Listen, I have the world's most incredible story about last night's show in New York, and the absolute amazing time we had after the concert, but I'm thinking I'm going to save it for Monday. We didn't get in until 4:00 a.m. and barely awake, we're leaving for Harrisburg now.
But two things - thank you to all of you sending me photos - I will give you linked and/or personal shout outs in future posts but today, I just have to put up this crazy one Gary took of Eric last night which totally blows me away and also, I really want to post this review that appeared in the Daily New Hampshire Gazette following the trio's show this week at the Iron Horse in Northampton, MA - I can't link it because it's a subscription only newspaper but if you do not want to settle for my cut and paste here, you can google it, be as crazy as I am, and pay for it yourself.
Guitar magic with a smile By KEN MAIURI
"If you've ever been a nerd for progressive rock, at some point you've bumped into Adrian Belew. Whether you're a King Crimson nut, Zappa freak, Talking Heads follower or Bowie aficionado, there's no mistaking the guitarist's electronically processed elephantine roar and chaotic playfulness. And he's always smiling! Is there a happier music-maker? And one that can get an entire audience singing call-and-response in 7/4 time?
Belew played the Iron Horse this past Tuesday with his Power Trio, which stars Philadelphia-based wunderkind siblings Julie and Eric Slick, aged 22 and 20, on bass and drums. They're astounding. Maybe that's one reason Belew is currently beaming - he couldn't ask for more exciting and energetic bandmates.
The trio basically played the entirety of its new album, "Side Four Live," a captured-in-concert collection of songs from Belew's career, including old solo material like "Big Electric Cat" and tunes from his time with King Crimson.
Belew stood center stage with four amps aimed up at him, two on either side, and audience members stood up and bowed grandly to him with "we're not worthy" gestures, but Belew doesn't act like any kind of guitar god. What he does with a guitar is insanely original - thanks to his banks of effects and unique string-bending technique he can make it sound like a flock of wild geese, or an angry meltdown of violins - but his manner is more that of a quirky uncle. He'll be soloing angularly over two looped tracks of other guitar spazziness, and in the middle of it, look out at the crowd with an affable, big-eyed grin.
The Slicks easily kept up with Belew's fiery "twang bar" flailing. Eric's specialty was playing fluid rhythms with shocking skill. During his song-opening drum solo on "Young Lions," I had to crane my neck to check what my ear was hearing - surely there were more drums up there I couldn't see, or the drummer had secret appendages on his body somewhere. He tumbled the sticks across the tom-toms like he had four precise and well-trained arms.
Bassist Julie was a monster on her instrument, with an awesome gritty tone and more chops than my tired mind could comprehend, but again, though her hands and fingers moved expertly and maniacally around the strings, she played with focus and poise - and in bare feet.
Many of the show's 14 songs morphed into very heady jams, and the highlight of the night's instrumental fireworks was "A Little Madness," which started with Belew looping multiple tracks of his own wailing guitar. It sounded like a fleet of ambulances careening down the street. Julie started up a dangerous bass line, the aural equivalent of a tough armed thug determinedly heading somewhere. Her instrument's sound had some blown-speaker bite to it, and eventually the tune's improvisational section got wilder and she and Belew were throttling their instruments on the highest frets they could reach. Eric turned up the bash factor on his drums and the three of them built up a very furious tension; when they released it by switching back to that main riff, the audience whooped in excitement.
The trio unveiled a brand-new song, "E," which built from a spindly scale-like melody played and then looped by Belew. Later in the tune Julie took over the quick finger-twisting melody, and when the song was over, appreciative fans yelled out, "Bass player, we love you!"
Belew gave the people what they wanted at the show's end, finishing the main set with one of King Crimson's most popular (and poppy) songs, "Three of a Perfect Pair," and coming back for an encore of two more Crimson classics, "Neurotica" and "Thela Hun Ginjeet." As Eric pummeled a primal rhythm, Belew twisted skronky distortion and vertiginous harmonics out of his heavily processed guitar and Julie popped and dug into her strings, they looked like one little happy brain-frying family."
I have one thing to say about last night's Adrian Belew Power Trio Show in Philadelphia. It was an interesting coincidence that the King Crimson tour dates for this summer were announced yesterday, because the general consensus in the audience was: Robert Fripp, Tony Levin, Pat Mastelotto, and Gavin Harrison? You guys better start "practising"...this band is at the top of their game in an almost inhuman way. Ha ha - just kidding, but seriously, the sold-out crowd was dumbfounded - once they picked their jaws up from the floor. What was so totally cool was the fact that there was a huge mix of fans - from teenagers to those *cough* my age...and there wasn't anyone standing still. Even those with reserved tables were dancing in their seats.
ETA: Some amazing You Tubes from last night.
Oh, heart be still - the world's greatest band introduction:
A Little Madness (holy crap, watch Julie Slick)
E (a work in progress)
Yeah, last night was freaking amazing. I am so stoked for New York tonight!
"Big gushing reviews may be getting a tad repetitive at this point, so a few observations on the Philly show instead.
-Apparently Adrian was feeling slightly sick tonight, but had I not been told, there's no possible way I would have known. His voice sounded just great and the blast of energy from the stage was still enough to rattle the chimneys for blocks around.
-Julie used to have a kind of John Entwistle stage presence before; I never knew whether it was shyness or an oh-so-cool laid-back stage persona or both. But she surprised us by being just as animated as the other two, and it's remarkable how warm & engaging the trio comes across as a whole. When they ran into some technical snafus early on (expertly covered by a killer Eric solo to lead into "Young Lions"), I never got a sense that they had to recover any kind of lost momentum. The audience was right there with them through any rough spots.
-Not only is the trio better & tighter than they were last year, they're also looser. The set was largely the same as Side Four, but the difference in how it's all played is astounding. For maybe half of tonight's show, they seemed like practically a jam band. Albeit a jam band that could still get a whole floor of people (some of them quite inebriated) bouncing in 7/8.
-J&E have an amazing telepathy. One of the joys of watching the band is not only how they all interact, but how the two of them like to crank out tricky fills in unison.
-The new tune "E" sounds killer. First it's disturbing pseudo-surf music, then a wonky space-jazz groove. Then the space-jazz lounge has a cameo by a hyper pianist, doing his impression of Keith Tippett doing his impression of a drunken cat walking over the keys. It's really much better than that sounds.
-"Beat Box Guitar" was practically an out-of-body experience. They take it out of its structure, then they take it further than you'd ever expect, then they shoot straight for some unimaginable dimension of hyperspace. Rare to see any group of humans reach this level of improv all together.
Overall: one wild ride, my favorite ABPT show so far, and let's hope this group lasts as long as it can."
Anyway, there are only three days left on this tour, and tonight's show in New York City at BB King's is a must see. I'll be there and hope to see many of you!
Wow. The Adrian Belew Power Trio is in the home stretch of their month long tour and FINALLY landing in Philadelphia tonight at World Cafe Live (doors at 6:00 p.m.; show starts at 7:30 p.m.) where I FINALLY get to see them live though living vicariously through You Tubes, like the one of "Young Lions" just posted of the trio performing Young Lions in Natick, MA on Sunday below has not been too terrible. Nope. Not too terrible at all.
ETA: Oh my god - I found a new search site which nope, I'm not sharing, but look what it just turned up re the Belew Trio at the Iron Horse last night:
"We had a great time last night. Besides the musical highlights, a comical moment occurred when Eric asked for (pardon me if I get this wrong, I'm not a musician) "more wedge in (his) lodge." AB countered that he'd not had any wedge in his lodge for some time as he's on tour; the crowd erupted into a chant of "Spitzer." You can't write this stuff, folks! BTW, looked to be a capacity crowd. Met Adrian after the show, got stuff signed. Was delighted to see Andre of Project/Object doing his "day job" of teching for the band, I had forgotten Eric played w/ P/O."
Ha! Let's sell Philadelphia out tonight, shall we? Though from what I've heard, the trio has been packing the venues all across the country throughout this tour so it should not be too much of a stretch.
I'm pretty excited about the show tonight but since he gave me permission to do so, I really want to talk about Gary's weekend in Cleveland, too. So let me put this post up for now, have some coffee, and I will come back in an edit this in an hour or two and tell you the whole sad story...which isn't sad at all...it was scary...very scary...at the time but now we are kind of laughing about it and it's a hell of a memory for our mental scrapbook though lucky Gary, once I tell the tale and post the accompanying photographs, he's going to have an actual physical record of the event for posterity.
Okay. Must. Get. Coffee. ******* And now the moment you have all been waiting for. Gary's road trip to Ohio.
The plan was, Gary, who could not wait until the trio played Philly the following week, decided to blow off work this past Friday and drive to Cleveland, catch their show at the Beachland Ballroom that evening, spend the night hanging with the band afterwards, and then drive back home to Philadelphia early Saturday morning while the others traveled to Buffalo for their concert there that evening.
"Hey, Gar?" I said, looking up from the computer screen as he was getting ready to leave early Friday.
"Yeah?"
"I think you may be driving into a blizzard. The headline on Yahoo news says "Major snow storm unfolding, heading towards Ohio."
"When?"
"Saturday."
"I'll be gone by then. I'm leaving early. What's the forecast for today?"
"Well, it's forty degrees, but they are saying two to four inches tonight..."
"That's nothing. And weather travels west to east (do you believe I did not know that?) so when the real storm hits on Saturday afternoon, I'll already be back in Philadelphia."
"Okay..." I am still feeling a bit anxious about this and click on weather.com which pretty much says what Yahoo said except that they had big red letters which flashed "ALERT ALERT ALERT".
I looked over at Gary, who, as usual and though he does own them, was not wearing a winter coat, gloves or boots, but was dressed in his usual daily outfit of jeans, t-shirt, and Chuck Taylors...for outerwear he throws on a zip up Beatle sweatshirt.
But he'll be in the car, right? And we have a jeep. Four wheel drive. Okay. Deep breath. No worries. He'll be fine. As usual, I am hyperventilating over nothing.
So Gary leaves and I'm like, woo hoo, I can spend the next three days on a writing marathon.
But nervous norvous that I am, I kept checking weather.com. That red "ALERT" thing had me really edgy.
Gary checked in with me on his cell phone from time to time.
"Hi! Just passed Harrisburg...on the turnpike to Ohio now..."
"How's the weather?"
"Fine. Why?"
"Nothing. You know me. Worrying needlessly is what I do best."
So I go back to writing and bury myself in my work. The hours pass without my even noticing and then my cell phone rings again.
"Hi..." Gary does not sound nearly as cheerful or excited as his last phone call.
"What's wrong???"
"Well, I'm in Ohio..."
"And?"
"It's snowing alright."
"How bad?"
"Bad."
"Oh my God. Where are you in Ohio?"
"About twenty minutes from Cleveland. But I'm in the traffic jam from hell. I'm moving an inch at a time. But I just wanted to check in and let you know I'm okay."
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah. I can't exactly drive over five miles an hour and neither can anyone else so there's nothing to worry about."
"Really?"
"Really."
"Okay. Don't drive and talk on the cell at the same time. I'm nuts enough over this as it is. Call me when you get to the venue."
"Alright. But really, Rob, don't get upset. I've been in worse weather than this. It'll be fine."
Well, you know me, I hang up the phone and this time I do not go to weather.com, I turn on the actual weather channel.
"A storm of historic proportions is obliterating Cleveland..."
My eyes bulge out of my head as I watch the reporter on the t.v. screen. He's blowing out of camera range - the winds are so intense he can't stay upright. Then they show the very highway Gary is on. A massive pile-up has occurred - a bunch of tractor trailers lost control and hit each other, blocking all but one lane of traffic. As I'm watching this, a small car spins out and is broadsided by another truck.
"Uh oh, I guess whoever driving that car must have felt that hit," the reporter says.
Um, you think? I hope whoever driving that car is still alive!
I sit down on the sofa too afraid to move.
An hour later, my cell rings. It's Gary.
"Hi! I made it! I'm at the venue now, waiting for the kids. Think they'll be surprised?"
"Yeah," I manage to say. I hope you "hid" our jeep with the big bright Frank Zappa bumper sticker so the surprise isn't ruined but I didn't say it. Besides, where do you hide a jeep in a storm in a city you don't even live in? It's probably covered with snow anyway.
I should have said something because minutes later, Julie and Eric burst into the Beachland Ballroom shouting "Dad!" because yeah, yeah, they saw his car.
Here's a photo Gary took of Julie during sound check:
Anyway, he told me not to worry about the weather; he was going to watch the band rehearse; then they were all going to have dinner together...and he just sounded so happy and excited that I didn't dare tell him what I was watching on the weather channel...that at least fifteen more inches of snow were expected to fall overnight.
Gary has taught me to live in the moment one day at a time so that is what I decided to do.
So while I sat at home working on edits to my new novel, Gary saw the show of a lifetime and here are some photos he took of Julie, Ade, and Eric on stage:
I went to bed around 10:00 p.m. on Friday and woke up at dawn on Saturday. I just had this queasy, uneasy feeling but I didn't want to call Gary and make things worse...because naturally my first act of the day was to turn on the weather channel and when I saw what was going on in Cleveland I almost had a stroke.
"Level 3 Emergency...level 2 emergency..."
I don't know which one is worse, I just know that it went from bad to terrible to horrifying in the ten minutes I watched.
"All secondary roads are under two foot drifts; the snow plows have not been able to get through, it is expected to snow throughout the day...motorists are urged to stay off the highways..."
I gulped. Okay. Gary will stay put in Cleveland. It's not a big deal. He'll just remain in the hotel an extra night and hopefully by Sunday the salt trucks will have done their job and that's all there is to it.
Erm, no.
Gary, who did not have the benefit of the weather channel, and who has driven our jeep through all kinds of monsoons and blizzards, decided to drive home.
I got the distress call an hour or two later.
"Rob...I got big problems..."
"What do you mean?"
"I've never seen snow like this in my life. I couldn't see. I was afraid I'd be killed so I tried to exit the turnpike - the minute I did, I could not see a thing other than I could have vaulted airborne down an embankment...so I turned the wheel, missed the guard rail by inches, and now I'm stuck in like six feet of snow."
"You're stuck? Oh. My. God. Where are you?"
"I have no idea. I'm in the middle of nowhere."
So you have to picture this. He's stuck in a snow drift in a deserted city wearing sneakers and a sweatshirt -- no boots, no gloves -- with nothing in our car like salt or a shovel or a blanket...or any food. And with half a tank of gas.
It gets even better.
"I only have one bar left on my cell phone."
"Gary! What are we going to do?"
"I don't know. I am going to try and flag someone down...I saw a salt truck and a snow plow pass by...I just have to pray I find a good Samaritan."
"Okay. Let me try and help you from here. Do you have any idea at all where you are so I can call the State Police?"
"No. And I really have to hang up. My cell is going to lose power any minute."
"Oh god. Okay. Please, please, please do not try anything stupid. Just stay in the car and try and keep warm and hopefully someone will come by...don't worry about the damn car...leave it...as soon as you can tell me where it is, I will find a towing service in Cleveland..."
"Alright. Bye."
And then he hangs up.
So you do not want to know all of the images running through my head but you can imagine. I was a complete basket case.
I get the brilliant idea to call Andre, the trio's tour manager, praying that since he's been a touring musician the past twenty years and knows this country inside out, maybe he's still nearby or at least can point me in the direction of someone who can help.
Well, he tried, but the weather was just so bad and without me being able to tell him exactly where Gary was...
Anyway, finally, an hour or so later Gary calls. After trying four different times to flag down passing plow operators, one guy stopped his truck and told Gary to get in. Gary had no idea where he was even going.
Gary begged him to try and push his jeep out with the plow but the guy wouldn't do it - he knew he'd damage our car and there was no convincing him that WE DID NOT CARE.
So Gary abandoned the car and was driven here:
Erm...he had to walk through two feet of snow just to get to the front door of this, um, mom and pop establishment...and for $40.00 a night, the room was his. Here. Let me take you on a guided tour.
Here is the heater in the room - do you believe this? Gary removed his soaking wet socks and sneakers and tried to dry them off without setting the room on fire.
Gary tried to pass the time by watching television, but as you can see, it's even got a dial...and there were only two working channels.
Here's where he had to allegedly sleep while wondering how the hell he was ever going to get safely back to Philadelphia:
There are even more photos - the bathroom is not to be believed -- and even worse, there were no phones in the room so I still had no way of staying in constant touch with Gary. But the good news was, the two women who owned the hotel knocked on his door and took pity on him - they brought him a McDonald's burger and a Coke and I had the number to their front desk so at least, assuming I could find a tow truck driver, I could get word to Gary.
And Gary also found out from the man who took him to the hotel where his car was abandoned. So now at least I had something to work with.
I started with the Ohio State Police. After being left on hold for a half hour (don't forget, it was a Saturday, it was a blizzard, etc. etc.), getting disconnected twice, and almost having a coronary, they finally got on the line...only to tell me it wasn't their jurisdiction and I had to call the local police for that area.
"Well, what would that be?" I asked.
"We don't know," said the clerk, hanging up.
So I start comparing Cleveland to Philadelphia. We have like 100 precincts here for every section of the city. If someone was stranded in Center City, I'd call the 6th precinct, not the 35th, who would handle it if we were twenty miles in another direction.
I had no fucking idea who to call.
So I tried calling the hotel's front desk, figuring they'd know, but that must have been when they went out to get Gary his burger because I got an answering machine.
All I could think was, if this were Philadelphia, our car would be towed if abandoned in a storm, and we would not be able to get it until business hours on Monday.
This could not happen. And unlike Philadelphia, I had absolutely no idea where they'd tow it.
I pulled up Cleveland Police on Google and started dialing different precincts like a madwoman. FINALLY I got the Richfield Police, who were in fact the right parties, and who laughed when I told them our predicament.
"Oh yeah, we know where he is stuck. Black Jeep Liberty, right? Yeah, he's there with a red Mazda, a green Subaru..." said the female officer.
What the fuck do I care? Just tell me how to get our car...
"Well, you'd better get your car," she tells me.
"That's why I'm calling! How do I get it?"
"You just can't leave it on the ramp. The roads are closed."
"I know that! What do I do?"
"I don't know what to tell you but you cannot leave it on the ramp. When it gets dark, someone is going to hit your car."
"I thought the roads were closed! Who is going to hit it?" Oh yeah, the salt trucks.
The officer laughs again. Yeah, yeah, this is really funny. Fucking hilarious.
Okay, deep breaths. At least Gary is warm and safe in his hotel.
But there's a big part of me that is worried he's going to get so frustrated he's going to leave the hotel on foot and try to dig out the car. Because I know Gary. What I did not know was that Gary's car really was stuck in the middle of nowhere; the hotel he was in was more like five miles away, and he could not even get out the front door of his room.
"Can you at least give me the name and telephone number of a tow truck company?"
Oh. I forgot to include another lovely part of this story. First, I started calling towing companies. I went from A to L...which meant I called about 200 companies. Every single one of them told me where our car was is "not their area" or "we are backed up for seven/eight hours...we'll never get to you today..."
That's why I started calling the police. Because I was calling tow truck drivers in Ohio and I didn't even know what "township" in Ohio our car was in.
Anyway, after spending the entire morning and afternoon on the phone hyperventilating, the police officer gave me the name and phone number of someone who "might" be able to tow our car.
I call them. They laughed, too. Yeah, this is really a fucking riot. But, success! They told me they could tow the car -- we had a jeep - that meant they needed a flatbed truck to do it -- and also needed our car to be in "neutral" or all four tires would go flat. Hopefully Gary left the keys in the car?
What, are you out of your mind? Why would Gary leave his keys in the car?
But oh fuck, now what?
I had to sweet talk the tow truck driver into swinging by the hotel and picking Gary up with the keys.
At this point I'm thinking we're several hundred dollars in the hole...maybe even a thousand.
He tells me it'll be like eight or nine that evening. Okay, fine.
Except Gary has his cell phone off to conserve power and no one is picking up the hotel phone.
I fucking freaked out for six hours. Pacing back and forth, worrying that Gary tried to get the car himself, worried that the tow truck driver would go to the hotel and then not be able to find Gary because guess what, I forgot to ask him what his room number was.
Then I watched the weather channel a little more.
"All roads closed. The plows will not even be out any more tonight until the snow stops."
Well, that ended that. Gary was stuck there; our car was stuck god knows where, and I may as well go to bed.
But something told me not to. And despite drinking half a bottle of brandy to calm down, I was stone cold sober and wide awake.
And sure enough, right around midnight, my phone rang. It was the tow truck driver.
"Hey! I'm outside the hotel but I can't get in -- too much snow. Tell your husband to get out here!"
FUCK! I tried calling Gary; his cell was off; he was probably sound asleep. I called the hotel...YAY...they were not only there, they were wide awake and saw the truck's flashing lights.
"Oh yeah, that's Elmo! We know him. We'll go get your husband now."
I had visions of Gary sound asleep and them having to break into his room...arghh....
And that was the last I heard until...
Two hours later, around 1:30-2:00 a.m., my phone rings. It was the tow truck driver.
"Well, we got your husband out finally. Don't know if he made it back to the hotel, though. It's really rough out here."
And then he hung up on me.
So now I don't know if Gary is stuck again, back at the hotel, or what. A part of me dared to hope he was on his way home, but then I remembered the roads were closed. I didn't want to risk calling him on his cell, knowing how little power he had left.
I didn't sleep at all. I couldn't.
Now there's a whole story connected to the tow truck driver but I will have to go into that another time and I really do not know if it will translate well here...Gary does an imitation that is killer and I should really save the rest of the story for him to tell in person. But um...let's just say he was a bit of a character and leave it at that.
Finally, Sunday morning the phone rings.
"Hi! I'm on my way home!"
"What?" Yeah, that's all I could manage.
"Rob, I have such a story for you...but anyway, I made it back to the hotel; caught a few hours sleep - our car is fine and right outside - I should be home for dinner. Okay, let me hang up before the phone dies and I'll see you soon. Love you!"
I spent the rest of the day pacing and going nuts, but luckily he had enough power in his phone to call me from Harrisburg, two hours away, to tell me he was doing great, he got through it, and there was luckily no more bad weather anywhere.
Trust me, that was the abridged version of our weekend. You'll just have to imagine the rest or catch up with Gary and/or me in the real world.
ETA 2: And here's an awesome review I just found of the show in Natick, MA courtesy of Mike O'Risal.
So for those of you who do not already know, to say this was an, um, interesting weekend is putting it mildly.
Gary decided to drive to Cleveland -- which normally is about a seven hour drive from Philadelphia -- for one night only, to surprise the trio and catch their show at the Beachland Ballroom. His plan was to go home early Saturday morning.
But before I launch into this long, insane tale, I wanted to post some stuff from my own personal mail bag, some cool blurbs I've found on forum boards across the universe, and also, give a huge shout out to the Adrian Belew Power Trio - this morning they are not only written up in the New Yorker but Ade gets a mention in the New York Times (!) as concerns his work on the new Nine Inch Nails release.
From the New Yorker:
"B. B. KING BLUES CLUB & GRILL
237 W. 42nd St. (212-997-4144)—March 13: Adrian Belew has played with everyone from the Talking Heads and David Bowie to Frank Zappa and William Shatner, but the maverick guitarist is best known as the front man of the prog-rock institution King Crimson. He’s currently touring under the rubric of the Adrian Belew Power Trio, in which he’s joined by a pair of young siblings, Eric and Julie Slick, on drums and bass, respectively."
Here's an email I received from Frank Vigil following his attendance at the Sante Fe show:
"Well, I went to the show in Santa Fe (I live in Albuquerque, south of SFE) and I was totally impressed! Surreal is indeed an excellent word to describe them.
I have to say, Adrian was awesome - as always - Julie was great (my wife says that she plays lead guitar on her bass all night!) - and Eric - Oh, my God - has he ever improved in the last year and a few months since I last saw them! I mean, he was really good to begin with - but, now - he is nothing short of fantastic. And, I can say this with some authority, because I'm a drummer, too. He is amazingly fast and has nailed down an unusual playing style! Believe me, he was "on" that night! And, what really gets me is that he does it with such a small set. I hope some company is giving him/buying his cymbals, because he uses several very thin cymbals, and he beats the hell out of them! I'm sure he cracks them every now and then..."
Frank then went on to tell me that his son took amazing photos at the show and that he is snail mailing me a disc with all of them so you know I will post them as soon as they arrive.
There have been special "guests" at all the shows throughout this tour, but musician Jeff Elbel (standing on the right) was kind enough to forward me this photo of Gary Green (d'oh, standing on the left)...and in case you are not a musicologist, Gary was the brilliant guitarist for Gentle Giant and he is a huge fan of the Adrian Belew Power Trio and came to the show in Chicago. How cool is that!
Jeff also furnished me with the above photo of the trio.
I could not help but notice that Jeff Jankowski was kind enough to leave a comment on my blog which others picked up for their blogs and Jeff ended up posting on his own as well but it's so good it bears repeating here:
"Wow! That's all I can say about the show in Buffalo last night. I knew it would be good but I didn't expect the direction of some of the instrumentals. To say the band went "out there" would be an understatement. They were WAY out at times and my friends and I were blown away.
Some thoughts - Belew's playing and his guitar sound are better than ever. How does Eric get such a big sound from such a small kit? We guessed talent and practice but he shared a secret of "trail mix" with me in a brief conversation as he was tearing down so I'll have to remember that! He played the evening like a cross between Steve Smith and Keith Moon! Julie was fan-tas-tic. Hands down one of the best bass players I've ever seen. Even our waitress admitted she "tore it up".
Also, Eric did a great job on an impromptu solo when a fuse blew early in the show. Belew said that was one of the benefits of having a great drummer - for moments like these.
The band looked and sounded like they were having a blast the whole night. What a great show, and I'm glad I took the white-knuckle ride downtown to see them.
Only downside is they sold out of "Side 4" early on so we were sharing Belew's website with other disappointed fans. Everyone wants the CD with "that lineup"! Great job everyone! Can't wait for a studio release. If the new number "E" is any indication it's going to be a must-buy." *****
Additionally, Jim Keyerleber commented on my blog, too:
"The Cleveland Show was awesome. I knew it was going to be good based on Side 4 but Wow. These are not young musicians. Great communication when things go off tangent. Awesome. Great. Can not wait to see again anywhere." *****
I love this one from writer Ric Marion, after just seeing the trio in Michigan and it's pretty amusing though I have to tell you, things are changing in a big way for the trio in terms of their audience...word is definitely getting out and their fans now span all generations.
"Note: This is not a review so much as observations.
My youngest son, Patrick, is a drummer and music enthusiast (mostly screaming bands I have never heard of). Through Robin Slick, I saw that her two children were doing a cross country tour with Adrian Belew, I thought, "Gee, if they come anywhere near here, it would be cool to go and Patrick can see a really good drummer - not too much older than he is."
Last night, we drove 57 miles to Ferndale, Michigan, to see the Adrian Belew Power Trio at the Magic Bag. While hunting for a parking spot, we drove down the alley behind the venue, which gave me a chance to roll down the window and say, "Hi, Eric." Julie was outside with him so we introduced ourselves. Pretty cool. Parking a couple blocks away, (There is plenty of free parking. - Okay, but Ferndale got 6 inches of snow a couple days ago) Whatever. Patrick and I walked around to the front of the theatre and then down the long line to take our place.
"What did you notice about the people standing in line?"
"They're all old."
"What else?"
"They all look like burnouts."
"How many women did you see?"
"Two. Out of maybe a hundred people."
Two guys in line behind us. "Don't know who the band is - something about them being young kids."
"It's a brother sister team and Adrian discovered them at the School of Rock - they're really good, according to their mother."
"So, how long have you been following Adrian Belew?"
"Never heard of him before this."
Patrick says, "I think I'm the youngest person here."
"That's all right, You're going to get a musical education tonight." This from the guy who has all the King Crimson recordings ever made.
Finally inside, Patrick with two large black x's on his hands (only eighteen), box office closed up tight - concert SOLD OUT
We find a spot to sit on a bench along a side wall and watch this crowd of 40 year old men milling about with beers.
Patrick is still not sure - about the music, about a girl bass player, about the drummer - "My drum set is bigger than that."
Then the band comes on stage. The front is rushed by 6 foot tall overweight men with adoration in their eyes. We stand on the bench we were sitting on - ah, perfect view. Neither Patrick or I recognized any of the songs, but, damn, can these guys play.
Drum solo. "Wow, Dad, he is really good!"
"I've never seen a bass player do that before - she is really something."
"He can really play that guitar."
But the great thing about the three on stage were the smiles - Eric and Julie have the greatest smiles and you could tell they were having a great time - Adrian smiled a lot, too. The enthusiasm was in their faces and translated into the music as well. And the crowd loved it.
We knew when a King Crimson song was being played as the audience would start pumping their fists in the air -and their faces went odd like they were anticipating the rapture.
My ears started to go about half an hour in. It was really loud.
The guys from outside came by to say, "Those kids are awesome."
We hung around, trying to get a picture for Robin, but they shoved everyone out the door, immediately after the encore. Since it was a school night, we didn't try the back door.
All in all, a great night. Patrick got a new appreciation of different rock styles, was highly impressed by Eric and Julie Slick, and got to spend some quality time with Dad." *****
Actually, I just remembered I have an appointment at 11:00 a.m. and need to get ready so the Cleveland blizzard story is going to have to be a separate post later today or tomorrow.
But for now, I leave you with a lot of fun links to forums.
Well, first of all, I'm sure you've all seen this, and it's a link to an article I posted anyway, but I was really excited to see that Saturday's headline on DGM Live was:
"Man, this is definitely the best band I've ever had, in my solo career Posted by Sid Smith on Sat., Mar 8, 2008
Who can Adrian Belew possibly be talking about"? *****
"I believe he is touring with a young brother (drums) and sister (bass) rhythm section. I saw them last time they toured and they absolutely blew me away! You are in for quite a treat..."
"Adrian Belew is incredible.
Ditto for Eric Slick on drums. That kid is insane." *****
"Check out a drummer by the name of Eric Slick, he replaced Danny for Adrian Belew's one project when Danny went back on tour and also plays with a band caled Project Object who are the number one Zappa tribute band in the world. he had such a tiny set yet was pulling off shit just like terry bozzio on his diety of a drum set..." *****
Just a quick update for now - I have to run out for an hour or two but I saw this wonderful article in the Buffalo News today -- the trio will be in Buffalo tomorrow evening (Saturday) -- tonight you can catch them at the Beachland Ballroom in Cleveland, Ohio, where I understand a MAJOR SNOWSTORM is unfolding...arghhh...typical, eh?
Below photograph once again courtesy of Tour Manager Andre Cholmondeley - I believe this one was sent to him by Adrian's agents at Monterrey International who made the show in Chicago...actually, I have a bunch of great shots from Chicago which I will post later.
Jeff Miers: Sound Check Three is a perfect number New power trio yields creative dividends for Adrian Belew Updated: 03/07/08 6:58 AM
The Adrian Belew Power Trio makes a stop at the Tralf Music Hall at 8 p.m. Saturday.
A casual glance at the man’s resume is enough to make you question your own achievements. Clearly, Adrian Belew has not slept much over the past 30 years. His musical exuberance, indelible guitar stylings, unfailing songwriting acumen, and apparently, unerring ability to land in the right place at the right time, have served him rather well.
Belew has made it plain that he owes his career’s genesis to a certain Frank Zappa, who spotted the guitarist playing with a cover band in a hotel lounge and hauled him kicking and screaming from relative obscurity into the weird and wonderful spotlight of his own ensemble. This was right around the time of Zappa’s “Sheik Yerbouti” album, and the filming of his “Baby Snakes” film, both of which feature Belew prominently.
From there, Belew moved seamlessly into David Bowie’s band; played with the Talking Heads; teamed with Robert Fripp for the strongest lineup of King Crimson the band could ever have hoped for; maintained a prolific solo career; worked with his own power-pop outfit, the Bears; and found a kindred creative spirit in Nine Inch Nails mastermind Trent Reznor.
Belew’s latest gambit, however, is one of his highest-yielding, creativity wise.
A few years back, the guitarist visited the famed Paul Green School of Rock Music in Chicago — the eccentric institution that provided the inspiration for the Jack Black film vehicle “School of Rock.” There, at the behest of the mercurial Green, Belew happened upon the talents of the still teenage b r other-sister bass/drum s combo of Julie and Eric Slick. The Slicks played Zappa’s “City of Tiny Lights” — a complex number, to say the least — for Belew, whose jaw rather rapidly smacked against the carpet.
Belew saw more than abundant talent in the Slick siblings. He saw his own future. Within weeks, he’d enlisted the pair, and the Adrian Belew Power Trio was born.
“Julie and Eric are absolutely incredible musicians, for any age,” says Belew, speaking by phone from his home office just prior to hitting the road for a winter tour that stops at the Tralf Music Hall at 8 p.m. Saturday.
“The fact that they are as young as they are — well, it baffles me, first of all. But it also gives me a great feeling of hope. These guys know their history, and they are more than able to add to it.”
Much of that history, ironically or not, involves Belew himself.
“The Slicks grew up on their father’s record collection, and they fully digested all of this music. Funnily enough, so many of the records they grew up with were things that I played on! So there was a commonality, a shared language from the first moment we played together.”
Indeed, the level of intuitive musical interaction the Belew Trio has grasped is in full evidence on the just-released in-concert document “Side IV: Adrian Belew Power Trio Live,” available through AdrianBelew.net.
On the record, Belew and the Slicks tackle pieces from throughout the guitarist’s career, but this is no oldies revue: Rather, the Slicks add abundant fire to the performances, make the music their own at every turn, while always performing in the spirit of the original composition. Most importantly, the fluid, dynamic and incredibly energetic rhythm section is clearly pushing Belew, and hard, toward new creative vistas.
“Man, this is definitely the best band I’ve ever had, in my solo career,” Belew all but gushes. “Because Julie and Eric can do anything at all, there is the opportunity to stretch out — way out! [laughs] To the point where I’m almost overplaying in order to fit into the fabric of what they’re doing. It’s forcing me to really play in the moment. And I’m finding that really thrilling.”
Finding himself in the thick of uber-dynamic, high-intensity, envelope-pushing musical situations is far from a new thing for Belew. With Fripp in King Crimson, Belew radically combined elements of hyper-percussive Indonesian Gam-elan music with the minimalist tape loop/phasing experiments of American composer Steve Reich.
And they made it rock, a fact incredibly evident throughout the pioneering works “Discipline,” “Beat,” “Three of a Perfect Pair,” “Thrak” and “The Power to Believe,” among several others. Crimson, by the way, is an ongoing concern for Belew: As our conversation commenced, the guitarist was just finishing an e-mail to Fripp, cementing the beginning date for Crimson tour rehearsals, which Belew says “will begin pretty much the day I get back from this tour.” (Did I find myself a bit giddy talking to one of my musical heroes as he sent an e-mail to another of my musical heroes? In a word, yup.)
For now, though, Belew has his eyes firmly on the prize, that being seeing just how far he and the Slicks can take the music.
“Playing live is definitely what separates the men from the boys, the women from the girls. And really, with the trio, I’m just the old guy in the middle, [laughs] thanking his lucky stars for the opportunity to play with these incredibly talented young people.”
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
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."
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."
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:
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...
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.
