BEAT, Copernicus Center, Chicago, Illinois, Friday, November 1st, 2024

Halfway through a three-month North American tour, Adrian Belew and Tony Levin’s 40th anniversary remount of 1980s King Crimson readily commanded the stage of this vintage Art Deco theater, slamming into the ecstatic audience like a truckful of bricks spontaneously rearranged as abstract sculpture. BEAT’s reinvention of this cutting-edge music offers much more than fresh trim on a classic chassis; with virtuosi Steve Vai and Danny Carey at the stations originally manned by Robert Fripp and Bill Bruford, there was power to spare under the hood, and the edgy thrill of exploration that Belew and Levin’s previous celebration (first known as Two of a Perfect Trio, then as the Crimson ProjeKct) only mustered intermittently back in the early 2010s.

With both Fripp and Bruford retired from Crimson (and publicly supporting this venture), the new recruits leapt into their roles with gleeful abandon. At stage left, Carey straddled his monolithic drum set, cutting loose with both the confident drive he brings to Tool and the innovative riot of percussive colors Bruford brought to bear. The overall effect was devastating: electronic drums, boo-bams, rototoms, and more danced in head-spinning polyrhythmic patterns above rock-solid odd-time grooves. To Carey’s right, Vai’s stage presence couldn’t have been more different than Fripp’s buttoned up demeanor — leaning into the riffs with an easygoing strut, taking the original finger-busting licks to the next level, topping ferocious solos with distinctive, showy flourishes beloved by fans since his days with Frank Zappa. For all its fearsome complexity, the music was remarkably free and exceptionally fiery — to the extent that the newbies even accelerated a bit ahead of Belew and Levin on a few occasions!

But if the Crimson veterans were surprised by occasional mess-ups, they really didn’t seem to mind, grinning and bopping away as they caught up, Carey and Vai decelerated, and everyone locked in to the mesmerizing weave once again. I’d argue that Levin’s role in 80s Crimson was both essential and underrated, and this show offered fresh evidence for my case; alternating between Chapman Stick and bass, he simultaneously dished up both the low-end foundation and the hypnotic rhythm figures that give these pieces shape and harmonic direction. And with the beautiful noise of the other three players to carry him along, Belew was in his element. Duetting with Vai on fiendish bursts of counterpoint, wrestling every possible noise made by animal or power tool from his cubist array of guitars, yelping out proto-rap or firing off riveting arcs of vocal melody, the man was eager and energetic throughout the night, obviously delighted to do his thing, committed to keep the fun going.

When I saw King Crimson live for the first time back in 1984, “fun” would not necessarily have been the descriptor that sprang to mind; Fripp and Bruford were publicly feuding in the music press, Levin had programmed a click track to keep everyone in sync onstage, and Belew was doing tour publicity pretty much on his own. It was no surprise when Fripp declared that innovative incarnation finished at the end of the run, so I’ve always considered the subsequent regroupings across the decades unpredictable bonuses. And in the same way that the “chamber ensemble plus drum corps” Crimson of the 2010s gave Fripp a final run at the band’s entire history with a simpatico crew of colleagues (including Levin), I’d argue that BEAT gives Adrian Belew the version of Crimson that suits him best, focused on the slice of repertoire he values most. Belew, Levin, Vai and Carey are far from uptight or perfectionist, yet they’re unquestionably up to the demands this mighty music presents them, and absolutely dedicated to giving its fans their due. The results in Chicago were every bit as satisfying to me (now a 12-timer in catching KC’s various versions) as they were for long-time fans who’d never got to see the 1980s team in action (like my eloquent concert buddy Cedric Hendrix – check out his take here). If you’re ready to have your face melted, mind blown and heart stirred, catch BEAT while you can!

BEAT is on tour through December; click here for tour dates. Click here to rent a stream of BEAT’s November 10 concert, recorded live in Los Angeles.

— Rick Krueger

Setlist:

• Neurotica
• Neal and Jack and Me
• Heartbeat
• Sartori in Tangier
• Dig Me
• Model Man
• Man with an Open Heart
• Industry
• Larks’ Tongues in Aspic Part III
• Waiting Man
• The Sheltering Sky
• Sleepless
• Frame by Frame
• Matte Kudasai
• Elephant Talk
• Three of a Perfect Pair
• Indiscipline (including drum solo)
• Red
• Thela Hun Ginjeet