King Crimson - 2003-11-08 Park West, Chicago, Illinois, First Performance (2003)

“Old men ROCK!” shouts out an enthusiastic member of the Park West audience just seconds before the band cut a rug through TCOL. Given the powerful, confident rendition with Mastelotto micro-managing the dynamics from the drumstool, our pal might just have a point. During a phenomenal Level Five Ade pulls off one of those mad scientist solos where notes do things they were surely never meant to do!

This is the first of two nights at Park West - a venue which the Crims had twice visited earlier in the year. Chicago and KC have always had a special relationship - Park West in particular. You get a sense of this bond when Ade introduces ProzaKC Blues.

FaKcts of Life is outstanding - taken as it is at a punishing, almost punky pace with TPTB II providing an ethereal but profoundly effective counterweight.

Gunn’s work is incisive as ever and it’s also interesting just how much the percussion interludes here provided by Pat add an eclectic spice to the dynamics and flow of the gig, with Happy being especially effective. The pair also lend a wonderful swing and swagger to LTIA IV.

Minor mishaps aside (Ade experiences some technical issues in Dinosaur and One Time), nine days into the Double Duo’s final tour, the band are generating an intense heat and firing on all cylinders.

Robert Fripp - Guitar
Adrian Belew - Guitar, Vocals
Pat Mastelotto - Electronic And Acoustic Drumming
Trey Gunn - Warr Guitar