King Crimson at Tachikawa Stage Garden, December 5th 2021

 

With almost two months to process, on top of a really significant delay, I apologize, I can confirm that the December fifth King Crimson concert at Tachikawa Stage Garden was definitely a memorable one and worth of being a farewell to a legendary musical group that for over five decades pushed the boundaries of what’s possible on record and on stage.

Reflecting on that event almost two months after it happened also feels like it was ages ago. Back then the light at the end of the tunnel looked way closer than it does now. King Crimson was the first international band-maybe the only one so far- to tour Japan since the lockdowns imposed after the pandemic came to effect. When I got my tickets, five months prior to the event, this date was supposed to be the last one of a tour that also stopped by the Tokyo International Forum, the Nagoya Civic Assembly Hall and the Osaka Festival Hall. Two extra dates at Orchard Hall were added at the tail end. That venue was when I last saw them in 2018.

This was actually my third time seeing them. The first one was at L’Olympia in Paris in 2015. Each time was special, but it’s difficult to match that first impact of finally seeing King Crimson for the first time after being a fan for more than a couple of decades. The second time was epic as well. Longer, with eight band members and covering more ground from their catalog. This third time we witnessed a fine tuned machine with the same mind blowing approach. Slight differences I noticed were the stronger presence of the piano and a jazzier flavor in general, at times even adapting a trio format between Stacey, Levin and Mastelotto. Paradoxically they also sounded harder rocking this time around, specially in the second half of the show. That one included more from the eighties and nineties Crimson which I guess meant going back to the sort of industrial sound they cultivated in the early 2000s.

This idea of dividing the sets in two eras, with the first one dedicated pretty much exclusively to their sixties and seventies output, was an interesting one. Personally I preferred the more mixed setlists from previous tours. 21st Century Schizoid Man closing the first half felt anticlimactic to me because I remembered the impact of hearing it as the final encore in my other two shows. The encore was not too shabby on this show. We got a second performance of Discipline after a first one interrupted by technical issues, and what it used to be the set closer, Starless. This is strictly subjective, but in my opinion this order lessened the effect of the dramatic light cue during this tune’s instrumental section. Maybe because at the third time the element of surprise was lost? But I don't think so. I feel that performing Starless as the set closer was a brilliant move

I’m nitpicking though. This was the best show I witnessed in 2021 and an exhilarating experience. If this was indeed their last show, what a way to go. The sight of Fripp by himself on stage as the audience give him a deserved standing ovation was an electrifying moment. It was also cool to see them in West Tokyo at a brand new venue. Hopefully other international artists will stop there in the future. 

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