At first glance, documenting King Crimson would appear to be fairly straightforward: record everything, document everything, issue a release from each tour or, when relevant. With the current touring band(s) that has resulted in an early, partial set from 2014 (Orpheum), a fan favourite Official Bootleg (Toronto 2015), a complete set list audio & video extravaganza with live/virtual studio listening options (Radical Action, 2016), an EP (Heroes, 2017) & the most recent (& current fan favourite), Official Bootleg (Chicago, 2017). It was always part of the plan that an official release would be taken from the 2016 European tour & the Vienna concerts were duly mixed & produced by Chris Porter, David Singleton & Robert Fripp in early/mid 2017 with a view to being released in Autumn 2017 (as happened in Japan).
But King Crimson evolves, changes, morphs as relentlessly as the Soundscapes which open each concert and, when the early half of the US tour produced the Chicago “snapshot” live tapes & with another leg to the USA tour ending for the latter half of the year, DGM opted to issue Chicago as soon as possible in Europe & the USA, temporarily postponing Vienna for a 2018 release.
Although it was a difficult decision to take, substituting a fully mixed, planned for months, release for an entirely different type of album, [Chicago was an ‘Official Bootleg’ taken directly from soundboard tapes], that decision had one further important ramification. Where the Japanese edition of Vienna had, as a bonus for local fans, live tracks from the 2015 Japanese tour, the additional time gained via the release of Chicago, allowed DGM to research & mix a live recording of “Fracture” – a key performance at a number of 2016 European shows & a piece that had not been performed since 1974 – for inclusion on the Vienna set. The recording featured is from Copenhagen in September 2016. There was also time to consider how the, often over-looked, unique to each evening Soundscape performances which open each concert, could be presented in recorded form. The result is a trio of pieces, drawn from nine separate concerts & edited ‘THRaKaTTaK’ style, featuring Robert, Mel & Tony.
King Crimson continues to re-invent & re-imagine both itself & its music; the kind of thing that once would have been called a “progressive” approach. It’s an approach that has benefited band members and listeners alike from January 1969 & continues with tours of Europe & Japan in 2018, the band’s 49th year.
Reply With Quote