BEAT
Thursday, 18 June 2026, 8:00 PM – 10:15 PM
Prague // Universum O2 Arena // Czech Republic
King Crimson played their final European concerts in the summer of 2019, following their 2015 reactivation. Our last encounter with this eclectic prog/art rock outfit — the fourth in total — is unforgettable not only for the sheer musical genius of the band, but above all for the torrential downpour that nearly washed away that show in Palmanova. The rain ate into the set time, but finally stopped somewhere around eleven at night, and Fripp and company took the stage and gave us at least 45 minutes of music.
All along, Adrian Belew had been hoping Fripp would invite him into the lineup for those King Crimson shows, but it never happened. The Crimsons stuck exclusively to ’70s material — no songs from the ’80s through to 2003, when the last King Crimson album “Power To Believe” came out, which meant Fripp simply didn’t need Belew in the band. So Ade came up with the idea of forming a supergroup called BEAT, built around the core concept of playing King Crimson’s ’80s material — those three cult King Crimson albums: the red one, the blue one, and the yellow one. Fripp and Bruford were untouchable, which is no surprise, but Belew’s ’80s King Crimson bandmate Tony Levin came on board — the same Tony Levin who, among other things, played with the Crimsons on every tour between 2015 and 2019. So half the King Crimson lineup behind “Discipline”, “Beat” (which gives the group its name), and “Three Of A Perfect Pair” was in place. Ade still needed a drummer who was insanely good enough to pull off anything and everything — and then some. He found that in Tool maestro Danny Carey. That left just one question: who would cover the guitar parts Robert Fripp delivered on those ’80s King Crimson albums. Steve Vai. Not a surprising choice, and thankfully Steve Vai — buried up to his neck in commitments — was available, willing, and keen to join the quartet. The supergroup was born. A supergroup that can deliver anything, anytime. A supergroup that cannot disappoint. At most, shock you and bewitch you.
After extensive touring across North America, BEAT have finally made the move to their first proper European run. The series of shows takes them all the way to Friuli (Udine) and Croatia (Zagreb) — couldn’t ask for more if you’re a King Crimson fan from our part of the world. That said, a holiday in the Czech Republic has a way of reshuffling schedules, ours included. As fate would have it, we got to catch a BEAT show right in the middle of a stay in Prague — a first real look at what BEAT actually serve up live. Especially if you still haven’t heard that live album they recorded in the US and released last year.
Eight o’clock in the evening. The O2 Universum is packed solid. Sold out to the last seat. 5,000 people! Five minutes past eight, BEAT appear from stage right. Everyone except Danny Carey is dressed in the off-the-rack style King Crimson used during the era of the three albums mentioned above. Vai has also added a hat — one that brought to mind the one he wore when he visited Ljubljana on 13 November 2012 during The Story Of Light tour. That was, unfortunately, also Steve Vai’s last visit to Slovenia — so far.
The band launched headlong into the eccentric Neurotica. In the opening number the sound wasn’t quite balanced — Ade’s guitar was cutting through the mix, way too loud — but they fixed it fast. From that point on, there’s only one way to put it: breathtaking perfection, walking the trail of King Crimson’s ’80s musical legacy. Two more listener-friendly tracks from the “Beat” album followed — the album opener Neal, Jack And Me and then Heartbeat, a song that should have been a commercial hit but remains a neglected single to this day — offering a smoother stretch, before the first of the ‘poisonous’ improvisational high points that leave you standing there with your mouth open: Sartori In Tangier. Then Adrian addressed the crowd, explaining that King Crimson didn’t tour much after “Three Of A Perfect Pair” came out, meaning a good chunk of songs from that album had never been played live. So BEAT took on the more ‘accessible’ Man With An Open Heart first, followed by the experimentally treacherous Industry and then Dig Me, with the first set closing out on that album’s final track, Lark’s Tongues In Aspic (pt. III). In other words, BEAT played virtually the entire B-side of that album — a B-side that is the polar opposite of the A-side. A staggering experimental mass with which King Crimson, in their day, shattered musical convention, drove out conformism with fire and sword, and with visionary intent pulled back the curtain on many an undiscovered horizon, even in the ’80s.
Ade delivered vocally — in excellent form. His vocal eccentricity has always been in a class of its own, practically impossible to compare to anything else. The closest parallel is perhaps David Byrne, who we’d caught at this same venue the day before. No wonder King Crimson developed their ’80s musical character under the heavy influence of Talking Heads — a band Ade even collaborated with at some point in his career. Ade is an absolute musical weirdo, and we mean that as the highest possible compliment. He worked with Bowie, and also with Zappa, where he played a key role on “Sheik Yerbouti” and then went out on tour with Zappa. His Bob Dylan impression on Flakes remains to this day one of the most inspired things the music world has ever produced. And then there’s the other Zappa alumnus — Steve Vai, of course. Vai spent a fair bit of this show operating outside the spotlight, in a somewhat secondary role — not something we’re used to seeing from him (though Fripp on his bar stool did occupy a lower-lit position in the ’80s too). Center stage belonged to Ade, with his extraordinary vocal chameleoning and freewheeling guitar playing, plus that incredible, almost indescribable instinct for improvisation. Tony Levin, alongside the Chapman Stick, slipped those extended drumstick attachments onto his right-hand fingers several times — exactly what he used to do on King Crimson tours and in the studio, using the exact same bass guitars as he played with King Crimson in the ’80s and beyond. Tony also played bass lines on the synth, and alongside Carey handled backing vocals. The sound was phenomenal — powerful, one of a kind, unlike anything else. The reinterpretations of King Crimson classics drew wave after wave of applause and ecstatic enthusiasm from the hall.
The show has a 15-minute intermission. The guys change, and the second set opens with a Carey/Belew percussion duet — tuned and harmonized, calling to mind the sound of a kalimba. It was Waiting Man in an extended arrangement, and Ade naturally made the most of the line containing the word “Hello” for yet another warm crowd greeting. The second set was more accessible in compositional terms. After Waiting Man, the band tackled a bravura run through the atmospheric Sheltering Sky. A piece built essentially on two chords, stretched into a stunning devotional experience that worked like a spiritual mantra — and it was Steve Vai and Danny Carey above all who dazzled with their fills. Brilliant. Then the stampede that everyone had been waiting for most: Sleepless! What a beat, what rhythmic intensity! Untethered and perfect. A track you can never get enough of — you could listen to it forever. Right behind it, the remarkable Frame By Frame, where Vai even one-upped Fripp. Fripp plays all the guitar parts in this one with his right hand using conventional picking; Vai went for tapping instead. The riff is blindingly fast, and as we all know, Fripp is an extraordinarily unique guitarist in his own right! Then comes that tender, fragile Hawaiian ballad Matte Kudasai — which had no business being left off the setlist — smoothing out all the jagged progressive edges of what came before. Then back to something more wound-up with Elephant Talk (the band’s elephant motif comes from this track), where Ade uses guitar effects to mimic the sounds of elephants, followed by Three Of A Perfect Pair! Then the experimental Indiscipline, fracturing into all its provocative eccentricity, rounded off by Adrian’s final shout of “And I like it!” — and the band leave the stage.
In the encore, Adrian says: “Without two musicians, none of what we’re doing here tonight would exist. One is Robert Fripp, the other is Bill Bruford. This one’s for Robert.” The band launches into a surprise — that King Crimson track from the ’70s that also closed out that era for the band. Red! A riff that’s accessible to any guitarist — with a bit of nerve, that is. The crowd rose from their seats and surged toward the stage. People had long since been unable to stand still. And then the finale: Thela Hun Ginjeet! Another ripping “Discipline”-era classic that cannot be absent from a show like this.
Superlatives. There aren’t enough of them. This crew is from another galaxy and you need to find out for yourself. Mandatory — no, make that essential. King Crimson fan or not. Anyone who takes pleasure in musical gourmet experiences absolutely must see a show like this. Danny Carey, 65 years old. Steve Vai, 66. Adrian Belew, 76. And Tony Levin — get this — 80 years old. Excuse me? Hello? And yes. This is the untouchable musical legacy of the greats, handled with credibility only by the truly great. That’s why BEAT exist. And the story isn’t over yet. If the guys feel like keeping it going, there are albums like “Thrak”, “ConstruKction of Light” and “Power To Believe” still waiting — plus a few more pieces of the ’80s King Crimson story to be told. Let’s hope that happens!
Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Photography: Edita Klemen
BEAT – setlist:
first set
1. Neurotica
2. Neal and Jack and Me
3. Heartbeat
4. Sartori in Tangier
5. Model Man
6. Dig Me
7. Man With an Open Heart
8. Industry
9. Larks’ Tongues in Aspic (Part III)
second set
10. Waiting Man
11. The Sheltering Sky
12. Sleepless
13. Frame by Frame
14. Matte Kudasai
15. Elephant Talk
16. Three of a Perfect Pair
17. Indiscipline
—encore—
18. Red
19. Thela Hun Ginjeet
