When is a Crim Not a Crim?

Ade, T-Lev and Pat have a summer camp this year!

A few months ago, guitar wizard and ex-Crim member, Adrian Belew, expressed a desire for the old 80's KC lineup to reform and tour. Without judgement from this blogger, his idea was met by half of the band saying nay to this reformation. Drummer Bill Bruford wasn't kidding when he said he was retired and Robert asked if they could play the music as well as they did twenty years ago (Fripp has since retired from public performance). That left Ade, of course, and Tony Levin.

What to do? Easy: Don't call it King Crimson, but play some of the repertoire for hungry Crimsonites such as your humble blogger.


From Adrian Belew's blog:

Monday, June 20, 2011

A Celebration of King Crimson Music and Much More...
remember when I mentioned something special
was being planned for our next tour?
well, here it is:

the Two Of A Perfect Trio tour.
the show will go like this:

stickmen (tony levin, markus rueter, and pat mastelotto)
will play a set of their music
then
the adrian belew power trio (me, julie slick, and tobias ralph)
will play a set of my music
then

tony, pat, and I will play a few crimson songs as a trio
then
both trios will take the stage for a glorious set of
king crimson music including pieces from the double trio era.
two drummers, two stick players, a bassist, and a guitarist, YOW!
what a sound that's gonna be.
the dates should be listed here soon.
2011 marks my (and tony's) 30-year anniversary
of being in king crimson, something I'm very proud of.
this once in a lifetime show is a perfect way to celebrate.

When you retire from public performance, be sure to have faithful rabbit to love.

From the Fripp diary (search around to find original post):
This is Robert commenting on a fan's post in the forum about possible players (just coincidence) with some Crim music:

"A Double Trio of Adrian Belew, Dweezil Zappa, Pat Mastelotto, Terry Bozzio, Trey Gunn and Tony Levin would persuade me to part with my own hard-earned pay (the small proportion of which eventually and actually arrives) but it would not be King Crimson. That disturbs me not-at-all; rather, it serves to excite me: the formation would have the freedom to discover, and be, who it is."

Each member of a band contributes to the overall sound and sensibility of a group. I know this firsthand. From my perspective, there is no KC with RF. He anchors, guides and senses what is enfolding. Perhaps, to use an awkward metaphor, he is the lightning rod that gathers the seen and the unseen. On a practical level, perhaps he is quality control.

Adrian, Tony and Pat are incredible musicians and I am glad that some form of KC rep will still be performed live.