TAKE A BOW

We’ve seen King Crimson, Haken, ELO, Pendragon, Riverside, ZIO, Caligula’s Horse and more…

It’s worth noting that, during its 108 years in existence and despite the venue’s reputation for Royal-approved variety, the London Palladium has seen its share of rock royalty tread the boards. Beatlemania took a hold in the early 60s, Johnny Cash recorded an unreleased live album there, Marvin Gaye recorded one that did get released, and onetime owner Val Parnell almost managed to persuade Elvis Presley to perform what would have been his only ever live shows outside of the United States.

More recently, rock, and specifically prog, has further upped the ante after decades of theatrical fare, with Yes, Dream Theater, Steve Hackett and Hawkwind all playing the Palladium in recent years with aplomb. Yet tonight, on the second of two nights for King Crimson, it’s isn’t just the band’s name that fits in with the regal past of the venue. One could argue that there is no better live rock band currently doing the rounds. Certainly not one that breaks the mould with three drummers, who then proceed to make a mockery of the complexity of much of the material they play for the next two and a half hours. Truly, they are the current progressive kings, and one hopes that the p-word-decrying Robert Fripp forgives us the imposition to call them that tonight.

Those three drummers – Gavin Harrison, Jeremy Stacey and Pat Mastelotto – get things going tonight, smiling, taking their seats and getting down to the business of striking up an early beat, before the remainder of the current Crimson line-up join them and the band ease into Larks Tongues In Aspic, Part One, a set staple since the seven-piece Crim-beast reared its head in 2014.

Interestingly, despite Gavin Harrison’s assertion last issue that Fripp could (and sometimes does) choose an entirely different set for consecutive nights, a large part of tonight’s set features familiar songs that have been staples of the band’s live shows for the past four years. That said, the set is largely different, certainly in terms of running order,

“SET TWO OFFERS FAR MORE ON THE NOSTALGIA FRONT, EVEN IF THE OLD IS ALWAYS LENT A NEWER TWIST.”