]

I've been a fan of Crimson for a long time, although I have to admit I didn't get into their newer stuff (post 1975) until very recently.. but I did buy 'Discipline' a couple of months ago, which is incredible... !

Yeah, that's the guy - he plays most of the lead (all the more freeform stuff) and does the vocals on Discipline, which is one of my favorite albums of all time. If you're of a mind, Three Of A Perfect Pair and beat complete the '80s trilogy of that lineup. TOAPP is almost as good as Discipline; beat is off a bit but still good.

I heard the live version of 'Discipline' from 'Absent Lovers' (on my mates iTunes collection) before I heard the studio version... I only figured out it was live at the end of the song...

That's the most amazing thing about King Crimson. It's not just that they can play songs like that - it's that they can play songs like that again.

 

[CFM]

The Talking Heads' live album, "The Name of This Band Is Talking Heads" was reisuued last year, and the second disc has live material from the period when Belew was with them. Awesome stuff.👍 Belew also did guitar work on Nine Inch Nails' "The Downward Spiral". Some great sounds on there too, but you can't really decipher who is doing what on that album.

 

[Duke]

The only thing that I know Belew contributed to The Downward Spiral is the looped bit at the end of Mr. Self Destruct. He may have done a little more of the 'texture' guitar playing as well.

 

[Mr. Toad]

Belew is great! Crimson is great! (Count me in as a fan).
Fripp is great, Eno is great (Duke, I know you didn't mention him, so I thought I'd throw it in...) Throw Rundgren in there too.
haven't had the opportunity to see Belew or Crimson. Saw Frank a couple of times, Saw Todd.
They're all in my vinyl collection (kept nicely, 1800 pieces+).

I'm pretty shrewd with vinyl. Don't own a ton o'crap. Just a nice collection of great artists (IMO).
I like the eclectic stuff. No Britney Sh**te here.

 

[CFM]

Belew is great! Crimson is great! (Count me in as a fan).
Fripp is great, Eno is great (Duke, I know you didn't mention him, so I thought I'd throw it in...) Throw Rundgren in there too.
haven't had the opportunity to see Belew or Crimson. Saw Frank a couple of times, Saw Todd.
They're all in my vinyl collection (kept nicely, 1800 pieces+).

I'm pretty shrewd with vinyl. Don't own a ton o'crap. Just a nice collection of great artists (IMO).
I like the eclectic stuff. No Britney Sh**te here.

I've got a decent vinyl collection too, about 350 or so. Everything from old classic rock to new stuff like the Flaming Lips, Smashing Pumpkins, and Sonic Youth. Love my turntable.

 

[Mr. Toad]

I've got a decent vinyl collection too, about 350 or so. Everything from old classic rock to new stuff like the Flaming Lips, Smashing Pumpkins, and Sonic Youth. Love my turntable.

Ya gotta like people who collect vinyl! 👍
Grow that collection CFM! I pick up the new stuff too. Saw REM with Sonic Youth a few years ago (was a great show).
Usually when I go 'hunting' now it's for strange stuff and hard to finds, bootlegs, 45's Original pressings, 78's, soundtracks. Not too picky about old or new styles of music. Pretty well like 'em all (as long as it's not pop-****e).

If you'd like to pick up some cool tunes, Hit emusic.com, They have some great music that is off the beaten path. They have a 2 week 50 free download thing going on right now. Loaded a lot of great stuff on to my computer.

I also took a listen to an SACD player on the weekend (we put on Dark Side)... wooaahh!. I'm telling ya, this audio format kick's standard CD's Butt(s).