In the Prog Seat: Beat-Philly, Toronto, and Albany Shows Reviewed!

Join the In the Prog Seat crew as they review the Philadelphia, Toronto, and Albany, NY shows from Beat, the '80s era King Crimson band featuring Adrian Belew, Tony Levin, Steve Vai, and Danny Carey.
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[@erichutz7182]

I was at the Philly show and Chad & Ken's comments were spot on. Sheltering Sky was one of my standouts that night -- sublime and killer at the same time.

[@ndmich88]

Perfect timing for this show! Just saw them last night in Greensburg, PA. What an absolute treat! Vai and Belew were on fire, Tony is a damn master, and Danny’s monstrous fills had me going nuts. I’m amazed at how good Belew’s voice still sounds. What a damn great show!

[@Fritha71]

Thanks for the reviews! If they somehow end up touring here over Europe and come to Finland then I might consider going - even though I haven't been to a live show in years. An album study on 'Security' would be more than welcome! I'm with Ken on most days; Peter's greatest accomplishment.

[@scott6682]

Probably the most talent I’ve seen on one stage. Amazing show.

[@colstonvear1958]

Great review guys. Thanks. Now Beat come to London!

[@musicnotherdrugs6760]

Great show, guys. I took my eight-year-old son to the Rochester show and he was blown away by the whole thing. "Waiting Man" has become his favorite song.

[@ericporter344]

I wish I could have gotten my daughter to go, not her thing! Love that you brought your son ❤️

[@joegrinvalsky7222]

I saw them in Boston, MA (also sold out) and the setlist was the same as the 3 shows here. I am another that saw King Crimson in 1984. BEAT is not the same as the band I saw back then (despite various reviews online). Ken's review is spot on: they are very faithful to the material (specifically the rhythm section). "Model Man" was very rarely played live in the 80's and "The Sheltering Sky" was clearly the standout performance in Boston. Steve was in full glory on that guitar solo. That alone paid the price of admission. Very good show, very entertaining. North American King Crimson fans are spoiled right now: BEAT performing 80's King Crimson. David Cross Band performing 73-75 King Crimson with Lark's Tongues in Aspic in its entirety. Great times right now.

[@TheMike28212]

Great to hear everyone’s thoughts. I saw Beat in Charlotte 10/1 and was completely blown away.

[@griefforest1870]

I don't necessarily need new material, but a live album or even blu ray would be stellar.

[@stephanerichard6267]

I was at the Halifax show ! Great show !

[@dmskon]

Great show, as always. So cool to hear Ken describe the show as a celebration.

[@jimave]

You are making me want to see them again. As I’ve said this in other places, I saw them on opening night.

[@MochaDaisy8645]

I was at the second show in Napa. I was giving serious thought to seeing their return engagement at SJCC but opted for the Reno show instead. There were other concerts of interest to me but I would just as soon see them a second time, which I am

[@simonhicks3060]

Would have loved to seen this show. Unfortunately, my personal finances are not great right now. I've seen King Crimson several times at Massey Hall. I've really enjoyed seeing several KZbin clips of Beat. Great seeing Steve Vai and Danny Carey input. Hoping there will be an official release of this tour.

[@davidyeager8524]

Great show. Almost like I was there. I did see Crimson in 1981 on the CMU campus in Pittsburgh on Halloween night. Loads of people came dressed in their scariest. Belew and the guys were so tight . Belew explained that Fripp and Bruford didn’t celebrate Halloween and they were intrigued . What a concert! That and Pink Floyd at Cleveland Municipal Stadium were my two favorite shows.

[@jaycianfrini77]

Great episode!! I was at the Massey Hall Oct 18. It was unbelievable. loved that band since I bought Three of a Perfect Pair in 92/93 when I was a teenager. Never in a million years did I think I’d ever see those songs live. My girlfriend’s favourite band is Tool (so she was totally into it) and KC is in my top 5 bands. Adrian’s voice was so good. Steve Vai did one of the most amazing solos I’ve ever seen live. And Tony. He’s one of the best of all time. Show of the year for sure!! And I saw Opeth that same week (Oct 14) great week for music.

[@Pizzageek-jc4xp]

wish they'd come to Europe

[@aquabot]

So do I, dude, so do I.

[@andrewcox904]

Thanks for the reviews. I cannot 9:18 wait to see them in Portland, Oregon on November 22. I last saw them on the Thrak tour

[@noheamike5036]

On the way home after our show in L.A., we bought tickets for a second show when they come back through. Knew they would start going quick after a spectacular evening.

[@GMTPoet]

I saw the Rochester show. I also saw the Crims in 81. Both great shows. I found the biggest difference between the two shows was the drumming. Carey is a hard rock drummer, Bruford is essentially a jazz drummer. So the Beat show rocked hard, but it wasn’t fluid like the Crimson show. The other major difference came from the circumstances, in that when I saw them in 81, Discipline hadn’t been released yet, so everything was new. So I heard “Indiscipline” with no clue what was happening. Same with “Elephant Talk” and “Thela Hun Ginjeet,” totally surprising. “Satori in Tangier” was transcendent with Crimson, not so much with Beat. It didn’t elevate me like the first time I heard it.

[@mr.limbismusic970]

I saw the Philly show and was blown away. I have been on a KC kick for the last 9 months (all eras) and love the band. We got lucky and scored 7th row the day of the show. My wife joined me, but I warned her it might not be her thing. She loved it!!! I now catch her listening to indiscipline, thela, matte, three…, sheltering etc” Hilarious. I was in my 1st band in 93 and the singer had us cover thela. He did the whole rap. That guitar part always kicked my ass and I was always getting lost. Haha. I was coming from the stooges, velvets school, so it was a great challenge🤘🏻🤘🏻

[@IraSiegel]

Saw the Phoenix stop in the round and agree it looked like they were just having a blast. I liked they played Red. Vai was incredible. Would definitely see them again, even if it’s the same setlist. 🐘

[@scottross2762]

This tour, this thing is its own beast. I like it. Define it as you will, but this is fresh and sizzling.

[@chrismcgovern6514]

Plenty of seats available for Brooklyn in December. I got 3rd row at the Beacon.

[@ericporter344]

I’d love to go again!

[@MochaDaisy8645]

@ericporter344 I will be going to a second show. I was thrilled when they added 21 more shows. Anyone in Northern CA/Nevada, there are plenty of tickets available for the Reno show on November 21

[@ericporter344]

@@MochaDaisy8645 enjoy, I hope to get to see them again!

[@davel7791]

I saw the show in DC. Joyous is the word I’d use to describe it. Couldn’t take my eyes off Steve Vai. What a ridiculous talent. Honestly I prefer him to Fripp. Congratulations to Adrian on the success of this project. He deserves it.

[@shanemorgan5932]

Saw them Oct 12 in New Hampshire. SO good... Adrian had issues with his rig (pedal board I think) during Industry and Steve had to play basically both parts to finish the song. I agree with Ken that Danny is a harder hitter than Bruford and I said that to my friend Aaron. Aaron saw them the night before as well in Boston and thought that the entire band was much more at ease in New Hampshire. (Maybe they were tight due to being in Boston with Berklee and the fact that there were a lot of musical "bigwigs" in the crowd). I hope this tour continues on and on.

[@shanemorgan5932]

New Hampshire was sold out BTW

[@scottross2762]

I was a concert rat back in the day. Glorious times. I have not seen a live show in years. Only a couple of bands I would love to see now. Mastodon comes to mind. I really want to see this Beat tour. I don't think it will happen. Closest places Eugene or Portland Oregon, 12 hour drive round trip for us. Tickets are sold and going for over 130$ to 280. If wishes were horses, we could all ride. I saw the King Crimson tour for Three of a Perfect Pair in 1984 at Pine Knob Music Theater in Clarkston Michigan, a fantastic summertime outdoor theater with a lawn and a party. Great Show as I had 20th row seats. I was in it. Great. Great.

[@jackpittens796]

I was at the Toronto show. They definitely played Sheltering Sky. I loved the show. Honestly better than what I expected. I thought the sound was poor for the first song or so, but they got that dialed in and was good from there on. I would love to see another tour that covers Thrak, Construction of Light, and Power to Believe. Totally awesome would be if they created some new material.

[@brandon1351]

I hope Ken Goldman reads this :) Peter Gabriel 4 (Security) is an absolute masterpiece. Right from the get go you’ve got the intensity of Rhythm of the heat especially at the end SAN Jacinto always brings a tear to my eye the (letting go of life) then the little instrumental break make the tears well up. I have the touch - a real fairlight workout ❤️ Family and the fishing net - no words to describe this epic piece. Shock the monkey - another fairlight workout ❤️ Lay your hands on me - again words cannot express how epic this song is Wallflower - perhaps one of his best lyrics after Mercy Street Kiss of life - electro dance track with a Latin feel ❤

[@kengolden666]

I don't know if Ken Goldman will read this but Ken Golden did. Stand by for Peter Gabriel 4....coming soon.

[@brandon1351]

@@kengolden666 oh man I can’t wait 🎉 thanks for taking the time to reply. It’s really appreciated. Watching from 🇦🇺

[@vinnieoskokie]

I don’t want to be that guy, but I’m down to one concert a year. Last year I saw the zombies six months before they quit touring and this year I took my mom to see Paul Anka. Yes, concert ticket prices have something to do with it hopefully these guys will come to Chicago next year and I’ll see them.

[@stevejepson9963]

I saw KC at Massey Hall in 1974

[@MochaDaisy8645]

21:22 (to answer Ken’s question) I checked out several uploads of Matte Kudasai and Steve appears to be playing a version of his Ibanez signature model without a flashy or elaborate design. If you look very carefully, you can make out the handle grip. It’s hard to see with the solid black paint but even harder when he is wearing a black outfit. I think the plain maple neck is gives it the look of a classic Strat without imitating it, as it is still a unique instrument regardless of how close it gets to the prototypical design

[@philwildcroft1764]

It is an Ibanez but it's not one of his signatures, although it does have the monkey grip. He recorded a song with a Fender Strat about 20 years ago and needed an Ibanez to tour it with. So Ibanez made him at least one which has 21 frets and normal single coil pickups (his signature is 24 frets and H-S-H pickups). The one I know about is a deep green but often looks black under stage lights, so it's most likely that one.

[@aquabot]

The guitar Vai uses for Matte Kudasai is a Jem with single coils, actually.

[@philwildcroft1764]

It's also 21 frets rather than 24 frets. So it's a JEM body but different neck and hardware.

[@starwhiteoflove]

Toronto was fully sold out, no tickets at the door. I was there. Loved the show performance wise. There were a couple slips but it was well done overall. One thing that bothered me - and it has been a persistent issue for a lot of shows in recent years - the sound was abnormally loud. I can’t stand when the sound volume prevails over quality. I don’t need it to be loud, I need it to be coherent and listenable. Audio engineers have yet to figure this one out. Because most of the shows these days aren’t pleasant to listen to. Headache inducing experience; makes me not want to go to live shows. FYI, setlist is identical every night of the tour.

[@brianmiller1077]

The closest performance for me is 270 miles away, on my anniversary and the day before the election, and I'm an election judge and it's a long day 16-18 hours. I thought about it. Maybe if I was 25 years old.

[@rick063092]

There are no casual Crimson fans, they’re a totally acquired taste..

[@vinnieoskokie]

That’s why if you find a used album by K.C. It’s sure to be well worn.

[@jasonshort1437]

Seeing them Saturday in Cincinnati, getting excited over here!

[@ericporter344]

👍 enjoy