KING CRIMSON: LIVE IN CHICAGO (June 28th. 2017)

I

Q: Why another King Crimson official bootleg? A: A report from the front line, of continuing engagement with audience; in the form of a roughly-scribed love letter. Inevitably, a recording fails to convey the serve as an aide memoire for someone in experience of being present in a room the clinches. For those who were present with others when, for the first time, or as within the event, participating and con- if for the first time, Music leans over and tributing by their presence, their experi- takes us into its confidence. (Thank you, ence continues available to them: it may dear Muse, for innocent ears). be accessed, re-entered, re-engaged. The t-shirt doesn’t quite do the same job, al- It is impossible to convey how Music though a highly recommended adjunct wishes to be heard, accepted, embraced: to the CD. closer to us than we are to ourselves. And quietly heart-breaking to experience, yet Here, the whole is greater than the parts: again, the efforts we make to close our during a performance, individual pieces ears to what is available. may have clunkers, be outstanding, hon- ourable while not revelatory, breathtak- What to do? We persist. ingly audacious; but the overall perfor- Even were a gentle audient to have been mance is what attracts my interest. in person at the Chicago Theatre on June So, here we are: a sonic report from a few 28th. 2017, our current translation, from of Music’s friends, doing the best they can sound into sound, will not replicate their for the first time, once again. in-person experience. But perhaps it will

II

Q: Where is this Formation in the series of King Crimson incarnations? A: This sonic report is presented by King Crimson Formation 8.3.

My perspective on the wider context, of The Third Definitive Formation: 1981. forty-eight years active KC service, needs The Double Trio (1994-1997) was a special a greater level of detailed commentary band, while not a defining band, and the and argument than available on this Friday whole greater than the sum of its parts. afternoon; when I have not yet strapped on a guitar in preparation for KC’s return The Double Duo (1999-2003): the whole to the US this Autumn; and hey! the sun is was not greater than sum of the parts. shining and the garden is waiting! The King Crimson Quintet (2008): the Few former Crims are likely to hold views sum of the parts was greater than the close to my own, which does not obviate whole. the rightness of their views and perspec- The Double Trio was not able to fulfil its tives. promise, for many good and valid reasons, and a few not so good. Overall, my sense There are four Definitive Formations of of KC 1999-2003, and 2007-2008, was of King Crimson: dis-satisfaction. Something was not quite realised. This was not how I wished to let The First Definitive Formation: 1969. go of Crimson. So, in 2013, in a flash be- The Second Definitive Formation: 1974 at fore my mind’s eye, a picture of the Seven the last live performance in NYC and the Headed Beast and its onstage configura- recording of Red. tion presented itself (July 22nd. 2013). 1

The Seven-Headed Beast (2014) may be with manager/minister David Singleton considered KC Formation 8.1; Jeremy re- and tour manager Dave Salt. I proposed placing Bill (2016) as Formation 8.2; Bill a toast: to King Crimson Formation Nine. returning (2017) as Formation 8.3. But please read on… The present formation, returning to the US in Autumn 2017, is King Crimson v. 9.1, My two prime aims in the re-formation the Fourth Definitive Formation. on KC in 2013 were Redemption and Completion. Acts of redemption took place during 2014, 2015 and 2016; at III which point completion was realised. A completion is a new beginning, and the eight-piece KC of 2017 constitutes a new Q: What is a Definitive Formation? beginning in the process of King Crim- A: Nothing is quite the same afterwards. son. This beginning-again may be called Formation 8.3, a formation becoming realised in Chicago on June 28th. 2017; at which point the process continued in motion.

The beginning-again-again of KC 8.3 as Formation Nine took place at the Teatro Robert Fripp Friday 25th. August, 2017 Metropolitan, Mexico City on the evening Bredonborough, Middle England. of Friday, 14th. July 2017. The wonderful, exceptional, generous audience enabled the transition to take place. At the com- pletion of our performances in Mexico City, on the evening of Wednesday 19th. July, 2017, the band joined in champagne

It wasn’t meant to be like this. Chris Porter, Robert Fripp and I spent several weeks this spring mixing “Live in Vienna”, a stand-out show from the 2016 European tour, ready for release this autumn. And then came the new 8-piece incarnation and the 2017 tour of North America, including this show in Chicago on 28th June. Writing in his online blog that night, Tony Levin de- scribed the show simply as “one of our best”, while Robert Fripp sent me an email saying

“IF WE ARE LOOKING FOR A KC LIVE; CHICAGO WAS EXCEPTIONAL”.

The new band had raised the bar to such a level that the proposed “Live in Vienna”, excellent though it re- mains (and it will be made available all over the world in the coming months), now felt like an archive release, not a snapshot of the current eight-headed beast. This band in full fl ight has been aptly described as having

“THE PRECISION OF AN ORCHESTRA, THE FREEDOM OF A JAZZ BAND, AND THE POWER OF A ROCK BAND” – something no live recording will ever completely capture: a problem compound- ed by the fact that the two halves of the concert do not neatly divide between the two discs (the fi rst set closed with Islands and the second opened with Pictures of a City). Hopefully, however, this offi cial boot- leg based on the live board recording with no more than a few necessary edits con- veys much of the magic.

In 2013, when Robert told me that he was re-forming the band, I predicted (with one small proviso) that this would be the most popular incarnation ever. Having seen this band night after night, it is diffi cult not to agree with Jordan Zivitz, writing in the Montreal Gazette, that “Crimson has never sounded more complete or more joyous on stage than it does now.”

David Singleton DGMHQ Bredonborough 22 Aug 2017

Hand me the heart that rules my tongue Defl ate the air that fi lls my lungs Point out the joke that I’ve become And clarify / The error of my ways Count the convictions one by one Criticise the line that I just sung Why not place the bullet in my gun And clarify / The error of my ways (Again) So there’s no need for metaphor Now truth is becoming the last thing on our minds

Now in a room full of ignorance And the debris of consequence Eden redesigned Hate or just post modern irony? Thinly veiling the jealousy Failure left behind Praised as you play to the gallery Hailed as the saviour of losers deaf and blind

THE BAND Mel Collins-Saxes & Flutes Robert Fripp-Guitar & Keyboards Gavin Harrison-Drums Jakko Jakszyk-Guitar, Flute & Voice Tony Levin-Basses, Stick & Voice Pat Mastelotto-Drums Bill Riefl in-Keyboards Jeremy Stacey-Drums & Keyboards

MANAGEMENT Dave Singleton-DGM Ltd.

THE CREW Dave Salt-Tour Manager Renee Adams-Production assistant Jason Birnie-Stage Manager/Drums Chris Porter-Sound Engineer Russ Wilson-Monitor Engineer John Armitage-Guitars Biff Blumfumgagnge-Sax & Flute Michele Russotto-Bass/Drums Adrian Holmes-Merchendise David Taylor-Audio Tech/Cameras Iona Singleton-Royal Package

Live Mixing Engineer CHRIS PORTER Production & mastering DAVID SINGLETON ON BEHALF OF KING CRIMSON DGM Logo STEVE BALL Artwork BEARHAND DESIGN The Errors Lyrics JAKKO JAKSZYK

Photography TONY LEVIN Except pages 8, 18-19 22-23 DAVID SINGLETON

RADICAL ACTION TOUR 2017