Review of King Crimson 2018 Performance Style

Firstly, the performance was given a hugely formal context that you wouldn’t expect from other prog gigs. This is because the Bridgewater Hall is built mainly for classical performances and is home to 3 resident orchestras including the BBC philharmonic. What further added to the formality of the gig was the fact that the venue was all seated which allowed for total concentration on the performers rather than the distractions of other audience members dancing at the front. The band presented themselves in a similarly formal way in order to fit in with the context of the venue as they all wore smart suits and even seated themselves in sync. It was as if I’d come to see an orchestra perform rather than a rock band; this atypical context was a welcome change to the usual context of a rock gig as I was more curious than ever before. This was perhaps King Crimson’s attempt at connecting with the genres classical persuasions as prog rock takes much inspiration from classical composers. Tony Levin was classically trained and so for him the classical context must have been a nice way for him to explore his roots as a musician as well as heightening his performance. This context, it can be argued, is therefore the most authentic way for the band to communicate their performance. However, it would be inaccurate to say that the band have represented this in a ‘consistent’ manner during their career. It has only been recently that they have changed their performance style. Yet I think that King Crimson have cleverly changed the context of their performance without losing authenticity which they have managed to do by staying true to the values of prog rock as a genre. 

The way that King Crimson actually conducted their performance visually and behaviourally was further interesting. As an audience member I became very aware of the lack of variety in lighting throughout the concert. The lighting stayed very monotone until the end of the gig when they played ‘Starless’ from the album Red in which the stage was filled with a pool of red light. For me this had a hugely powerful impact on the performance, it was breath taking due to how meaningful the lighting was in this instance. If lighting had been used before this, that moment at the end would have lost all significance and power. This again is a recent change in the way that the band perform as they have been known to use much heavier lighting in past performances. However, by lessening the visual aspects of their performance they brought the music to the forefront so that the audience were ablate fully engage with the music without being distracted. The band (or perhaps fairer to say, Robert Fripp) took a step further with this in mind by asking the audience to switch their phones off and refrain from taking any pictures or videos of the concert; signs were even displayed on the stage to prevent any use of photography. This forced the audience to fully engage with the music, again without being distracted by a phone screen. This allowed me to enjoy the privilege of sharing the musical experience with the rest of the audience without worrying about capturing the memory on my phone. Their desires to prevent distraction didn’t stop there, as throughout the performance they stayed more or less static and refrained from engaging in stage banter with the audience. Some audience members may have found this approach quite unfriendly and cold, but the bands soul desire was to put the music first and prevent anything spoiling the quality of the music. Although it is not the most welcoming, their approach was definitely unmediated as the band prevented anything intervening with the sound of the music such as the visual aspects and stage behaviour. That is not to say however, that heavy lighting and full engagement with the audience is detrimental in anyway, rather it can lift the excitement of a performance. The fact that King Crimson succeeded in creating such an exciting gig with just their music and no outside aids shows their great intelligence and professionalism.   

Despite their performance being communicated in such an unusual way, the reception from myself and the audience was still extremely positive – the audience themselves had an impact on my musical experience and were vital to the context of the performance. Due to the band being big in the 70s, it was an older audience of 50 years and over (which isn't uncommon at a prog gig) which made me feel like the youngest there. Yet this did not spoil my musical experience at all; in fact, I enjoyed sharing the experience with people that have stayed true fans of the band since the beginning of their careers. Due to this audience demographic, the audience were extremely respectful of the bands way of performing by not making too much noise during the songs and obeying the rule of no photography. The fact that the venue was fully seated prevented the audience from dancing at the front of the stage. This made the experience for me very comfortable as I wasn’t distracted by anyone in the audience, allowing me to fully engage with the band’s performance. The actual performance, therefore, was allowed to flourish due to the full engagement of the audience. This is not to say that myself and the audience didn’t at all show our enjoyment and thrill of seeing their technical accuracy on stage. A highlight of myself and many other audience members was when the band played 'islands', a truly beautiful moment . Another highlight was the at the beginning of the song ‘Indiscipline’, where the three drummers improvised an epic call and response solo that went on for about five minutes. I was in awe of the complexity of their improvisation as was the audience, who were cheering more and more as the solo went on. The audiences support must have been a real drive of encouragement for the drummers as Gavin Harrison had the bravery to incorporate a sick bucket into his solo after suffering from nauseating stomach cramps before the show; if the audience had been less enthusiastic, the performance would not have been as daring as this. The supportive context allowed the band to improvise music that the audience were not expecting, without the fear of getting a negative reaction. At the end of the performance, myself and the audience showed our true gratitude towards the band with a huge standing ovation. I, myself was in awe of the talent of the band throughout the performance and so for me it was important that I contributed in showing my thanks.

In conclusion, King Crimson not only perform in an unusual context but they themselves make the context of their performance unusual in order to showcase the music above anything else and show their roots as a progressive rock band. The gig felt more like I was watching an orchestra at times as the band matched themselves with the formality of the venue by dressing in suits, which could be seen as an attempt to connect with the genre’s roots. However, this is a contrast to the usual context they have previously performed in. Not only have they changed the context in which they perform, but they match the context with how they perform, with little lighting and little stage presence. The idea of this was to put the music first by preventing any distractions affecting the quality of the music which, to me, seems very authentic as they didn’t want to hide the music behind a massive visual display. The strange context of this performance gave a very positive reception from the older audience at the gig, who respected the context that King Crimson chose to perform in. This made me feel at ease during the gig as the audience were not distracting but we were still able to show our appreciation through cheering and standing at the end. Not only did the band play the songs we were expecting, but the kind reception allowed them to perform improvised solos; I was in awe of their performance throughout.