Author: Peter Podbrežnik
Artist: King Crimson
Label: Discipline Global Mobile
Released: 2017
Runtime: 3:07:11
Rating: 5/5
English prog-rock champions King Crimson played the Austrian capital, Vienna, on December 1, 2016. The show, packed with a dream setlist, went down at the MuseumsQuartier hall. A foursome from the Rockline crew caught the Vienna gig of these prog-rock pioneers too, having already seen them in Prague on September 15 of the same year. Both shows were thoroughly documented in extensive reports, so this review of the latest triple King Crimson live album, »Live in Vienna«, which ‘captures’ that Vienna show, is a bit shorter than usual when it comes to the work of this legendary progressive rock band.
The King Crimson septet is led by the genius-eccentric guitarist and chieftain Robert Fripp. It has no fewer than three drummers with quite different technical approaches (Jeremy Stacey also covers keyboards), the superb guitarist/singer Jakko Jakszyk, longtime bass oddball Tony Levin, and returnee Mel Collins on sax and flute. That night they played an enviable run of their classics and slipped in a few brand-new pieces too. Even though the ‘crimson kings’, who are celebrating fifty years of existence this year, are long past being a young collective, the new stuff holds its own against their enviable legacy.
Among the bigger surprises of the night were performances of pieces like »Dawn Song«, one of the parts of the epic »Lizard« suite, the Victorian drama »The Letters«, »Sailor’s Song« with Fripp’s crazed soloing, the ethereal »Peace«, and a take on Bowie’s evergreen »Heroes«, which already had Fripp’s guitar on the original and here stood as one of the rare warm gestures from the eccentric guitar master. Besides the evergreens »The Court of the Crimson King« and »Epitaph«, the highlights include the closing stretch: the dark show-stopper »Starless«, the aforementioned hit »Heroes«, the dark, super-complex instrumental »Fracture« (which was actually recorded at a show in Denmark), and the triumphant finale with »21st Century Schizoid Man«, probably the most representative piece in the history of Fripp’s masterworks of musical experimentalism.
The setlist was brilliantly laid out and touched nearly every phase of the legendary prog rock pioneers. With a noticeably rearranged and totally differently sung »Indiscipline« they nodded to the eighties too, an era strongly marked by former guitarist/singer Adrian Belew. In the pieces from Belew’s era, like »The ConstruKction of Light« and »Level Five«, perhaps the most interesting touch is Collins’s sax arrangements, which made it possible to bring back what you could call the traditional King Crimson sound.
At the end of this flawless live recording you’ll find three new, improvisation-driven creations, stitched together from various improvisations. They were recorded ‘live’ on the 2016 tour and mostly feature Fripp experimenting with his signature technique of building rolling ‘soundscapes’. »Schoenberg Softened His Hat«, »Ahriman’s Ceaseless Corruptions« and »Spenta’s Counter Claim« aren’t among the creative peaks of the King Crimson story so far, but they’re still typical, instantly recognizable examples of Fripp’s musical visions from (roughly) the last three decades.
The excitement of all of us who caught King Crimson’s Vienna show ‘live’ in late 2016 was, of course, huge when this live document came out. No exaggeration: this is one of their best live albums, and there are far from few of those, which is no passing feat. Besides, perfectionist Fripp traditionally picks only the ‘cream’ of the tour recordings for official King Crimson live albums. Since their resurrection, King Crimson are once again an extremely active live outfit, and their ranks now include returnee Bill Rieflin again. That means they currently have not three drummers, but four (!).
Lineup
Robert Fripp – guitar and keyboards
Jakko Jakszyk – guitar and vocals
Tony Levin – bass guitar, stick, backing vocals
Mel Collins – saxophone and flute
Pat Mastelotto – drums
Gavin Harrison – drums
Jeremy Stacey – drums and keyboards
Production
King Crimson
