Sunday, May 25, 2008

The Adrian Belew Power Trio Announce Major European Tour

Well, you know, I can't tag along on all of the tours but I did beg and plead for Canada so I'm in as far as that's concerned...but wouldn't you know it, a few days after I booked my flight comes news of a major European tour for the Adrian Belew Power Trio, beginning on October 15 through November 3, 2008.



Here is a partial list of the confirmed dates so far:

Oct 15 Budapest/Hungary
Oct 24 Woergl/Austria KOMMA
Oct 29 The Hague/NL PAARD VAN TROJE
Oct 31 Zuerich/CH MOODS IM SCHIFFBAU
Nov 01 Schwerin/G DER SPEICHER
Nov 02 Muenster/G HOTJAZZCLUB

Obviously there will be many more dates filled in, many more countries...arghh...have I mentioned I've lost so much weight recently I can now easily fold myself into a suitcase? Julie and Eric beware!

By the way, regarding the Canada dates, I saw over at DGM Live that a reader pointed out the California Guitar Trio will be joined on stage by 3/5 of the current King Crimson, i.e., Tony, Pat, and Ade. Actually, it's a little more than that. It's also Julie and Eric Slick, and the eight musicians are being billed as "Friends of King Crimson", opening for Primus on the huge stage on July 8 - here is the website but it's still mostly in French - it looks like it's half-completed and the English version will probably be up next week. What "Friends of King Crimson" amounts to is a thirty minute performance by the Adrian Belew Power Trio, a performance by the California Guitar Trio, and Tony Levin and Pat Mastelotto will join both the trio and CGT for a few songs...and then all eight musicians will jam together. So at one point the Adrian Belew Power Trio will be a double trio - Pat will do some electronics; Tony will be on stick...it is going to be freaking amazing and okay, okay, I'm suddenly not so sad about missing out on Europe after all.

And if you click on the link for Tony Levin, tell me I didn't get chills when I saw this in his blog:

"In July I will be at the Quebec Festival d'Ete - I'll come in a night early, to catch Adrian Belew's band, which I haven't seen live yet, and I hear they're great."


Yep, they are, Tony. They really, really are. And I promise not to act like deranged groupie Mom if and when our paths cross in Canada.

Actually, Eric and Julie made me promise that and as a life long fan it's going to be freaking impossible but okay, okay, I'll try. People always ask me if Julie and Eric had a strong musical upbringing. You think? One of the early concerts Gary and I took them to was Peter Gabriel/Tony Levin at the old Philadelphia Spectrum in 1993. Eric had just turned six; Julie was seven...and they were mesmerized. Eric was already busy mastering his first drum kit at that time; Julie was still focusing on drawing and painting - it would be four years later that she would pick up her first bass and after that, never looked back.

In case anyone is interested, strangely enough, Eric's first concert was Ringo Starr at age two -- it was an outdoor concert on a hot summer night; we had those dreaded lawn seats; Eric wore nothing but a tie-dye t-shirt and a diaper, and ran around from blanket to blanket flirting and dancing with "older women" who lavished all kinds of praise on him "Oh he's so adorable..."


(In this pic, we took them to see Stephen Stills play a gig called "Jam on the River" in Philadelphia which is why Julie is clutching a plastic lobster toy she insisted we buy her there. Eric's choice of souvenirs from that event was a really cool wooden slot drum which he still has and plays...in fact, he started beating it along with Stephen Stills at the concert and had a huge audience of dancing women around him within seconds...ha ha...some things never change)

Meanwhile, speaking of Eric, right now he's down in Asheville, North Carolina, performing at the Asheville Music Jamboree, or AmJam, with Delicious. (Wow...I just realized...they are one of the opening acts for Government Mule!) In typical Eric fashion, he played the Brighton Bar Friday night - Gary tagged along - the two of them got home at 2:00 a.m. Saturday and Gary had to turn right around and drive Eric to the airport for a 5:00 a.m. flight to North Carolina...he actually played last night at Stella Blue but bad blogger, I was too wiped out yesterday to post a heads up, but anyway, yeah, he's at AmJam today and then he's headed down to Casa Belew with Andre Cholmondeley on Tuesday where he will meet up with Julie to begin the ten day Adrian Belew Power Trio tour which kicks off at The Mercy Lounge in Nashville this Wednesday night, May 28.

So that's about it for now - I am going to make a fresh pot of coffee and see if I can wake Gary...it's a gorgeous, gorgeous day and I think we're going to spend it shopping for plants/flowers and filling our window boxes. Yeah!

Later,
xo

3 comments:

  1. Hi Rob,
    The "Friends of King Crimson" gig is going to be absolutely fucking awesome! This is certainly a treat, and a MUST SEE event!
    I cannot believe my luck - 4 out of my top 5 FAVOURITE ACTS all in one night!!!! Not only do I get to experience the ABPT live for the first time, but unbelievably I will also get to see TLev; P@ Mastelotto AND the CGT - live up close and personal, for the first time also!! You bet I am excited!!! I cannot wait to get on that plane, bound for Quebec City on July 6th!!!
    As for meeting Tony Levin - I can only dream that our paths may cross - and yes, as you mention, it would be pretty difficult to remain cool, calm and composed when introduced to this bass guitar god!!!
    I thought that Tony's comments regarding learning the difficult Trey Gunn/bass parts for the upcoming KC gigs were delightful - a true testament to this wonderful man's humble nature....
    Genuinely someone whom, as with Adrian Belew and yourself Rob, I would love to be able to sit and share a cup of coffee with, and absorb....
    Priceless!
    Looking forward to meeting you at the ABPT gig on July 6th Rob....
    Wendy

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  2. You crack me up. Oh yeah, so cool with, "So that's about it for now - I am going to make a fresh pot of coffee and..." AND WHAT?!! My gawd. You didn't just tell us that your busy day involved shopping around the clock, getting the hair and nails prettied, kid drop-off and pick-ups, making mochas for all the other stay-and-play moms or anything like that, oh no. Just an ordinary day in the life of Robin. No biggy. HA!

    Such exciting and slick news! And that picture of Julie and Eric! SO CUTE! I've seen the same look on Eric's face! How many years later now? WOW. That's a trip. Very, very cute, both of them. Quietly, ssshhh, so they don't hear me. I knew it! I knew they were hippie kids from the start! Great job Gary and Robin!!

    xoxo

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