Adrian Belew Power Trio - More More More From Chicago

More reviews are coming in from Chicago - may as well make this one a new post. It's written by Ramiro Rodriguez, am amazing artist who attended the show last night.


(Annunciation by Ramiro Rodriguez)

Adrian Belew’s Power Trio @ Martyrs, Chicago 3/6/08

My wife, L, and I set out for Chicago after an anticipation filled day at work and the settling in of the Little Rays with the sitter. On the way I tried to fill her in with the why this show would not be like the last Belew show we saw together when Adrian was touring with the “Mikes” - new band members, who are the Slicks, no rehearsal time, more jams, etc. I had brought along our camera in case it was allowed at Martyrs (it was) but decided to leave it in the car in order to better enjoy the music without added distractions. I also brought three little goodies along in hopes of giving the Trio a personal “Thank You”. (A BIG thanks to Robin for helping me sort out the appropriate selections – prints from my recent editions of small color relief prints.)

We made our way in the door to the venue and were greeted by Jill(?) the merchandise person for the gig and Andre, the road manager. I decided I already had all of what they had available at the merch table. Note to Ade – How about carting along some hard to find cds for us hardcore-must-have-everything-fans? I passed along the goodies I’d brought for the Trio to Andre and he assured me he’d get them to the band.

L and I settled in at the back bar and ordered a tasty veggie pizza and some drinks while we waited for the place to fill up. Michael found us and we all sat and ate together while discussing all things Belew/Crimson. I was surprised and thrilled to have Eric come up to us and thank me for the gift I had brought him. (Robin, I ended up giving him one of the ear prints, “Annunciation”). I told him it was my gift to him as a thanks for the wonderful music I listen to while working in my studio. Eric asked what else I listened to and I ran down a list of my faves. He thanked me again and headed off backstage. Nice young man. Later we saw Julie race by with her own little gift sticking out of her jacket pocket so I knew Andre was certainly a man of his word.

The Trio’s performance was spectacular. I have to agree with Michael that they have really grown into the material and are coming at things with fresh perspectives. L and I were set up in front of Eric with a pretty decent view of Adrian and Julie. There was a woman standing next to me who had mentioned to me that she had just come from purchasing her first drum kit. We admired Eric’s heavy duty compact ride cymbal and noticed that he was playing in his stocking feet. L and I were blown away by Eric’s powerful yet tasteful battery assault as he made giggle inducing faces (wish I had brought the camera in). Adrian was his usual amazing self – smiling, clowning, ripping it up and making it all look so effortless. What really got me again was Julie’s solid grounding of the band. Adrian and Eric get to make frenzied plays on the rhythms and tempos while Julie holds it down and keeps it all from careening off into uncontrolled territory. It’s an impressive feat.

Of course the inclusion of the three new numbers (“Neurotica”, “Modern Man Hurricane Blues” and the newly written “E”) to set list gives the show a more frenetic feel. Eric really cuts loose on MMHB. The looks of “what are you doing?” thrown in his direction from Julie were hilarious to watch (again, wish I had brought in the camera).

There were a few problems early on with a low end ring coming though but that was taken care of a couple of songs into the set. I also noticed that opening act, Saul, was supplying the back up vocals this time around. I really like the new song, “E” but it does sound very much like “Beat Box Guitar” to me. I’ll be anxious to see how the new material develops as well as how the set grows with the extended improv/jams.

We weren’t able to stay for the customary meet and greet. However, the energy of the gig carried our tired bodies on the long drive back home.

The set list as I remember it went something like this:
Writing on the Wall
Dinosaur
&
Young Lions
Beat Box Guitar
Matchless Man
A Little Madness
Drive (including Within You, Without You)
E
Neurotica
Of Bow and Drum
Big Electric Cat
3 of a Perfect Pair
Thela
Modern Man Hurricane Blues

Adrian Belew Power Trio - Chicago and More

It is still early morning in Chicago and I am positive I will be coming back here all throughout the day to post reviews and photos, etc., but for now, here is the first comment, courtesy of the Planet Crimson forum board:

ETA: If you have already swung by my blog early this morning I just added a huge fantastic review of last night's show at Martyrs Live toward the end of this post at 8:00 a.m. so make sure you scroll down.

Okay, back to the first comment to appear over at Planet Crimson:

"You know how in the summer of '06 those of us in Chicago went on and on about how great the Trio is?

Tonight they were better. Seriously better. Last time the Slicks impressed with their ability to play like Tony + Bill. Tonight I found they had moved into their own style, able to improvise with Ade at every turn, sometimes even leading him. They're all over those intruments. And of course, Adrian was Adrian ....

Oh, by the way, they did "Neorotica". It killed."

Holy crap - just as I was typing that, my Google alert thing went off -- the trio got a blurb in today's Boston Globe!



"CLIMBING TO A HIGHER ROCK"

"The story of the Adrian Belew Power Trio, which will perform Sunday at The Center for the Arts in Natick, is a real-life rock 'n' roll fairy tale. So that makes maverick, super-cool, mind-and-string-bending guitarist Adrian Belew (of King Crimson, David Bowie, Talking Heads, and Frank Zappa fame), well, sort of the fairy godmother.

In 2006, Belew stopped in at the Paul Green School of Rock in Philadelphia. There he met two teenagers, bassist Julie Slick, now 21, and drummer Eric Slick, now 20. The siblings had been jamming with Green since their grade-school days (that is, since Green started the school in his apartment as a way to pay his tuition).

Belew was impressed, and though he surely could have had his pick of big-industry names, he joined with the Slicks to form the trio. They've been on the road delivering mind-searingly virtuosic rock ever since. New tunes, Crimson favorites, and Belew's solo work all make the play list.

The Adrian Belew Power Trio, 8 p.m. Sunday, TCAN, 14 Summer St., Natick. Tickets: $37; or $35 for students and seniors. Call 508-647-0097 or visit www.natickarts.org.

Okay, heart be still, because Google Alerts also just told me that apparently Eric Slick gave an interview to the Daily News in Massachusetts:



POWER PLAYER
By David Riley/DAILY NEWS STAFF

"With David Byrne's neurotic vocals and a blend of bouncing funk, punk and fractured pop, Talking Heads was an unusual band from the start.

But three minutes into their fourth studio album, 1980's "Remain In Light," in tumbled a guitar solo that pushed the boundaries of their sound. Its scattershot bleeps, bloops and bending notes sounded more like Pac Man in the throes of a seizure than any six-string instrument.

Even a listener familiar with the band had to sit up and wonder: What the heck was that?

It wasn't a video game on the fritz, but Adrian Belew, whose squawks and squeals, abstract textures and intricately plucked patterns have defied the limits of guitar music for more than three decades. He got his first big break touring with Frank Zappa in 1977, became front man for progressive rock giants King Crimson, and has played with everyone from David Bowie to Paul Simon to Nine Inch Nails to Cyndi Lauper.

Soon, Belew will add Natick to the long list of places he's toured. His latest project, the Adrian Belew Power Trio - featuring young brother and sister Eric and Julie Slick on drums and bass - stops at the Center for Arts in Natick on Sunday, March 9, during a month-long national tour in support of their new live album, "Side Four."

"I get to play with my hero," Eric Slick, 20, said in a phone interview. "I've been listening to Adrian since I was about 11 years old and I heard a cassette tape of King Crimson's 'Frame by Frame."'

For the most part, the trio is playing a showcase of Belew's work, with about two-thirds of the songs pulled from his solo albums. Much of the rest of their set is made up of King Crimson songs from the '80s and later, Slick said.

But the trio is exploring new territory of its own, debuting an original song, "e," live during the tour. While the songs pull from Belew's catalog, the shows aren't rote performances, but three musicians reacting and playing off one another.

"It's coming from a place that's very personal and fun and playful. We're having fun on stage. You don't see that much these days," Slick said.

"We're having a ball. We're collectively improvising and really striving to do something musically adventurous."

Despite his influence in the music world, Belew is far from a pampered rock God - his near-hit "Oh Daddy" in 1989 featured his daughter wondering when he'd finally strike it rich. The Power Trio is traversing the country not in a private jet or giant tour bus, but in a Dodge Caravan, Slick said. Belew and his wife, Martha, share duties at the wheel.

Though they have performed together since 2006, this is the trio's first long tour together. They first met while Belew was visiting the School of Rock in Philadelphia to advise students, and the owner urged him to jam with two of his former students - Eric and Julie.

"I was freaked," Slick said. "I was very nervous. I still get nervous, but I was very nervous before that happened. It's something out of a book. Opportunities like that don't really come along ever."

Before long, the trio performed together in New York, and Belew invited the siblings to his studio outside Nashville to start learning songs, Slick said.

Slick said he and his sister have been musically inclined since the beginning, using a microphone and two boomboxes to record songs in their Philadelphia living room. "I started playing percussion when I was about 2 years old. She would just kind of sing along," he said. "We would sing songs about how much we loved our mom."

Though Slick said he listens to bands like Dirty Projectors and Animal Collective, his views seem well-paired with Belew, who laments in a video on his Web site that so much modern music is "fashionable crap dressed as artistry."

"I try and stay current with new music, but a lot of it, I can't really tolerate it," said Slick, who spent much of his teenage years exploring classic rock and bands like The Flaming Lips. Now he's often occupied with Igor Stravinsky and Charles Mingus.

The trio breaks away from that "highly choreographed" and "overly serious" music, Slick said. He said the band shares a special, sophisticated sense of communication on stage, and they're working hard. But above all, they're having fun.

"I think what we're doing is very unique and very different," Slick said. "There's a lot of soul in our show."

Finally, I know this link was in my last post, but it's just so cool I don't want anyone to miss it. For some fantastic photographs of the trio, please visit Tour Bus Live and click on the ticket stub. Really great stuff!

ETA: This review just in from Pete in Chicago and I am laughing my ass off in between being thrilled. Why? Over that mailman remark...read it...you'll see what I mean:

"Wow. This was the first time we caught the Power Trio. Due to a bad series of fates in 2006 we missed the first leg of the tour in Chicago. We did see the first side of this tour in 05 with Mike and Mike backing him up at the Naperville "RIBFEST" . but boy we were in for a surprise tonight. Not only has Mr. Belew beefed up his arsenal of effect processers, his fellow band mates have pushed the live Adrian Belew experience beyond the perception of what an intense show would normally have to offer.

Julie and Eric have propelled Adrian's live performance into a space rarely achieved in the status quo of ho hum pose laden rock shows. There is plenty of room to breathe if you can count into the one hundredth of a thousandth of a millisecond. Eric laid down a powerful nuclear clock synchronized mean time beat, only to be rivaled by his big sisters tapestry of hand spun low frequencies that would make a certain Claypool ponder, "How did that happen again?"

Seriously jeopardizing my normal amazement of Adrian's fret work, my attention was immediately pulled to Julie's nonchalant "i didn't even realize I just played 60 notes in 8 seconds" approach to playing the bass guitar.

Seriously, his fellow stage mates have not only pushed him, they definitely have inspired him, as demonstrated in the jaw-dropping rendition of "E", a yet to be released gem that sprouted from these sessions. Now more than ever some of his wacky stage antics like playing over loops and multiple loop overdubs make an impression that these tricks are old hat to this ridiculously symbiotic trio, almost to the point of questioning if perhaps a certain twang bar king had perhaps moonlighted as a mailman some 23 years ago in whatever town the Slick kids have called home.

I did get a chance to talk to Eric after the show. He had a set of castinets, and was clickety clacking them in an ordinary fashion going on about them. "What about in 7/8?" I asked him. He closed his eyes, tapped it out and did it.

Julie was very humble and down to earth, acting like I was exaggerating when I couldn't stop bringing up how great she can play the bass. She told me a story about Jeff Beck's bass player saying "I am not Julie Slick" when questioned after a show! "Heh," she said.

Adrian will have them play on his new solo album, but probably not all of it, (solo album), either way I cant wait to hear a new one. It is so exciting to see him always end up working with such talented folks, and these guys are cutting their teeth with him, but they dont sound young at all, they just have a really clean soul and can play like you wouldn't fucking believe.

Adrian's set up was one of the largest most disgusting displays of guitar effects he has been seen with in a while. He has a whole new section for the foot pedal that controls the vg-99 ,(Roland's sickest guitar thingy ever) only to be topped by the new eventide delay box, a boomerang, some boutique fuzzes, compressors, synth, dual fade pedals, chopper, j.h pedal, the list goes on. I got some nice pics which I shall post soon, it's late so thanks for reading all of this.

It always strikes me how much of a gentleman he is after the show. Imean a lot of folks that are that talented don't seem to have any time for the common man, much to say take a picture with him. I think that is the best part of Adrian Belew's character. I mean, you can even read his signature! How many rock stars can you say
that about?

Bottom line, if you don't have "Side Four" yet, get it, and if you have ANY possible way to catch this tour, don't miss it, it's a truly new take on an artist's work that is even more unique."


Later, I am sure.

xo

Adrian Belew Power Trio - More From the Tour

ETA: Oh wow - this is amazing. Tour Bus Live posted amazing photos of the Adrian Belew Power Trio in San Juan last week. Clicking on that link is a must! (Start by clicking on the ticket stub and click away after that...there are tons and tons of amazing photos)

You know, when I find something that cool, I can't wait to post it. And here's an article which was just published in the Cleveland Scene, where the Adrian Belew Power Trio will be performing Friday night:

Guitar legend Adrian Belew gigs with kids half his age, tries to keep up
By Mark Wedel
Published: March 5, 2008



"Adrian Belew recently celebrated his 30th anniversary as a professional musician. In 1977, Frank Zappa pulled the guitarist out of Kentucky club hell and cast him as an auxiliary musician who would join him onstage as performer or visual punch line. Sometimes Belew would wear a military uniform; other times he'd don a dress, like the one he sports in Zappa's 1979 concert film, Baby Snakes.

"It was OK — my legs are not embarrassing," laughs Belew. "It could've been worse. It could've been a bikini."

These days, Belew fronts a trio made up of 20-year-old drummer Eric Slick and Eric's 21-year-old bass-playing sister, Julie. Belew swears he has no intention of humiliating the kids onstage, as Zappa did to him years ago. Then again, Zappa taught him a valuable lesson in showmanship, he says.

Since those dress-wearing days, the 59-year-old guitarist has gigged with everyone from David Bowie to Talking Heads to Nine Inch Nails. He even fronted veteran prog-rockers King Crimson for a spell in the early '80s.

Belew's latest project features a pair of Philadelphia siblings who still live with their parents. They've been wowing audiences together since 2006. "The old guy in the middle isn't that bad either," jokes Belew, who met the Slicks after he participated in a Paul Green School of Rock Music program. The kids' father gave his children instruments a decade ago and pointed them toward his vinyl record collection, which featured more than 5,000 LPs — including albums by Zappa, King Crimson, and a solo Belew.

The sibs performed some Zappa tunes for Belew at their first meeting, "And that was it," says the guitar legend. "Something magical was there." Belew's old boss, King Crimson's Robert Fripp, dubbed Belew's new group "the trio of terror." "It isn't that we terrorize people," clarifies Belew. "It's that we surprise them with our intensity and power. They're so good at it. They sound like 50-year-old musicians. But they're so energetic. You can't get that out of a 50-year-old."

Belew should know — he's been trying to jump-start a power trio for most of the '00s. He didn't want to be in front of yet another group of solid but faceless backing musicians; he was dying to be part of an actual band made up of three distinct voices. Les Claypool and Tool's Danny Carey joined Belew on his 2005 CD, Side One, but they weren't about to leave their careers to join him full-time. Belew then tried working with jazz vets Mike Gallagher and Mike Hodges, but the fiftysomething musicians came to the conclusion that no one really had the initiative to commit to a permanent project.

It all came down to age. Old folks get set in their ways, become jaded, and have super-huge egos. The youthful Slicks, on the other hand, were eager to try anything Belew threw at them. "I can tell Eric, 'Tonight, you've got to play on bongos,'" says Belew. "But they aren't kids to me. They're very smart, gifted people, and very responsible."

Last year's Side Four Live caps Belew's Side series, which he's been working on since 2005. It features the trio performing cover versions of old Belew and King Crimson tunes. Taken together, the quartet of guitar-heavy and experimental CDs "represents all the stuff that has gone through my head in the last five years," says Belew.

But don't call it prog-rock; Belew has never been comfortable with that label. He thinks it's an old-fashioned tag that conjures images of cluttered '70s concept albums about dancing unicorns and malicious gnomes. He prefers to call his new trio's material "modern music." "One of the things that I picked up from people like Frank Zappa or Robert Fripp or David Bowie is that, if you can possibly form your own little corner of the world, that's the best way that you can go," he says. "Because you are the only person who has it."

The kids have sparked Belew, who has been plotting a new version of King Crimson with Fripp, bassist Tony Levin, and drummers Pat Mastelotto and Gavin Harrison, the latter a member of alt-prog combo Porcupine Tree. After Belew wraps his current tour, he'll join up with his old pals for a couple of high-profile gigs this summer. He also contributed guitar noises for something Trent Reznor put together late last year. Belew — who played on Nine Inch Nails' The Downward Spiral and The Fragile albums — is coy about the project. Or maybe he just doesn't have a clue about it. "[Reznor] was very secretive about what it was going to be," says Belew. "I didn't press him on it."

Belew says performing with people half his age "rejuvenates" him. At first, he feared "it would sound silly and look silly." But the guitarist recalls a time 30 years ago when Zappa lifted him out of obscurity, put him in a dress, and launched a career that's been exploring music's many different shades ever since. "I have a debt to Frank Zappa for discovering me and putting up with me for a year," he says. Now Belew is in position to be that "someone who believes in you." And he's relishing every minute of it."

Adrian Belew Power Trio: Chicago

So tonight's Adrian Belew Power Trio show in Chicago at Martyrs Live should really be something.

For one thing, I know representatives from Lakland Bass, who endorse Julie Slick, and Parker Guitars, who endorse Adrian, will be there this evening, and according to the Parker Guitar forum board, they will be filming tonight.

Also, I know some fans from the Planet Crimson forum board will be there as well, and I am expecting reviews, people!

Here's a wild man photo of Eric Slick taken this past weekend in Colorado, sent to me by tour manager and all around great guy, Andre Cholmondeley:



In other news, thank you to Dan Gross of the Philadelphia Daily News, for giving the trio this shout out in his column today:

"Fairmount natives and Masterman grads Eric and Julie Slick will be back in town March 12, when they'll perform as two-thirds of the Adrian Belew Power Trio at World Cafe Live (3025 Walnut).

Eric, 20, and Julie, 22, were two of Paul Green's first graduates in 1998, and have been the drummer and bassist of the prog-rock guitarist's group since 2006, recently recording "Side Four Live" with Belew, who played in King Crimson, as well as Tin Machine, with David Bowie."

Very cool but I'm not quite sure where Dan got the "Tin Machine" thing from...Adrian was not in that band but did play with Frank Zappa, The Talking Heads, Tori Amos, Nine Inch Nails...

Oh man, speaking of Nine Inch Nails, how about their new release featuring Mr. Belew on guitar? So many people went to their website to purchase the music this week that their server crashed! Everywhere I go on the web, the remarks are the same:

"The album features Adrian Belew who played on The Downward Spiral. Belew is famous for being a member of King Krimson and for playing with David Bowie (on Lodger and various live tours). I saw Belew at the Corner Hotel during his first solo tour of Australia in 2006. His guitar work and songwriting are amazing..."

"...while listening to some of Adrien Belew's fan-FUCKING-TASTIC playing on the new NiN album."

And so on...there are way too many articles to copy here...but if you hit google, WOW!

Here's a review from the Adrian Belew Power Trio show in Wisconsin last night - sorry, I was a slacker and let that slip yesterday with no blog post but I've been working on a top secret project of my own...which I will now zip my lip over due to the jinx factor....

"We saw Adrian Belew at Shank Hall tonight. Fun show.

Adrian is a guitar guy. Innovative and fun loving. He's a member of King Crimson, and plays with a lot of people. This time out, he's doing the Adrian Belew Power Trio. It's him with bassist Julie Slick and drummer Eric Slick. They're brother and sister, she's 22 and he's 20. They've been playing with Belew for a couple of years. Here's a bit of history: Julie Slick began taking bass lessons at age twelve at the Paul Green School of Rock as one of seventeen students Paul Green taught in his apartment in 1998 in order to help pay his tuition at the University of Pennsylvania, where he was a philosophy major. Green had the students jam at venues around the city to give them real experience as musicians. For their first show, Green and his students performed Pink Floyd's The Wall at the Griffin Cafe in Philadelphia, PA. He didn't have a drummer so the owner of the restaurant sat in. Julie’s mother, Robin, suggested that Green consider her 11-year-old son, Eric Slick, who eventually became the house drummer. The Paul Green School of Rock was later born. Eric began studying drum lessons at the school and now teaches there.

Eric is pretty damn good. Adrian seemed to enjoy working with him, since he usually faced Eric, and interacted with him a lot. He only occasionally interacted with Julie. Julie and Eric, however, interacted with each other a lot. It was fun to watch the signals back and forth behind Adrian's back. Like the time Eric tricked Julie with a fake cue. She was like, thanks a lot! He was laughing his ass off. Julie was pretty damn good too. She doesn't look like a rock star, with her skirt and sweater (and bare feet), but man can she play. It was kinda wild watching these kids playing Bruford and Levin.

Adrian was having a good time. He could hardly contain himself during the first few songs. He's a madman. He actually kinda devolved into wankery a few times, but he was having fun. Most of the songs they played were either Crimson or from his latest Side albums. My favorite song of the night was "Three of a perfect Pair." Smokin! (Hey, you can hear it here, for a little bit: www.adrianbelew.net"

Anyway, that's it for now. Must return to said top secret project. Oh. One final thing. You'll see the label for this post is "Chicago, Chicago, that toddling town." I just had a hilarious childhood memory flashback. When I was six years old, I thought I could sing -- I would sadly later find out this was not only untrue, but that my voice in song has been known to make grown people flee from the room and head for the toilet, or, at the very least, cause Julie and/or Eric to bang me on the top of the head, hard, from the backseat of our car whenever I attempt to join in with a CD-- anyway, yeah, back then I thought I had a really great voice and therefore prepared a "smoking" (ha) version of Chicago, That Toddling Town, a big hit by Tony Bennett, for my first grade talent show. I wore a red and white striped dress with a huge fluffy petticoat underneath, a straw hat, and for some unknown reason, I had one of those canes vaudeville players carried as props - you know, the ones you used to be able to win at carnivals back when the world was sweet and innocent. Anyway, I remember very little about my youth, but oh how I remember belting out that song with my hat and cane and the subsequent appalled expression of not only my teacher but of thirty other six year olds who then broke out into evil and uncontrolled laughter. Oh the horror!

Here are the actual lyrics to Chicago:

Chicago, Chicago, that toddlin' town
Chicago, Chicago, I'll show you around
Bet your bottom dollar you'll lose the blues in Chicago
Chicago, the town that Billy Sunday could not shut down

On State Street, that great street
I just want to say
They do things that they don't do on Broadway, say

They have the time, the time of their life
I saw a man, he danced with his wife
In Chicago, my home town

They have the time, the time of their life
I saw a man, he danced with his wife
In Chicago
In Chicago
In Chicago

Yeah, I actually sung that. And my only question back then...and I remember this clearly...was who the hell is Billy Sunday?

After all these years, I still have no idea (though it is hilarious that I innocently sang those words at age six without having a clue as to what any of them meant) so I just googled it. Apparently Billy Sunday was an evangelist who tried to butt heads with Al Capone. Ha!

Anyway, that experience scarred me for life and it would be years before I would ever attempt to sing in public again.

Erm...that would be when I was in my teens and started studying guitar. One of the first songs I taught myself was Arlo Guthrie's Coming Into Los Angeles which I naturally would scream at the top of my lungs, especially the chorus because yeah, yeah, I sure as hell knew what those words meant.

And no, I do not have photographs of either performance, damn it.

Okay, I am out of here but as always, will be back with any breaking news...

Later,
xo

Did I say I was worred about rock slides?

Ahem. Did I say I was worried about rock slides in Colorado? Did I actually make cracks about what else could possibly happen? Unfortunately, this morning I would learn exactly what could...and did...occur, when I innocently asked Eric how the Aspen show was last night. And by the way, don't look so innocent in this photo, Ade and Eric (I guess this pic of Adrian Belew and Eric Slick was taken by Ms. Julie Slick in Aspen to celebrate the fact that they are still alive)...it's a good thing I didn't know about this yesterday or I would never have been able to sleep!



ETA: Wow. Someone just posted this You Tube of the trio from Solana Beach last week. The energy in it is amazing - you can really hear the whole audience singing along and it's a blast.



So as I was saying, I talked to Eric today and made the mistake of asking him how he was doing. And please pardon all of my "Oh God" responses because I have to stay true to the story and "Oh God" was all I could say while my I clutched my heart all white-knuckled.

"Hey, good morning, Eric! How's it going? How was the show last night?"

"We're lucky to be alive after yesterday."

"Huh?"

"Yeah. I'm serious."

"Oh my God - what happened?"

"On the way to the gig, a giant piece of sheet metal fell off of a truck in front of us going 80 MPH."

"Oh my God!"

"Luckily, it went directly underneath our car...but if it had bounced..."

"What?"

"We'd be dead."

"OH MY GOD!"

"So we go to show," he continues. "We play the show way late and shorten the set a little bit..."

"And?"

"Then we decided to drive to the next gig in Boulder because there was supposed to be a blizzard. What we didn't know is that we had to drive through Vail Pass to get there."

"And what is Vail Pass?" I asked nervously.

"Look it up."

I race to Google but of course I spell it wrong and get veiled pass which leads me to a porn site because I'm not paying attention and still busy shaking over flying sheet metal and near death experiences.

Not to mention rock slides.

But I find it soon enough.

"Oh God. The highest, snowiest, iciest point in the State of Colorado?"

"Yeah. I was sleeping at the beginning of our drive...then I woke up...and..."

"And?"

"I woke up just as a tractor trailer was spinning out of control and sparking in front of us."

"Oh my God, you are killing me! So then what?"

"We made it."

Okay. Deep breaths. Time to regroup and not think about this.

"What a relief. Jesus."

"Anyway, the show last night was great. There was an oxygen tank backstage. So we all have pictures of us hitting oxygen."

"What???"

"I needed it. The elevation was so damn high."

"I need them! The pictures, I mean!"

"Ha! I'll send them to you when I get to Boulder."

"Oh wow, so you didn't make it to Boulder last night after all?"

"No, only half way."

"Holy crap. Do you have to drive in a blizzard now?"

"Yeah, but it's day time. It won't be as bad. We aren't far from Boulder now. Okay, gotta go. Talk to you later."

Not as bad? Erm...I just talked to Eric again a few minutes ago -- three hours after that conversation, they are still driving in some serious snow. Yikes. Excuse me while I go have a shot of brandy and go hug Gary and the dog for comfort.

I'll post the oxygen pics when he sends them.

Oy.

Later,
xo

The Adrian Belew Power Trio: Rock Slide!

I don't know how the Adrian Belew Power Trio show went last night in Aspen, but I do know about certain craziness leading up to the concert so I can just imagine how the rest of the evening turned out. No worries - I'm sure whatever happened they made the best of it and probably had a good laugh as well.



The first thing to occur was late morning, New Mexico time, when I got a phone call from Eric.

"Hey, could you do us a favor? Our GPS system went down and we've got a six hour drive to Aspen, Colorado. Can you go to traffic.com and at least get us some initial directions? Pick the option that says fastest route."

"Okay," I said, frantically typing in locations. Holy crap. There were fifteen different steps and over 300 miles. I got the brilliant idea, after Eric tried writing all this stuff down, to email the directions to his cell phone.

Everything was going fine until they hit four feet of snow and they learned the main drag supplied to us by the evil traffic.com was only open between Memorial Day and Labor Day due to said copious amounts of snow which naturally traffic.com neglected to mention.

I swear, both Mapquest and Traffic.com are the tools of Satan! The last time I used Mapquest, Gary, who has built in radar in his body and doesn't even usually need directions, ended up with me in some bumfuck town in Connecticut instead of Vermont where we were headed because when Mapquest told us to get off the road at Exit 80, they left out one important detail: they meant Exit 80 in Vermont, not the one which pops up first on the very same road in Connecticut.

But I digress...

Despite the devil that is traffic.com, our heroes prevailed, bought a road atlas, the GPS system was restored, and they were safely on their way albeit not in time for sound check though as fate would have it, sound check appeared to be out of the question, anyway.

Because tour manager Andre Cholmondeley and engineer extraordinaire John Sinks, traveling separately in a cargo van containing all of the band's equipment, were not s fortunate as Ade, Julie and Eric. Nope, Andre and John were involved in a rock slide and while luckily unharmed, they ended up with two flat tires and possible axle damage on a snowy mountain road.

Yes, a rock slide. So far this band has been involved in an earthquake, a typhoon, a blizzard, and while I nervously joked "What's next, an erupting volcano?" a rock slide never even entered my mind.

But then again, why would it. A fucking rock slide. Though I can only guess where my imagination will lead me now.

So anyway, the gear had to be placed on a flatbed truck and towed. I think that's what happened, anyway. My phone call with Eric was brief though hilarious -- Eric was actually in a good head, even telling me that the prior evening's Santa Fe show was a blast despite the fact that he had no drum rug and all of his equipment kept sliding across the stage.

Ah, the life of touring musicians.

There's another piece to this story which I hope turns out okay - I'll have to let you know once I talk to someone, but not only would they have no sound check, the Belly Up in Aspen has a 10:00 p.m. curfew and the room had to be completely cleared out by that time. That totally freaked me out -- isn't Aspen a party town teeming with celebrities? Why the curfew? Was the club in a residential, exclusive neighborhood? Ah...God bless the internet - it took me all of five seconds to find out why. At 10:00 p.m. the club goes disco, with dancing and a d.j. Bleh! I felt immediately bad for the fans in attendance because that had to mean Adrian, Julie and Eric didn't get to do their usual meet and greet after the show where they always hang out a minimum of one hour talking to fans, taking pictures, autographing CDs, posters, and t-shirts...I wonder if they found another place to move the "party" or the band simply headed back to the hotel, where, it's my guess, after a day of driving and what had to be at least a modicum of stress, even for a band as loose and carefree as this one, they either hit the hotel bar hard or went to their respective rooms and were sound sleep by midnight.

I know I'm a bad mom but I hope they got to hang in the bar. I mean, hang with fans. Ha!

Anyway, here's some more fun photos from sound check at Phoenix, Arizona, sent to me by Joel Klein, who is also responsible for the pic of the trio I posted above.

The very last one features Julie, Eric, and promoter Danny Zelisko, who may have something VERY SPECIAL planned for the trio this December...but I'm not allowed to say anything yet.













Anyway, that's it for now. I'm still hoping for some reviews from New Mexico and Aspen and if I find any, I will come in and add them to this post..but in the meantime, if you are in the Boulder, Colorado area, you can catch the trio tonight at the Fox Theatre.

Later,
xo

Adrian Belew Power Trio: Colorado

So this weekend the Adrian Belew Power Trio hits Colorado for the first time, with a show tonight in Aspen at the Belly Up (and that's a very cool link to click on) and tomorrow night in Boulder, Colorado at the Fox Theatre.

Here's an article about the trio that appears in the Boulder Weekly:


(Yet another brilliant Burton Lo shot of Julie Slick)

The lone rhino talks that trash
Adrian Belew has been integral in shaping the past 30 years of rock, and it looks like he has 30 more left in him
by Dave Kirby

"Publicists typically schedule their touring clients’ interviews before the artist is actually on the road, under the assumption that they’re more relaxed at home and not dealing with hotel room phone systems, missed airline connections, trying to find a bite to eat or finding the venue in time to do a rushed sound check.

But it’s Saturday morning, two days before he gets on an airplane, and Adrian Belew, at his home outside Nashville, is too busy to talk… at least, at the appointed time for his Boulder Weekly interview.

“Can you call back in… I dunno, 10 minutes. I’m kind of tied up… but I’ll be free shortly.”

We give him 20, call back, and the guy is off like a rocket.

Working on the guitar rig? We saw something on the blog about that being a project…

“Heh, no. The rig is finished and it’s already shipped off. No, there’s just a million things to do before I head out — household stuff, do a little pre-blogging…”

Hey, isn’t that cheating?

“No, we do a download thing once a week out at the website, just rarities and odds-n-ends, and I don't want people to freak out if I miss one.”

Fair enough. Belew is a guy who you sense has a deep and abiding connection with his fans, and why not? Some of them extend back to the late 1970s when Belew, a quirky and energetic singer and a guitarist of uniquely angular ambition, first emerged as a curious presence straddling the post-new wave and alt-fringe rock circuit. Debuting on the big stage as a Zappa sideman in 1977, his grinding, screeching, tweeter ripping guitar formulations became a much sought-after elixir on records by the Talking Heads, David Bowie, Laurie Anderson and others.

As a producer, he demonstrated a keen ear for pitting texture against lyric, big sounds against small, the artist as provocateur of blue-noise chaos, sometimes its prey. As a solo artist, he modulated between Beatle-esque song economy, frequently dressed with bewildering sonic eccentricities, and flat-out experimental excursions into guitar technology.

And, of course, he wound up being the front man for one of progressive rock’s most revered and surprisingly resurrected franchises, King Crimson.

But there was time yet to get with the past, never a working musician’s favorite subject. He was buzzing on the upcoming tour with his Power Trio, with siblings Eric and Julie Slick, the former on drums and the latter on bass guitar.

“I am so excited by this band. Here’s the thing — four or five years ago, if you had told me that I’d be in a power trio thing, I wouldn’t have believed you. But the amount of energy and power that comes out of this group is just unbelievable. It’s really put the fire back into this material, and back into me.

“The show is a sort of a grand sweep of stuff — half a dozen Crimson songs, various stuff from my solo records. I do have some new material, but I’m not sure how much of it is really ready for the stage yet — things we’re still working on. Not sure if we’ll be playing them, but you never know.”

Belew says the group came about a bit by accident.

“Paul Green, who founded the Original School Of Rock in Philadelphia, asked me to come and be a guest professor. While I was there, he said, ‘I want you to meet my two best graduates, Eric and Julie Slick.’ These kids had grown up together with a dad who had something like 5,000 albums, and they just learned everything — King Crimson, Zappa, the Heads, and as it turns out, pretty much everything from my own solo career.

“So, I said sure, let’s play something. We tried an old Zappa tune, and they were completely on it. Knew every break and nuance. It was uncanny.”

Belew toured with the Slicks last year and recently released Side Four, a live document of the band in action in Cincinnati last February.

“It’s just such a wonderful feeling playing with these two. They’re so eager and so grateful to be up there playing this stuff… none of this jaded attitude, ‘Hey I got a mortgage to pay.’ None of that. This is pure fun. They’re in it for the music.

“It’s made me a better player. We include a fair amount of improvisation and no matter how far out there we get, they always come back together at the same time. They have this…”

Sibling telepathy?

“Yeah, that weird thing that some siblings have, like they always know what the other one is thinking. I mean, they’ve been playing together their whole lives.”

Scary thing though, isn’t it? The power trio has always placed a huge burden on the guitarist, carrying harmony and melody, setting the pace and textural profile, especially for a guy who’s standing in front of Robert Fripp for two and a half decades.

“No, it’s the just the opposite. I feel like it’s very liberating. It allows me to explore the songs a little more, take them places they couldn’t go otherwise.

“Stuff like ‘Dinosaur’ or ‘Three of a Perfect Pair,’ that’s material that wasn’t originally arranged for a trio, it was two guitars. Playing them on just one really opens them up.”

We asked Belew about a little video biography he has posted on his website, a self-narrated tour through his past and the vast associations (he’s played on over 150 albums) he’s enjoyed the past three decades. We enjoyed it — it was funny, proud without boasting, succinct and chock full of terrific images.

“Yeah, we did that a couple of years ago. I just thought I wanted something out there for those people who hadn’t heard of me… or who had but weren’t aware of all the things I had done. It was a fun little exercise. It made me go through a lot of archive stuff, a lot of stuff I had forgotten about or forgot I even had.”

We thought we’d throw out a name. Talking Heads.

“Yeah, I worked on Remain In Light, with Brian Eno. Then I went on to produce The Catherine Wheel, David Byrne’s solo record, and a couple of solo records by Jerry Harrison.

“The really odd thing was The Tom Tom Club. Chris [Franz] and Tina [Weymouth] invited me to their place in the Bahamas, just to play a few songs and have some fun. We never really intended to make an album, but then they put it out and it turned into this huge hit. We were totally caught off guard by it.”

But by far Belew’s best known association is as singer and guitarist for King Crimson — crafter of words and right-brain alchemist subversive to Robert Fripp’s merciless left-brain metronomic.

Fripp brought Belew onboard for a reformulation of the band in 1981 — a second guitarist, gasped the skeptical old guard — and Discipline (with its signature “Elephant Talk”), and its follow-ups suddenly re-animated the band, extending its life well into the new century. Belew’s manic, avant-informed lyrics and tortured guitar figures washed over Fripp’s meticulous guitar lines and arrangements like churning lava over a steam grate.

“When I started out as a musician, I guess I figured I would write some songs and just get a few on the radio, if I was lucky. But to me, the height of the rock thing was King Crimson, you just didn’t get any higher than that. And there I was, actually playing in King Crimson. I mean, I know how I got there, but it was a realization that I had come very far from where I thought I would end up. I wasn’t going to be a pop star, I was always going to be kind of ‘out there.’”

So, we’re in 2008, 40 years since King Crimson’s first appearance on the British rock prog scene, and we had to ask. Is King Crimson a chronic condition, or is Belew fully recovered?

“I’m afraid it’s a chronic condition. Right after the power trio wraps up its tour, Robert and the band will be knocking on my door. We’re going to do some rehearsals, maybe some new music, and I think we’ll be doing a few dates this year — probably Chicago and New York. I’d be surprised if we did much more than that. We may talk about tentative plans for next year.

“I don’t want to speak for him, but I think Robert doesn’t really want to travel very much anymore. King Crimson is a huge enterprise. Big production, big expectations. It can be exhausting, and I think Robert’s reluctant to take on too much of that these days.”

And what about you?

“I could do more than that, sure. I feel great and have every intention to play the rest of my life.”

Later,
xo

Blog Critics Reviews the Adrian Belew Power Trio

So how cool is this - Tom Johnson from Blog Critics was at the Adrian Belew Power Trio Show in Phoenix last night and has posted an awesome review:

Concert Review: Adrian Belew Power Trio With Opener Saul Zonana
Written by Tom Johnson
Published February 29, 2008


Photo of Eric Slick courtesy of Burton Lo

"Going to the show, I had no idea who was opening for Adrian Belew last night in Phoenix at the Rhythm Room. I only heard the guy at the door pronouncing the guy's name to someone in front of us - "Like 'banana' with a Z... and an O." As openers go, you usually don't expect much, but Saul Zonana scored immediately with, admittedly, a completely meaningless thing - his guitar, a Parker Fly, and one of the most beautifully painted guitars I've seen in recent memory. Green with purple and red swirls, it was gorgeous. Luckily, he actually had something musically substantial to offer - Beatles-y rock filled with lots of great hooks and clever melodies (I even caught a bit of King's X in his guitar tone - I'd be surprised if he wasn't a Ty Tabor fan.)

Performing solo, accompanied by a drum machine and backing tracks, he got a surprisingly good response from the crowd and, in fact, I headed over to the merch table and picked up his latest album, Love Over Money, which is as good as I was hoping it would be, and very close to the live show itself. Check this dude out.

We weren't but a few minute into Adrian Belew's show when a hassler began his loud, possibly drunken schtick: "I'M A LONE RHINO!" This, from the very back of the Rhythm Room, was delivered over and over again despite absolutely no acknowledgment from the stage. After a few minutes, the guy gave up and moved on, away from us, at least, and everyone around us looked relieved. You're a lone rhino, all right.

The guy wouldn't be getting "The Lone Rhinoceros" tonight. Adrian Belew's show hewed pretty close to the track listing of the recently-released Side Four Live (available only from his site, (signed) or (unsigned), but don't take that as disappointment. While they may have followed a similar setlist, they broke out in different directions at all points, including a couple of very long jams that, admittedly, lost their way occasionally. The thrill was really just seeing his new trio in action. Belew is backed by the young brother/sister duo of Eric and Julie Slick on drums and bass, respectively, whom Belew found at the Paul Green School Of Rock. (See, kids? It really is cool to stay in school.) The two make a powerful backing for the wild exploits of Belew, who needs something solid under him to stay thoroughly grounded.

As Belew put it at one point, "It's time for the difficult listening hour. Better put on your helmets," then launched into the very appropriately titled "A Little Madness." The power of this trio was best displayed here - Julie Slick laid down a huge bass line while Eric nailed an intense groove and Adrian whipped up a maelstrom, looping layer upon layer of squealing, twisting, turning guitar lines one upon another. When the insanity of the long piece was over, Adrian wiped the sweat from his face with a black towel, leaned in to the microphone, and said, "It's over, we're all safe."

Not only did we get a heavy dose of the past few Side albums, Belew picked through his older material, delivering "Young Lions," "Of Bow And Man," and a real crowd pleaser, "Big Electric Cat," among others. Two new pieces were unveiled for us, one, the simply titled "E," had only been played once before, while the other new one may not have even had a title, but Belew informed us that it was among material that the trio was working on for a new album. The trio closed out the show with a handful of King Crimson favorites that really got the crowd going, and it was a thrill to see and hear young Julie Slick nailing, once again (as on the live album,) Tony Levin's epic bass lines. She looked like she was struggling, but it sure didn't sound like it.

Belew, introducing Eric and Julie at ages 20 and 22, respectively, said, "Add up their ages and you get... " as he pointed to himself, then, laughing, he jokingly added, "You're not falling for it, huh?" But it's no joke that he's acting as a bit of a father figure up there on stage. The show was thrilling not only in that I got to see one of my heroes doing what he does best, but also because I got to see him being so supportive of these young musicians. When the opportunity presented itself, he urged the two to step up and take a moment in the limelight. Drummer Eric seemed more eager to take advantage of the opportunities, jumping in with small solos and fills wherever possible, but Julie, with prodding, stepped up, laying down openings to tunes here and there, impressing everyone in the audience, garnering a huge response from the crowd at the end of the night. As one guy near me said, "She is a seriously awesome bassist."

With King Crimson re-energizing for a short stint of active duty this summer with new second drummer Gavin Harrison (Porcupine Tree) on board, and hopefully some new material to come after that, Belew's power trio will be on the back burner for a bit. If you want to see this band in action, get out and do so now. Belew has never been more on top of his game and, solo, at least, has never had a more energetic band back him. Except maybe that "LONE RHINO!" dude - he can probably sit them all out."
********

Thank you, Tom - that was most excellent.

But for the record, there are plenty of Adrian Belew Power Trio shows planned for the rest of 2008 so there really isn't much of a back burner. There will be an early summer run in the U.S. and some pretty interesting places overseas in October/November. Stay tuned.

Later,
xo

Adrian Belew Power Trio: Phoenix, AZ

Wow, it was like Christmas and my birthday this morning waking up to these wonderful photographs, which Joel Klein sent to me at 2:30 a.m. after seeing the Adrian Belew Power Trio at the Rhythm Room in Phoenix last night. Joel met my family last year when they were on tour in Phoenix -- he's a professional photographer -- and he snail mailed me some amazing shots from their prior concert which are totally awesome. He showed up at sound check last night and took a whole new bunch of pics -- here's just a few which I absolutely adore:






And here's what he had to say about the show itself:

"I just got home and I am really beat...........was up Weds morning at 4am to get on a 6am flight to Las Vegas (building a Walgreens up there) and now it Thursday night, er, well Friday morning. I got to tell you how proud you must be of Eric and Julie. I just want to squish them. They are such nice people..........apples never fall far from the trees. What pleasures they are. They remind me of our kids, just so sweet to be around and polite, happy, humble!! Wow! As I type I am downloading 320 pictures I shot tonight. If I can I will send a couple over as I am not going to view them as I am wiped. Adrian and Martha are really good people too. I am fortunate to meet such wonderful folks, huh? As for the playing, what can I say other than, as usual was superb! Eric and Julie continue to blossom into really talented Musicians. I think the world of AB to have recognized and given such a great opportunity to them. Okay so I will send you shots in a different email so you can wake up to seeing your wonderful children. Send my very best to Gary and tell him we missed him (and you).............."

Thanks, Joel - that's amazing. And I look forward seeing more of your photos!

From the Planet Crimson forum board:

"I've read too many gushing reviews of this band to want to contribute another one. But I can't deny that it was a pretty great performance last night at the packed Rhythm Room in Phoenix. The set...was pretty much the same as before, Side Four with a couple of additions, most notably a crimsonesque new song Adrian said was only being played for the second time. But familiarity with the set didn't really detract at all from my enjoyment; it seemed fresh to me. I don't know if it was because they were playing differently or I was just swept up in the joy, energy, and enthusiasm of it all. For sure they sounded tighter than before. Like last year the Slicks impressed and moved me from the get-go; honestly more so than Adrian for the first few songs. Consider yourself lucky if they're coming to your town on this tour."



I have to giggle - the Julie Slick/Tal Wilkenfeld comparisons/confusion continues to percolate over at the Bass Player Magazine forum board.

And such nice things are being said over at the YES forum board:

"I have Side Four, and it's excellent! Just got it the other day . . ."

"They look like they're having a blast, man."

"I saw them almost two years ago at Double Door, which is quite a dive. They were great then. Julie Slick is a fantastic bassist and I remembered she played that night in bare feet--I believe she does that all the time."

"Saw them last summer here in Nashville and they were AMAZING!! I had concert high for DAYS!"

There's also a bunch of excellent comments over at the Adrian Belew Power Trio MySpace site - don't forget to friend them! It's hilarious to me that I've had a MySpace site for two years and have like 2,000 profile views -- the trio has had their site for six weeks and have close to 7,000. Actually, it's not hilarious, it's way cool, and I confess to still being utterly confounded by MySpace and therefore doing nothing to promote myself there...this blog takes a big enough chunk out of my writing time but oh how I enjoy it.

Continuing on, two days ago I posted that great pic of Julie wearing shades taken by Burton Lo and here's what he has to say in his blog, which includes a link to his fantastic photographs:

"I had the chance to spend an afternoon and evening at the Coach House ending with a raucous concert by several amazing musicians. The lineup included Tom Griesgraber on the Chapman Stick at 8p, Saul Zonana at 9-ish, then the Power Trio at around 10pm. Talk about a full night of music, and what incredible music it was!

I've almost always enjoyed progressive rock, though I found some of my early exposures to Gentle Giant and early Genesis to be not as exciting to me. When I found King Crimson in the 80s, though, I was hooked for a lot of reasons, one of the primary being Adrian Belew.

Learning about him after the fact turned up the fact that he'd been involved in several of my favorite bands including Frank Zappa, David Bowie, and other. He was, and still is, my favorite front man for a band and this current group of his is pretty much perfection for all involved.

I had the true pleasure to meet his band members, Eric and Julie Slick. I briefly met them a year and a half ago, but I got to see more of them on Sunday and I'm so looking forward to many years of beautiful music from these two. And, if he chooses, I think Eric's got a second career in slapstick because, you know, timing is everything...

Anyway, there are some shots from my afternoon watching setup all the way through the end of the show and after. Here's the link on Flickr..."

Okay, I've got my eye on a couple of people who aren't awake yet in Arizona who were at the show last night so as usual, if anything interesting pops up, I'll be back.

But if you are reading this now and are anywhere near Santa Fe, New Mexico, you can catch them tonight right here!

Later,
xo

A Little Madness...

"A Little Madness", also known as the "Julie Slick" show...ha ha, just kidding, but it's so cool to find a You Tube where you can really see and hear her clearly. Shot at the lovely Crystal Lake Casino in Lake Tahoe last Friday night.



Man, someone should send that clip to NFL Films or Comcast Sports or Fox Sports or the NBA or Major League Baseball or even the Olympics -- if that's not a song that should be blasted at sporting events I don't know what is.

Now this one is from Tuesday, 2/26/08 at the Belly Up. For me it's worth it to have a listen just to hear one of the audience members scream "Yo, Eric! You kick ass!" but the truth is, in talking with Eric, he had gear problems all night and no working monitors so this was his least favorite performance on the tour but still so good...it starts out with the King Crimson classic Neurotica, written by Adrian, and goes into the full version of Bow and Drum, which is one of my all-time favorite songs.



Okay, it's early in the morning but I wanted to put these up - be back in a few hours to add actual words to this post...

And sadly, R.I.P. Buddy Miles.

ETA: See, it's only 8:00 a.m. and I'm back already. Look at this awesome review of Side Four Live posted over at Progressive Ears:

"King Crimson fans! Guitar freaks! Or just anyone with an interest in incredible musicianship and fascinating sounds. If you've missed out on the greatest disc of 2007 (which was easy since it was only released in Nov and has been website-only so far), don't hesitate any more. Chances are most folks browsing this site already know the name, and if not, the resume (KC, Zappa, Bowie, Talking Heads, NIN, Tori Amos, Flecktones and half a million others) should speak for itself. The guy's one of the most innovative guitarists alive. In addition to being a wildly intelligent songwriter, he can make a guitar sound like anything from an organ to a telephone to an elephant.

If you know who he is already, this CD more than recommends itself. Adrian had already been on a creative streak with his series of three solo albums/EPs over the last couple years, but Side Four still blows them all out of the water. Just be careful it doesn't set your speakers on fire too.

Credit where credit's due: the injection of high-octane power chiefly comes from Julie and Eric Slick, who make up his current trio. Not only are they two of the most phenomenal players you'll ever hear for their ages (21 and 20), but Adrian is so fired up by their energy that he's churning out some of the most sizzling hot six-stringing of his career. (Yes, and that includes King Crimson.) Speaking of which, the KC material here is also as smoking hot as you've ever heard it. "Dinosaur" pounds as hard as the Thrak-era group ever did with half the people, and "Thela" is powered by drumming so machine-gun crazy you'd swear Eric was an octopus. Playing material this complex is like navigating a musical minefield, but these three pull it off with the precision of a Swiss watch and make it seem next to effortless. And though I say 'complex,' for the most part it's infectiously catchy as well. It's stuff you could play around the kids or the parents. (Although "Madness" might scare the cat a little. You've been warned.)

But as great as the songs are, just hearing the group play is what really makes the whole thing worthwhile. The interaction is worthy of a world-class jazz group. You can pick out any one of the trio to focus on for the entire running time and never be bored for a second. It's easy to focus on Adrian's guitar first, whether it's high-speed shredding or animal squeals and skronks, but it's your loss if you don't take the time to pick out just how J&E underpin everything too. There are crazy little licks and fills all over the place, and yet it never stops grooving like a rave party on crank. (Except for "Beat Box Guitar," which becomes a psychedelic head-trip that Pink Floyd would have been proud of.)

Click over to www.adrianbelew.net to find this one. Even if your wallet doesn't thank you, your ears will. And whatever you do, DO NOT miss them live. It's transcendental."

Later,
xo