Adrian Belew, Tony Levin, Steve Vai and Danny Carey proved they had the BEAT at Humphrey’s Concerts By The Bay
On Tuesday September 17th the collective super group known as BEAT brought their virtuosic take on 1980’s era King Crimson to Humphrey’s Concerts by the Bay. BEAT is a band comprised of former King Crimson members Adrian Belew and Tony Levin, along with guitar wizard Steve Vai, and Tool drummer Danny Carey. The group came together to pay tribute to and creatively reimagine a trio of iconic King Crimson albums, namely Discipline (1981), Beat (1982), and Three of a Perfect Pair (1984).
This incredibly talented group of musicians have mastered their respective instruments and the concert experience proved superb. Every song in the set bounced with an infectious rhythm and energy. The intricate grooves and odd time signatures of the songs traded back and forth between each player with both Belew and Vai delivering incredible guitar solos, and Levin on multiple instruments like the unique Chapman Stick both laying down the low end and exchanging musical phrases back and forth with all the instruments. A monster on the drums as usual, Danny Carey had the appearance of some sort of great prog rock octopus, pounding his roto tom, octoban, and mandala pad drum set with primal power.
Definitely appealing to a very particular demographic, quite a few grey haired men in the audience accompanied the band, air-strumming and air-drumming through the cool night air at Humphrey’s on this evening. Some spouses couldn’t quite hide their boredom, letting loose a few yawns through the long and sprawling prog rock tracks. The sold out show packed a ton of King Crimson fans and as well as many fans of the individual musicians all around the intimate seaside venue, with their follow up November show already sold out. While not condoning scalpers’ prices, we would be remiss not to recommend that any prog rock fan or musician should pick up a ticket if given the chance; this tour is not to be missed!
To the casual fan of King Crimson with minimal knowledge of their later career, this concert proved an eye and ear opening experience to say the least. Lured to this concert through a love of Danny Carey’s drumming with Tool, a realization occurred hearing some of these tracks live for the first time: so many favorite musicians and bands hold this music as deep inspiration. Groups like Tool, Primus, Rush, The Flaming Lips, Dream Theater, and many others clearly owe a lot of their sound and energy to this unique sound. King Crimson helped define progressive rock and innovated some incredible trends, and seeing beloved musicians enjoying and celebrating their own influences on stage brought this message home in a most fantastic way. Not only an amazing live experience, this concert opened up a whole new area of music to explore, the best kind of show to experience as a music fan.
