rone | king crimson @ the warfield

After an invigorating meal at Henry's Hunan on Natoma, Kim and i headed to the Warfield, where we were each charged an arm and a leg for an 8oz cup of Anchor Steam and bottled water. Robert Fripp opened for the band with some Soundscapes (by this time, the air was lousy with smoke already; can't you fucking potheads just follow the goddamned rules for 3 hours?), and when the time came, the rest of the guys came out, Trey and Ade all in white, Pat and, of course, Robert all in black.

During the concert, i got a definite vibe from each of the players:

Ade: The mad scientist. The wispy hair (he seems to have lost a bit more since last i saw him), the crazed faces, the spastic motions.
Robert: The super villain. Always cool, calm, slick, and even his bursts of energy show a frightening efficiency and economy.
Trey: The suave secret agent. He was wearing a natty, almost Elijah Snow-esque suit, and defended his ground wielding two 'weapons' at a time.
Pat: The rebel, the anti-hero. He knows what needs to be done, and he's not too worried about making sure everyone's happy with it, so long as the important people are.

Set list:

The ConstruKction of Light* (Ade: "That's quite a mouthful!")
ProzaKc Blues
ElektriK
Facts of Life (Fripp goes 'fuckobazoo' on the solo)
The Power To Believe Part I
Level Five
Eyes Wide Open
The World's My Oyster Soup Kitchen Floor Wax Museum*
One Time (huge horns are inflated on stage; Ade: "And those are the small ones!")
Happy With What You Have To Be Happy With
The Power To Believe Part II
Dangerous Curves
Larks' Tongues In Aspic Part IV*

First Encore
The Deception Of The Thrush
Dinosaur

Second Encore
VROOOM*

* denotes songs where Trey played both Warr guitars at the same time, one strapped on, one laid flat on a stand. He played the first half of "Thrush" on the former, and the beautiful second half solo on the latter.

An incredible show. The sound, excepting the first minute or so of TCoL, was excellent. The light show was superb. Robert applauded us between encores. I didn't notice any flashes. We had seats in the middle of the balcony, near the rear, but it was perfect as we'd forgotten to bring earplugs, so the music's volume was barely excessive. I declined to purchase the Tour Box, as it's just an audio CD in a DVD case, and at $40, that's just too much.

Thanks, Crimso. See you next time.