King Crimson: Live At The Orpheum

Rating: ★★★

Record and Artist Details

Musicians:

Tony Levin (b, stick)
Mel Collins
Bill Riefin (d)
Robert Fripp (g)
Pat Mastelotto (poetry reading)
Jakko Jakszyk
Gavin Harrison (d)

Label:

DGM

April/2015

Catalogue Number:

SP2

RecordDate:

30 September and 1 October 2014

The besuited, born again Crims stare grim but proud from the CD's back page much like Rembrandt's Night Watch immortalised by an earlier incarnation of this shape-shifting band. Offering only 41 minutes of a two-hour show (including a needless intro) this CD/DVD package serves as an hors d'oeuvre for what doubtless will be a slew of future releases. Material is drawn from various Crim lives but much of it is from Wetton's time: a hammering ‘One More Red Nightmare’, the inevitably epic ‘Starless’ and a restless ‘Sailor's Tale’, driven by those massed ranks of drummers. Having three drummers only reminds you of what Jamie Muir managed with a stick and a whistle. Jakzsyk's vox sit uneasy with the material, more Boz than Wetton, verging on the comically rocktastic and with none of Belew's fragile wit. The band don't quite tip into being their own tribute band by revisiting such well known material, but those looking for the twist of something new will be disappointed. The feel is bogglingly tight but oddly leaden. Indeed the show's freshness comes from an original Crims warrior: Collins' serpentine, soulful woodwinds breathe new life into old songs, notably on the labyrinthine lines of ‘The ConstruKction Of Light’.

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