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Music is our Friend – Named after the tour from which the performances were taken,
“Music Is Our Friend” is an official bootleg featuring all of King Crimson’s
final performance in North America in Washington, D.C. in September, 2021.
This 2CD set is completed with four pieces from the first concert of the
tour’s second leg in Albany. Taken together, these tracks represent
both a beginning and an end of a tour that took place despite almost
insurmountable issues.
Originally scheduled for 2020, postponed for a full year because of the
pandemic, the tour began July in Florida as the latest Covid wave hit and the
band moved across the country in a tour bus bubble.
Following a two-week break due to scheduling conflicts, they returned to the
road again, with the Zappa Band appearing nightly before Crimson.
Now facing gigs that had to be moved due to extreme weather, with one venue
flooded a day before a concert, an open-air venue in New York transferred to
the more familiar Beacon Theatre, and even a band member flown to hospital
via helicopter, King Crimson faced a range of challenging conditions.
Happily, the band member was fully recovered and no gigs were missed despite
the array of setbacks and obstacles.
By the time King Crimson reached Washington, the band was in ferocious form
with a powerful, energetic set with some arrangements reworked and differing
from previous tours. Featuring a restored middle section of ‘Larks’ Tongues
In Aspic Part One’ that had not been played since 1973, substantial
keyboard arrangements, Tony Levin on upright bass during ‘Neurotica’ giving
the piece an extra swing, there’s an emotional set-closer, Starless and an
immensely powerful ‘21st Century Schizoid Man’ as an encore.
King Crimson completed their tour in style and to much acclaim from fans and
critics alike. As Robert Fripp notes in his diary entry included in the
notes: “David (Singleton, KC manager/producer), pointed out that the very
first piece KC played in the US, at Godard College, Montpelier, Vermont on
October 29th. 1969, was the same piece as completed KC’s 52 years – 21CSM”.
In contrast to the Washington show, the four performances from the ‘Friends
and Family’ concert in late August 2021 at The Egg in Albany, opening show of
the second leg of the tour and the same venue where the current band played
its first US gig in 2014, have a more intimate feel. As befits a small
venue/invited audience, the sound and pacing provide an opportunity to hear a
run of material not played in Washington due to time constraints.
Bringing the second disc with a poignant performance of ‘Islands’ – perhaps
the best recording of this song by this band, David Singleton, who also
prepared all the audio for this release, thought it one of the best sets the
band played on this or previous tours.
The release features photos from the concerts, sleeve notes by David
Singleton and diary entries for the concert days from Robert Fripp in a
24-page accompanying booklet.
A completion is a new beginning – Robert Fripp, September, 2021
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