EYES WIDE OPEN

For those of us who may never see King Crimson live in concert, this DVD will have to do. Being a fan for some time now, I could only imagine the songs whilst listening through headphones to my King Crimson collection. I must say this DVD is a great peek at the REAL genius of the band. DVD 1 (as it has been declared in other reviews) is the Tokyo show circa 2003. The filming is great, the audio is exceptional and the music...ahhhh! The music. I commented to my wife that there are the elements of jazz, rock, blues and yes metal. And, I was not disappointed. I find myself returning to the 1st DVD time and again, because I always seem to find something I haven't seen before. I could go on and give my account of each song. But, I prefer to enjoy the show in its complete form. Bravo on Disc 1. Disc 2 is from Sheppards Bush 2000. And the cool thing about the 2nd disc is the "extra improvs" that are flown in. You can be watching a different show every time you pop it in! But, as we fans know, the Crims have always had the art of surprise. And this second disc is a treat, not knowing what your player will conjure up next. Of course, you could go watch the extra scenes at the end. But, I feel that ruins the surprise. Now, to me, the filming could have been a bit tighter, as it seems to be not as smooth as the Tokyo show. Also, the audio didn't seem as crisp on disc 2 as disc 1. But, it was still and still is, a joy to watch Pat, Trey, Adrian and Mr. Fripp play the daylights out of their instruments. And like I said, I may never see the Crims in concert. But, this is the ticket for a midwest boy still placing the headphones on and enjoying some of the finest music ever recorded.

Overture...Cue the lights...