Red!

King Crimson, Park West, Chicago Aug 6 2008

The virtuosos return for a small US tour, including 3 sold-out nights at Chicago's Park West venue. One can't really complain when Messrs. Belew, Fripp and Levin take the stage for a solid 2-hour show comprising improvisations and reworkings of tracks both new and old, though this punter was definitely more than exicted to hear the title track of Crimson's 1974 album Red early on in the eclectic set - Three of a Perfect Pair was another highlight.
Fripp said nary a word all night to either the band or audience, but the knowing smile between the main protaganists said it all - they were enjoying themselves, and the crowd lapped it all up. Twin drummers provided much of the interplay, at time "soloing" or playing along with Tony Levin while Adrian Belew and Robert Fripp sat out - how they kept in time with the band, let alone each other, boggles me...
But then again, a good boggling never hurt anybody with such a soundtrack to capture attention!

Drum Duet
ConstruKtion of Light Pt. 1 & 2
Frame by Frame
Red
Neurotica
Three of a Perfect Pair
Vroom
One Time
B'boom
Dinosaur
Level Five
Talking Drum
Larks' Tongues in Aspic

Encore:
Drum Duet
Thela Hun Ginjeet
Indiscipline
Elephant Talk

Idioteque

Lollapalooza, Chicago Aug 1-3 2008

I'll get the gripes off my chest to start with: when you host a world-class concert with one of the best bands around graciously headlining Day 1, please remember to fix the mid-field speaker row for those who don't want to fight off 69,999 other punters for a front-of-mixing-desk location!!! Had a nice center spot scoped out directly behind said speakers, but as Bloc Party finished their always-lively set, they went off - then on - and off again, never to return. Radiohead was thus rendered as am impressive light-show with a mono transistor radio hidden behind a hedge with the bastard neighbours lawnmower going at 8am Sunday morning...

Enough of that. Cat Power kicked off my 2008 Lolla experience around 5pm on a steamy Friday, and pretty much delivered an outdoor version of her "Jukebox" album as seen mid-winter here in Chi-Town, albeit without the small-venue intensity. I would have appreciated more Chan-authored songs than just "Metal Heart" (she covered herself, so to speak) like "Love & Communication", but that's a personal request. Something was lost in translation Friday.

Moving across Grant Park past Buckingham fountain to grab grub'n'piss and head towards the main stage for Radiohead, it was obvious most of the Friday crowd were there for one thing - and had already staked their claim to turf. It was 2 hours before kickoff, no competing act at the other end, and the punters were already wading through the hot'n'sweaty crowd aiming for the front. I was happy with my afore-mentioned spot (well, apart from the lack of speakerage!) and it was right about sunset when Thom and the lads from Oxford hit the stage with a rollicking rendition of "15 Steps" from last album "In Rainbows" (the entire album was played during the evening) and right into "OK Computer" opening track "Airbag", which went down a treat, followed by "There There" from "Hail To The Thief", pummelled along with percussion.

I must have seen Radiohead a good dozen times since the "OK Computer" tour back home in Auckland NZ in 1998, with highlights definitely being the shows at Red Rocks and Bonnaroo, where Justin and I had the pleasure of chatting with them briefly after the show, a couple of years after Neil Finn co-opted their rhythm section for his "7 Worlds Collide" concerts in 2001.

Thom was supposedly a tad under the weather - a "secret" concert scheduled the night before at the Chicago Theatre had to be cancelled - but this wasn't apparent from the energy and enthusiasm on display through the 2 dozen songs played over the course of 2 hours, with generous helpings from both "Kid A" and "OK Computer", culminating in the triple-whammy of "Optimistic", "2+2=5" and "Idioteque". Staggering show, pity about the speaker stacks...