Release Date: Jan 20, 2015
Genre(s): Pop/Rock, Album Rock, Art Rock, Prog-Rock
Record label: Panegyric
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By all accounts, the somewhat unexpected 2014 King Crimson tour was a resounding success and Live at the Orpheum is the first offering for those who were unable to attend. The band had been reinvented with a combination of new and returning players and the set list consisted largely of tunes that hadn't been performed live since the '70s, if at all. The main wild card was the three-drummer front line, which easily could have turned into a mess, even without music as challenging as Crimson's.
Ever since Robert Fripp reneged on his half-ass promise at retirement, King Crimson fans have probably been wondering just who the next functioning band was going to be. Not that they weren’t prepared for a personnel shift. King Crimson devotees have been putting up with lineup changes for decades and musical weak links have proved difficult to come by.
This month sees King Crimson enter their 47th year of existence. Glance at the live ads in the mainstream music media, and you'll see that what was once the nostalgia circuit now makes up a sizeable proportion of all available gigs. As rock enters its autumn years, the refusal of the old guard to retire gracefully has all kinds of implications for modern music, psychologically as well as practically.
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