KCCC 32 - Live in Munich, September 29, 1982
By King Crimson
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Track listing
- 1 Waiting Man 10:00
- 2 Thela Hun Ginjeet 6:54
- 3 Frame by Frame 5:59
- 4 Matte Kudasai 3:46
- 5 The Sheltering Sky 10:40
- 6 Neal and Jack and Me 5:49
- 7 Elephant Talk 5:00
- 8 Indiscipline 11:06
- 9 Heartbeat 4:16
- 10 Larks' Tongues in Aspic Part II 7:01
- Total length: 70:31
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3 Reviews
One of the better Beat-era shows, and it's little wonder since it was the last gig of the year and the end of this touring phase: this band always gives their best by the end of a tour.
Adrian Belew just sprinkles with enthusiasm, and it feels not only in noisy guitar spasms, but in flamboyant and headlong vocal delivery as well. 'Neal and Jack and Me' is practically transformed into a noise rock number with some mean (and I mean it, m e a n) guitar textures, and Bill Bruford probably recalls his past decade of crimsoning towards the end of the night.
There is plenty of heated moments, and while the overall tension is not as high as on the Philadelphia show earlier this year, a lot of times it rises to kill. I feel I tended to underappreciate the 1982 tour, but the Alabamahalle show is another record from this scarcely survived period that pleasantly proves me wrong on a revisit.
Adrian Belew just sprinkles with enthusiasm, and it feels not only in noisy guitar spasms, but in flamboyant and headlong vocal delivery as well. 'Neal and Jack and Me' is practically transformed into a noise rock number with some mean (and I mean it, m e a n) guitar textures, and Bill Bruford probably recalls his past decade of crimsoning towards the end of the night.
There is plenty of heated moments, and while the overall tension is not as high as on the Philadelphia show earlier this year, a lot of times it rises to kill. I feel I tended to underappreciate the 1982 tour, but the Alabamahalle show is another record from this scarcely survived period that pleasantly proves me wrong on a revisit.
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Discipline's companion
"I do think it's good. I do think it's good! I do think it's GOOD!"Live in Munich 1982 is an album that's in a difficult spot. Each iteration of King Crimson had its definitely live album (think for example: The Great Deceiver), and in this case, Live in Munich has to go up against the well-loved Absent Lovers live album, which was arguably the definitive statement of the 80s KC lineup. Now while I think any fan of the Crim should absolutely spend their hard-earned money on the Absent Lovers album, I also think Live in Munich is a terrific piece and arguably a better live representation of their revival album Discipline.
"Madness!!" you might be thinking! But my reasoning is such for the simple fact that this is really a live concert focused on Discipline material with a few added songs from Beat and a rendition of LTiA 2, while Absent Lovers covered the trilogy of their 80s run, thus making Live in Munich feel much more focused for fans of Discipline.
For this review I'll (at times) have to inevitably draw comparisons between Live in Munich and Absent Lovers but also to the studio album it takes most of its setlist from.
The album opens up with an extended version of Waiting Man. The buildup here is impressive, with backing electronic drums and each member progressively coming on stage to add their instrumentation to the mix. Bruford is the first one to do the honours, followed by Belew's vocals and drum participation. The bass line from the Chapman stick kicks in after another minute, the crowd is loving it, Fripp begins his arpeggios, and all's right with the world. While this song in subsequent recordings runs for about half the time, in this here set of concerts KC would use it as an opener and really give the time to build each layer. When the intro finally gives way to the second part of the track, the payoff is that much greater. Bruford and Levin jam it out, Belew's abstract playing kicks in as he uses feedback, we even get some Levin backing vocal and Fripp warming up his signature crosspicking for the track outro. A strong outro and a version of the track I wish would have been used for later tours down the years.
No time to rest as the energetic Thela Hun Ginjeet sets off. Polyrhythmic drums, funky bass lines, more Belew guitar antics and Fripp ramping up his playing even more is all par for the course here. While the live version lacks the discombobulated feeling of the studio track (Belew's ramblings layered upon the jamming makes for an amazing track), it gives way for Belew to use the track as a playground, especially in the middle section. Frame by Frame soon follows, and while this track is more focused and allows much less improvisation than the previous one, it showcases Fripp's speed and dexterity quite audibly. The man can do arpeggios at an incredible speed, at least in my humble opinion. The closing 30 seconds or so with Belew's synth-like guitar and Fripp's dexterity make for great listening.
I sadly have little to say about Matte Kudasai, the song is a slow ballad and features yet again Belew impressionism (hear these seagulls?), but the song overall never really appealed to me. It will make one appreciate though how Levin and Belew's instrumentation (in particular the Chapman stick) really shaped that 80s KC sound. The first part of the concert, if you look at it this way, closes out with a favourite of mine: The Sheltering Sky. Bruford bought this toy drum for around 20 bucks, and it serves as the backdrop for some gorgeous psychedelic experiments. Levin's melodic bass helps set the framework for Fripp and Belew to each showcase their styles. The former has some absolutely great solo-ing in the third part of the track while the latter uses the song as his playground and extracts absolutely gorgeous sounds out of his guitar during the middle segment of the piece. If anything this track will make you appreciate how gorgeously unique Belew's playing is. Truly a KC piece I could never tire of listening.
The second part kicks off with the agitated Neil and Jack and Me, Bruford is instrumental here (pun intended) in conjuring great energy on this track, until the middle transition of the track, aided by just gorgeous Chapman stick harmonies by Levin and vocals by Belew. Seriously I cannot overstate how great this transition is, and I thought it the highlight of this track until Fripp kicks off an absolutely beautiful solo, and I don't use the term lightly here. The new wave framework is essential here for this piece; earlier KC lineups or latter ones cannot really harness the same flavour used on this track I believe. The definitive version of this track, Fripp's solos on the studio version or the Absent Lovers version cannot quite reach this one. Elephant Talk is an 80s KC mainstay, and it's actually the first time of the show I'd say that Belew's stage persona is in full force. His vocals are erratic and improvised, and his playing is the best it's been for the entire concert so far. The rhythm section here shines as well; overall a track that I didn't quite appreciate on Discipline but really is peak performance from the group... or is it?
A three minute drum solo from Bruford leads into the aptly named Indiscipline, the successor to the tension-and-release mastery of the 70s KC lineup, while also being an incredible showcase of each member. Bruford is completely off the chain in the way only tracks like Fracture could allow him to be, Levin has seemingly the time of his life laying down the bass framework, Fripp smiles on slowly picking his guitar while Belew is already submitting his guitar to all manners of abusive treatments. And the best part? It's only the beginning of the track. Belew rambles on in a nearly sinister way about this piece of art that he's fixated on while the bass thumps menacingly in the background. And then the band explodes in a frenzy. And then they do it again. In the second part it is Fripp taking the lead with agressive soloing while Belew provides the rhythm guitar, but it is in the final part that the song truly lives up to its name. Following Belew's theatrics, the group harnesses pure chaos as Belew and Fripp both break out in solos, each in their own style, even Levin's stick playing picks up in speed very impressively in some places (as seen in the DVD) while Belew's guitar just wails. The track that is seemingly the closing track could probably be seen as the highlight of the concert. Belew's solo on this track was never to be beaten in any subsequent performances of Indiscipline
Oh but lo and behold, it would seem the band is back for two last tracks! Heartbeat is the first of the two, and is just pure distilled new wave. Levin's backing vocals are great to hear again and Fripp's playing on the bridge is actually mind-boggling in a Belew kind of way. Overall a charming song and a nice track but which may not really fit with the rest of the setlist. Finally time to close it out with the legendary Larks' Tongues in Aspic II. The guitars sound metal as can be and the band sound unusually agressive, a byproduct of many songs with the Wetton lineup. Lacking Mr Cross on the violin, the band opts to kick the tempo up a notch compared to the classic version and let the duo of guitar off the leash to run rampant for a good half of the track. I believe that is Fripp playing the closing solo for the track, but if it was Belew then I'd be incredibly impressed. The solo is as agressive as you could get probably, and speaking of which, a shoutout has to be given to Levin for his agressive bass playing: justice is truly made to Wetton here.
The outro is grand, it is powerful, it is everything the Crim should be.
Overall this record is, in my eyes, pretty much the strongest one out of their Discipline inspired tour and a great companion piece to Absent Lovers. No it will not replace it as the definitive 80s live KC recording, but I'll be damned if it's not the definitive live companion to Discipline.
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A drop in the bucket of great 80's material, KCCC 32 has a lot of competition to measure up against in the expansive KCCC catalogue. Its pros are a sadly rare introduction to Frame by Frame, a hot rendition of Neal and Jack and Me, and a thick and gritty LTIA II (which may or may not impress you). On the downside is the chilly, harsh, grating tape quality. Ultimately, this is a great release, but if you've heard other stuff from the '82 tours, you won't find much new here, though you will be satisfied if you're looking for more of the same.
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1
Waiting Man
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2 Thela Hun Ginjeet
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3 Frame by Frame
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4 Matte Kudasai
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5 The Sheltering Sky
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6 Neal and Jack and Me
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7 Elephant Talk
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8 Indiscipline
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9 Heartbeat
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10 Larks' Tongues in Aspic Part II
22 Mar 2022
2 Mar 2022
24 Jan 2022