King Crimson | Royal Albert Hall
Thrilled to be able to see King Crimson in concert at the Albert Hall this week. The last time I saw them was as a 4-piece back in 2000 at the Shepherd's Bush Empire.
Back then the line-up was Robert Fripp, Adrian Belew, Pat Mastelotto and Trey Gunn. These days they've expanded to a 7-piece, including no fewer than three drummers, who sit at the front of the stage! The back line is Mel Collins on sax, Tony Levin on bass, Jakko Jaksyk on guitar & vocals and Robert Fripp on guitar. The three drummers are Pat Mastelotto, Jeremy Stacey and Gavin Harrison.
Quite a wall of sound they can conjure up, particularly impressive given that three of them are in their 70s and two in their 60s.
Robert Fripp is notorious for being very strict about photography and filming in his gigs, and there were multiple notices in the venue saying photos were not allowed; there was even a loud recording played before they started to remind people not to use cameras until after the encore. Nevertheless I did see a few flashes go off during the evening - such a shame that in this day and age people simply can't control themselves and respect the not-unreasonable wishes of the performers.
I found no difficulty leaving my camera in my bag until after the blistering rendition of 21st Century Schizoid Man, when the band all got their cameras out and the house lights were turned up illuminating the audience. Only about 30s in which to grab pictures so I used my Fujinon 16-55mm lens to grab a couple of wide shots and then a slightly zoomed one of the stage. Not the greatest images in the world, but nice to be able to preserve the occasion nonetheless ...
King Crimson | Royal Albert Hall
Thrilled to be able to see King Crimson in concert at the Albert Hall this week. The last time I saw them was as a 4-piece back in 2000 at the Shepherd's Bush Empire.
Back then the line-up was Robert Fripp, Adrian Belew, Pat Mastelotto and Trey Gunn. These days they've expanded to a 7-piece, including no fewer than three drummers, who sit at the front of the stage! The back line is Mel Collins on sax, Tony Levin on bass, Jakko Jaksyk on guitar & vocals and Robert Fripp on guitar. The three drummers are Pat Mastelotto, Jeremy Stacey and Gavin Harrison.
Quite a wall of sound they can conjure up, particularly impressive given that three of them are in their 70s and two in their 60s.
Robert Fripp is notorious for being very strict about photography and filming in his gigs, and there were multiple notices in the venue saying photos were not allowed; there was even a loud recording played before they started to remind people not to use cameras until after the encore. Nevertheless I did see a few flashes go off during the evening - such a shame that in this day and age people simply can't control themselves and respect the not-unreasonable wishes of the performers.
I found no difficulty leaving my camera in my bag until after the blistering rendition of 21st Century Schizoid Man, when the band all got their cameras out and the house lights were turned up illuminating the audience. Only about 30s in which to grab pictures so I used my Fujinon 16-55mm lens to grab a couple of wide shots and then a slightly zoomed one of the stage. Not the greatest images in the world, but nice to be able to preserve the occasion nonetheless ...