BTW, I was very unimpressed by King Crimson. What do others think about their last tour?

When KC last performed here, my interest was at an all-time low, to the extent that I hadn't bothered to pick up the new CD when it was released the previous day. I basically considered 'The ConstruKction of Light' to be their weakest, most derivative album to date, and the promise of progress suggested by 'Level Five' did not inspire confidence. And the gig I saw on the 'Level Five' tour was possibly the most dismal and dispirited show I've ever seen. What a complete surprise and delight, then, to come away from the current tour feeling like the band had rediscovered its spark. Much of the new material was really strong live; the band had truly gelled and the improvisatory quotient was up again (though certainly not to the level of '72-'74). Maybe you just caught an "off" night -- Fripp has certainly kvetched about playing Europe (and particularly Poland) in the past. I recently heard tell that the band will soon be issuing a DVD of live footage from the Japanese leg of this tour, as well as footage from last year's tour. The DVD will feature some kind of technological trick whereby you'll hear different improvisations every time you play the disc. From the DGM website: "Those fiendishly clever people at Apple are writing a program so that each time you watch your BootlegTV DVD it will randomly draw from the bank of improvisations,so that you know not what wonderous sounds may erupt from Frippean bowels or Belewbeloidal nether regions . Over four hours of music stored away, waiting to present itself on the unsuspecting listener." I might not get as rabidly worked up over every KC utterance these days, but at least the new album and latest tour restored my own "power to believe." Steve Smith ssmith36@sprynet.com -------------------------------------------------------------------- mail2web - Check your email from the web at http://mail2web.com/ .