King Crimson at the RAH.

So I saw the new iteration of King Crimson at the Royal Albert Hall last night.

I was, as the saying is, beside myself with expectation; Crimson having been one of my formative influences in rock and pop music. To put it into context; I first saw Crimson in 1980 or '81, when Fripp rechristened his "Discipline" project King Crimson; which it was, or became. The albums which resonated with me most, though, were Larks Tongues in Aspic, Starless and Bible Black, and Red - but the then reformed group of Fripp, Belew, Levin, and Bruford; which recorded the gamelan/serialism influenced albums "Discipline", "Beat", and the lesser "Three of a Perfect Pair" are still impressive accomplishments, if a little abstracted for most folk's taste.

On to the gig. The stage set-up was much as on the recent video I posted; three drummers at the front. The central drummer, Jeremy Stacey, doubled on keys, and in many ways was the backbone of the ensemble. The reason I'm starting with the drummers is the gig was very drum-heavy. The first set opened with a drum-trio piece of a musical and rhythmic kind, but I am still reminded of an old joke. Gavin Harrison was drummer stage right, and Pat Mastelotto was drummer stage left. Jeremy Stacey, channelling Bonzo - complete with John Bonham-style beard and bowler hat (very Alex and his droogs, oh my brothers) moved from perfectly synchronised battery to Hammond, Mellotron, synths and pianos with ease and facility.

The present line-up is, as you would imagine, tremendously adept. Mastery abounds. Fripp looked chipper, Tony Levin prowled on the spot, moving from bass to Chapman Stick effortlessly. Mel Collins played brilliant sax and flute. Jakko is a great guitarist and singer. King Crimson always needed a full-time keyboard player, or two players doubling the instruments, and now they have horsepower to spare.

Of course there is a but...

There appears to be a focus on the very early albums that almost makes the gig feel like a greatest hits tour. If so, I think the choice of material is slightly off. To be candid I'd have preferred to hear more from LTIA, SABB, and Red rather than anything from COTCK, In the Wake of Poseidon, Lizard or even Islands; but, along with a couple of good numbers from the Discipline era, this is mainly what we got.

Mind you, Jakko did look suitably embarrassed singing some of Pete Sinfield's choicer lyrics.

Anyway, as you can probably guess, I am disappoint, as the new grammar has it. A rewritten "Easy Money" from LTIA, a restructuring of the title track/Part 2 from LTIA, and the second set's closer, "Starless" from Red were the highpoints for me. Also good was the reworked stuff from Discipline and Beat. The first album (In the Court of the Crimson King) has merit, as the Ur-text of prog, but after that, IMO, KC's output is patchy and candidly not that compelling to me until LTIA. I may be alone in thinking this as I guess the early stuff must be popular with someone. For my taste some attention to the emphasis of the set-list would not go amiss. The playing and performing were stellar. The choice of material from the back catalogue needs to do justice to the ensemble.

Oh dear...

Will this matter?

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/jun/21/police-called-to-loud-altercation-at-boris-johnsons-home

IIRC Boris was in college at Eton - a scholar who had his fees paid because he was brainy enough to have really aced the scholarship exam. In our day that mattered; as more than one OE has mentioned to me after I remarked that they ended their days as an Oppidan Scholar "It doesn't count unless you start as a scholar." And though, in prewar years, collegers were regarded as clever oiks; around the time of the late '60's and '70's scholarship was briefly in vogue. And Boris was a scholar in that period, and this rather accounts for his reputation for cleverness. And it must be said, at that time, only Wykehamist Scholars and Queen's Scholars at Westminster could be considered his rivals. (It also must be remembered that at this period boy's schools outperformed girl's schools by an unfortunate margin - Expectations? Social constraints? The causes need looking at, obvs.)

Now I disagree with Boris on a lot of things. And I think he's an overachieving chancer with a predisposition to make it up as he goes along. But I've seen humans, and that is most of us barring the saints. As a bloke and a person he evidently has his own demons to deal with, and you know, I hope he can get things sorted, because he always was charismatic, personable, and able within limits; if a bit chaotic and prone to extempore demagoguery. Surrounded by technicians, Boris could do all right given a level playing field. However...

Some drunk fucker drove a bus (with its sides plastered with insane promises) over the playing surface overnight; and that someone looks suspiciously like Boris.

Even so, if a chap is having a bit of a domestic with his GF, he has a right to do so in private as long as no-one is threatened or intimidated.