As Kevin McCormick posted two weeks ago, Adrian Belew & Tony Levin of King Crimson will be performing that band’s innovative 1980s repertoire live with pioneering shred guitarist Steve Vai (Frank Zappa, David Lee Roth, G3) and drummer Danny Carey (Tool). More than 40 US/Canada dates (listed below and at www.beat-tour.com) have been announced; a presale begins April 2nd at 12 noon EDT (password BEATTOUR), with sales to the general public starting April 5th.

To say I’m stoked for this tour is an understatement! I became a fan of all things associated with King Crimson founder Robert Fripp after hearing him live at a local record store in 1979,then devouring his articles about the creative process and the travails of the music business in Musician magazine. So I was primed when Fripp, Belew, Levin and drummer Bill Bruford launched a re-envisioned KC with 1981’s breakthrough album Discipline. In addition to the striking use of cutting-edge tech like Simmons electronic drums and Roland guitar synthesizers (along with a New Wave sense of texture and space), I loved how all four players were constantly interweaving; there was no real precedent for the sound in rock or even prog, but Balinese gamelan music, classical minimalists like Steve Reich & Philip Glass, and some of Talking Heads’ contemporaneous experiments came to mind. This was just the noise for a heady, more than slightly pretentious listener like me!

1982’s Beat turned out to be my favorite of the albums the band released, but I didn’t see the mighty Crim live until the Three of a Perfect Pair tour in the summer of 1984 – by which time they had throughly assimilated their new music and stomped audiences flat with it! It was the first of 10 times I heard Crimson in concert over the decades, and still it’s vividly memorable.

Shortly afterward, Fripp put Crimson on one of the band’s numerous indefinite pauses, but Belew has always had a soft spot for this music, even publishing an online appeal to Fripp, Levin & Bruford for a 30th-anniversary reunion in 2011. This only happened in truncated form: Belew’s Power Trio hooked up with Levin’s Stick Men for a series of Two of A Perfect Trio dates (I caught the Detroit stop of the tour late that year) eventually becoming the Crimson ProjeKct and opening for Dream Theater on a lengthly tour.

And while I absolutely adore Fripp’s Belew-less version of KC that ran from 2014 to 2021 (see my reviews here, here and here), I’m no less ready to lose it for a Fripp-less take on this classical material like BEAT. Given Vai & Carey’s impeccable credentials, this should be some show.

— Rick Krueger

BEAT Tour dates:

• 9/12 SAN JOSE, CA @ SAN JOSE CIVIC
• 9/13 NAPA, CA @ BLUE NOTE SUMMER SESSIONS at MERITAGE RESORT
• 9/14 LOS ANGELES, CA @ THE UNITED THEATER on BROADWAY
• 9/15 ANAHEIM, CA @ CITY NATIONAL GROVE of ANAHEIM
• 9/17 SAN DIEGO, CA @ HUMPHREY’S CONCERTS
• 9/18 PHOENIX, AZ @ CELEBRITY THEATRE
• 9/20 AUSTIN, TX @ THE PARAMOUNT THEATRE
• 9/21 HOUSTON, TX @ BAYOUS MUSIC CENTRE
• 9/22 DALLAS, TX @ MAJESTIC THEATRE
• 9/24 ATLANTA, GA @ THE EASTERN
• 9/26 FORT LAUDERDALE, FL @ THE PARKER
• 9/27 ORLANDO, FL @ HARD ROCK LIVE
• 9/28 CLEARWATER, FL @ RUTH ECKERD HALL
• 9/29 CHARLESTON, SC @ CHARLESTON MUSIC HALL
• 10/01 CHARLOTTE, NC @ KNIGHT THEATER
• 10/02 DURHAM, NC @ CAROLINA THEATRE of DURHAM / FLETCHER HALL
• 10/04 WASHINGTON, DC @ WARNER THEATRE
• 10/05 NEW YORK, NY @ BEACON THEATRE
• 10/06 GLENSIDE, PA @ KESWICK THEATRE
• 10/08 RICHMOND, VA @ CARPENTER THEATER in DOMINION ENERGY CENTER
• 10/09 RED BANK, NJ @ COUNT BASIE CENTER
• 10/11 BOSTON, MA @ SHUBERT THEATRE
• 10/12 HAMPTON BEACH, NH @ HAMPTON BEACH CASINO BALLROOM
• 10/14 HALIFAX, NS @ REBECCA COHEN AUDITORIUM
• 10/15 MONCTON, NB @ CASINO NEW BRUNSWICK
• 10/17 MONTREAL, QC @ THEATRE MAISONNEUVE
• 10/18 TORONTO, ON @ MASSEY HALL
• 10/19 ROCHESTER, NY @ KODAK CENTER
• 10/21 ALBANY, NY @ THE EGG
• 10/22 GREENSBURG, PA @ PALACE THEATRE
• 10/23 READING, PA @ SANTANDER PERFORMING ARTS CENTER
• 10/25 CLEVELAND, OH @ AGORA THEATRE
• 10/26 CINCINNNATI, OH @ TAFT THEATRE
• 10/27 ROYAL OAK, MI @ ROYAL OAK MUSIC THEATRE
• 10/28 NASHVILLE, TN @ RYMAN AUDITORIUM
• 10/30 INDIANAPOLIS, IN @ MURAT THEATRE
• 11/01 CHICAGO, IL @ COPERNICUS CENTER
• 11/02 MILWAUKEE, WI @ PABST THEATRE
• 11/03 MADISON, WI @ ORPHEUM THEATER
• 11/04 MINNEAPOLIS, MN @ STATE THEATRE
• 11/06 DENVER, CO @ PARAMOUNT THEATRE
• 11/08 LAS VEGAS, NV @ THE THEATER at VIRGIN HOTEL