King Crimson at 40

The band and I are both 40 this year. It was fun seeing them Monday at the Keswick, on their swing through Philly, although in my preview blurb for the Weekly I lamented the absence of a particular prog-rock god who’s busied himself with some very respectable jazz in the past decade:

“Some would argue it’s not truly King Crimson without genius drummer Bill Bruford, who saw this prog–rock unit through its earlier spellbinding incarnations. But with Adrian Belew, Tony Levin and guitar mastermind Robert Fripp still in the fold, and with Pat Mastelotto and Gavin Harrison pounding drums in a ‘double trio’ format, this remains a creative enterprise, not a half–hearted repackaging. From mellotron psychedelia and proto–metal in the ’70s to a more mathematical vibe in the ’80s, Crimson always kept things technically challenging and cryptic as hell, but strangely melodic, even funny. There have been long hiatuses, but the ship sails, armed with new music, well into the ’00s.”

I’d state the “creative enterprise” part less emphatically after hearing the Keswick show. Newer material played a very limited role — as you’d expect from an older band whose fans, myself included, want to hear “Frame By Frame,” “Neurotica,” “Three of a Perfect Pair,” “Thela Hun Ginjeet,” “Elephant Talk,” “Indiscipline” and even ’70s gems “Red” and “Larks’ Tongues In Aspic, Pt. 2.” Serve it up they did, like a particularly good rerun. The music itself is unfailingly, bizarrely creative, after all these years. But as I’d suspected, it lacked that obsessively tuned drum timbre that only Bill Bruford can give us.

Adrian Belew, a beanpole of a man, sauntered and bopped around with a Parker Fly guitar, if anything looking younger than he used to. Robert Fripp sat behind a tower of effects, obscured from view. Leave it to him to figure out how to be a touring rock star and a hermit at the same time.