BEAT Live at Olympia
While it didn't hesitate one second to splurge the considerable amount of money the ticket for this concert cost, I did worry a little bit in the hours leading to it. On the face of it, a quatuor or musicians whose average age is 72 years old come on stage to revive the narrow repertoire from three King Crimson albums of the early 80s. To top it all, two of the musicians are new to the material, replacing retired giants Bill Bruford (Danny Carey on drums) and Robert Fripp (Steve Vai on guitar.) But this was the last opportunity I'd have to see any incarnation of King Crimson live, so no regrets. And indeed, no regrets to be had. The first set started strong (although uncharacteristically early for Olympia, with no opening act, which was fine by me, I'm not quite as old as them but I need my beauty sleep) and focused on some of the more angular material from Three of a Perfect Pair. These are tunes, mostly instrumental, that got very little live airplay in the 80s since Fripp shut down the band soon after the release of the album. A lot of improvisation, some harsh sounds but always interesting. Larks Tongues in Aspic III was a highlight, as were some of the songs like Three of a Perfect Pair and Man with an Open Heart. BEAT kept the bangers for the second set though, and it was hit after hit: Indicipline, Elephant Talk, Matte Kudasai, in fact I think the whole Discipline album. That's when the audience woke up and the still verdant genius of these for musicians shone. We even got treated to a rendition of Red as an encore. The finale was Thela Hun Gingeet, and I was humming it all the way back to my bed. I wasn't the only one.
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