TODD RUNDGREN’s Explosive Take On KING CRIMSON’s “21ST CENTURY SCHIZOID MAN” Previews The Forthcoming Star-Studded KING CRIMSON Tribute Album!

It’s one of the most groundbreaking debut albums of all-time, a monster of innovative musical composition and thought-provoking lyrics whose appeal and creative influence has not only endured though generations but has expanded since its initial release in 1969. In The Court Of The Crimson King is a magnum opus like no other in rock history and now an all-star gathering of rock music royalty have come together to recreate the masterpiece in its entirety!

It begins with a spectacular version of the lead off track, a mind-blowing, sonic soul-crushing blast called “21st Century Schizoid Man,” which features vocals by Rock Hall Of Fame inductee Todd Rundgren as well as theatrical legend Arthur “God Of Hellfire” Brown alongside former King Crimson saxophonist Mel Collins, guitarist Chris Poland and drummer Ian Paice. Together this extraordinarily talented quartet breathe vicious new life into the song. Rundgren’s vocal performance is nothing short of deliriously demented as he takes on the twisted psyche of King Crimson’s shattered mirror image of modern man. The single is released today on all music platforms to herald the imminent arrival of the full tribute album.

Drummer Paice recalls “I had the great privilege of seeing Crimson live in London just after the first album was released, a really inventive, wonderful band. We in Deep Purple thought they were really great!”

Set for release on April 19, Reimagining The Court Of The Crimson King unites an astounding mix of musical virtuosos and creative collaborators that’s as eclectic and far-reaching as King Crimson’s own noble cortege. Guests include all of those mentioned above plus current King Crimson vocalist/guitarist Jakko Jakszyk, Joe Lynn Turner, James LaBrie, Marty Friedman, and Carmine Appice. Adding to this stellar lineup are rock and prog giants such as Steve Hillage, known for his work with Gong, and Jah Wobble, the post-punk bass maestro and PIL & Eno collaborator; and the Hawkwind alumni trifecta of Alan Davey, Paul Rudolph, and Nik Turner, infusing the project with a cosmic touch!

This album is not just a tribute; it's a celebration and reinvention of a musical masterpiece, bringing together the past, present, and future of rock music. Don't miss this unparalleled musical journey.

Order the CD/Vinyl | Pre-order/pre-save the digital

King Crimson’s “In The Court of The Crimson King – King Crimson at 50” Documentary by Toby Amies Blu-Ray/DVD Set Available November 18th

Described by Variety magazine as “really about as good as rock documentaries get,” the long-awaited, official King Crimson documentary by Toby Amies will be released in physical form on Nov 18th as a 2 Disc Blu-Ray/DVD set. An 8 Disc boxed set containing 2 Blu-Rays, 2 DVDs and 4 CDs will follow on December 2nd.

The 8 Disc boxed set includes the full King Crimson film, an early edited version of the film, a live concert from the 50th anniversary tour and a unique camera-only performance, plus a plethora of additional footage. 8 discs packaged in 4 miniature gatefold sleeves, with a 48-page booklet housed in a rigid outer case. Booklet includes notes from film director Toby Amies, David Singleton and Robert Fripp. Also includes the music from the original soundtrack and more, over 4 CDs, many tracks previously unreleased and/or new to CD.

The 2 Disc Blu-Ray/DVD set includes the full documentary film, an early edited version of the film, the final performance of the classic “Starless” from the band’s final ever concert in Tokyo, Japan in December 2021 and four trailers/shorts.

King Crimson has been described as popular but never populist. Just as King Crimson has been, for more than half a century, an atypical rock band, this film is a refreshingly atypical music documentary.

Toby Amies’ film about one of rock music’s most enduring, but simultaneously elusive, bands, “In The Court of the Crimson King – King Crimson at 50” provides a unique insight into the working process of a complex touring band, interspersed with contributions from previous band members to provide a contextual backdrop to the band’s past, as the most recent (2014-2021) line-up tours the world just before and during its 50th anniversary.

As King Crimson producer and band manager, David Singleton observed of the film: “All of life is here, not just music, and certainly not just rock. It has rightly been described as going beyond King Crimson into a ‘universal, inspirational study of what it is to work or dream to work as an artist.’”

While director Toby Amies writes of the experience: “In the Court of the Crimson King is not a film that wants to tell the audience what to think, rather it presents several different points of view about the creative process and what it means to be in this most unusual band; leaving the audience with a sense of both how complicated it all is, but also just how incredibly rewarding the King Crimson experience is both for the musicians and its fans.”

Robert Fripp announced that King Crimson had “moved from sound to silence” on social media after their final date in Japan in December 2021, making this release all the more poignant as a unique record of the band’s longest lasting line-up with tantalizing glimpses of the band’s history.

 Also available as Limited Edition 8 disc boxed set from 2nd December

PRE-ORDER - Film Blu-Ray & DVD / Film Expanded Set

facebook.com/kingcrimsonofficial

 

King Crimson “Music Is Our Friend” Live 2CD Set Available For Pre-order

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. 

CD One
1. Introductory Soundscape
2. The Hell Hounds Of Krim
3. Larks’ Tongues In Aspic Part I
4. Pictures Of A City
5. The Court Of The Crimson King
6. Red
7. Tony Cadenza Deals It Slitheryacious-To-The-Max
8. Neurotica
9. One More Red Nightmare
10. Indiscipline

CD Two
1. Epitaph
2. Radical Action II
3. Level Five
4. Starless
5. 21st Century Schizoid Man
6. Tony Cadenza Serves It Piping Hot
7. Discipline
8. Larks’ Tongues In Aspic Part II
9. Islands

Release date November 19, 2021

Order from Inner Knot 

“A Romantic's Guide to King Crimson” by The Mastelottos Featuring Drum Legend Pat Mastelotto

Valentine’s Day 2021 delivers an unexpected and welcome surprise with the release of “A Romantic’s Guide to King Crimson,” the new 12-track album of reinvented King Crimson material by the husband-and-wife duo Deborah and Pat Mastelotto. The collection, which spans the band’s entire history, revisits classics including “Matte Kudasai,” “Heartbeat,” “Moonchild,” “Elephant Talk,” “Peace,” “Exiles,” and “Sleepless.”

Pat Mastelotto is an American rock drummer and record producer who has worked with King Crimson, Mr. Mister, XTC, The Rembrandts and many others. Pat has served as one of King Crimson’s drummers from 1995 to the present day. This album resulted from Pat’s observations and Deborah’s insights made after she intermittently joined Pat on tour as part of the King Crimson entourage from 2008 onwards.

“It’s always been a joke in the King Crimson camp that there’s never a line for the women’s restrooms during intermissions,” said Deborah. “King Crimson plays loud and it’s often intense and raucous. But it can also be haunting and melodic, with some of the most beautiful lyrics ever. We wanted to help uncover that sweetness and introduce the songs to a different type of audience with ‘A Romantic’s Guide to King Crimson.’”

“The album has amazing contributions from all the musicians involved, especially the TOAPP (Three of a Perfect Pair Music Masters Camp) artists,” said Pat. “We experimented together and since they were already lifelong Crim Heads, they were totally into reconfiguring the classic performances or developing totally new parts. So, get ready. You’ll hear some fantastic detail in their playing.”

The recording features material they chose and arranged together with lead vocals by Deborah, a creative Tour de Force in her own right, and with Pat drumming and producing.

“We compiled King Crimson songs and searched for the romanticism in them, then rearranged them,” said Deborah. “The addition of a girl singer automatically changes the feel of those songs and places them in a different genre. Our idea is to create a way for people, especially women, to appreciate the beauty of King Crimson’s music without the fear and sometimes resistance attached to the word ‘prog’ getting in the way. We slow the songs way down and strip them back to their essential lyrics and melodies.”

“In the Crimson tradition, we approached every song as if it was brand new,” said Pat. “At first, it involved tinkering with 20-plus songs in hotel rooms using iPhone apps to choose what worked best for us. We first focused on the lyrics. The words had to resonate and the arrangements had to develop a prog-meets-pop twist to meet my hopes. We had no desire to duplicate the original arrangements. In fact, just the opposite. I was trying to discover where else they could go to expose sweetness, sort of like the old days of cassettes and giving a loved one a mixtape. It’s a gift to fans and a family of former Crims.“

The Mastelottos started the recordings in 2019 by inviting the Texas TOAPP alumni, including members of the Houston symphony, to record in Pat’s home studio in the Texas Hill Country. After a quick trip to Nagoya for his one and only live gig of 2020, which yielded the live Stick Men album “Owari,” Pat returned and spent months with Deborah during the 2020 COVID-19 lockdown finishing the project. The result is an album full of lush nuance and ornamentation designed to put listeners in a meditative and buoyant mood.

“The lockdown resulted in a year of cancelled shows, which gave us time to realize the album,” said Pat. “This grand reboot of humanity made being a couple all the more important, nurturing relationships with people we love, gardening and doing home projects while creating this album together was a beautiful experience.”

“2020 has given us the longest period of consecutive days, weeks and months we’ve ever spent together,” said Deborah. “Our close proximity enabled a continuous dialog and working environment, so we never had to break the creative flow.”

“Working from home meant we could take the listening experience from the studio to the car to the bedroom…to test drive…so to speak,” added Pat.

“Heat up the hot tub, fluff your pillows and head to the softer side of the bed for the pinkest Crimson ever”

Romantic's Guide To King Crimson

King Crimson's The Elements 2020 Tour Box 2CD Now Available For Pre-order

This 2-CD history of King Crimson features many extracts and tracks appearing on CD for the first time, including many of the current line-up. Packaged in a digi-pack style book case with 24-page booklet, this set contains introductory notes by Robert Fripp & sleeve notes by Sid Smith.

While this 7th release in the Tour Box series is in spirit with the earlier releases, this is also a very different tour box to its companions, and one which, as it has to stand along and represent a tour that should have been (and will occur in 2021), it also stands slightly apart.

What themes and stories should a tour box created for a postponed tour tell?

As with previous tour boxes, the 2020 Elements box covers the full spectrum of Crimsoning, this one with music and line-ups from 1969-2019. Disc one represents a mostly live/mostly new-to-CD selection of material including 4 tracks taken from the 2019 tour. Disc two, in keeping with the theme of Sid's notes, discussed below, presents pieces played occasionally by the current line-up - Exiles and Sheltering Sky, pieces from the studio - both King Crimson and Robert Fripp that were never completed, or were developed in different ways, material that never made it to a studio recording - The Errors, Dr. Diamond, Trees (extract), Guts on my Side, etc, all combine to present a convincing musical counter-history to the band.

The main sleeve notes by KC historian Sid Smith present a series of highly plausible "what if?" scenarios. Starting from 1969. his 2000 word essay traces a counterfactual history of the band had various tours not been canceled or postponed, had various members not quit or joined, following the routes and pathways a band called King Crimson could have followed had things turned out slightly different along the way.

Disc 1

1 Wind Extract
2 I Talk to the Wind (Alt 2019 Mix)
3 Moonchild (Including Cadenzas, Live 23rd Sept 2019) *
4 In the Wake of Poseidon (Greg Lake Isolated Vocal) *
5 Peace A Theme (Live 26th Oct 1973) *
6 Cat Food (Live 26th Oct 1973) *
7 Last Skirmish (Live 10th June 2019) *
8 Prince Rupert's Lament (Alt Take)
9 The Letters (Bill Rieflin isolated, edit section 1) *
10 The Letters (RF Guitars early take, section) *
11 The Letters (Bill Rieflin isolated, edit section 2) *
12 Ladies of the Road (Fripp/Singleton mix)
13 Easy Money (Live 5th Sept 2019) *
14 Fracture (Live 2016, Taken from Live in Vienna)
15 One More Red Nightmare (Live 4th July 2019) *
16 Starless (Mark Charig featured Studio 1974)

*Tracks previously unreleased on CD

Disc 2

1 The Sheltering Sky (Live 18 July 2019) *
2 San Francisco (From Champaign Urbana Rehearsals 1983)
3 Frame By Frame (Jakszyk/Harrison Pre-2019 Tour Demo) *
4 Running DAT 17 (edit) (Rehearsals from THRAK)
5 Exiles (Live June 2017) *
6 North Star (Exposure Rehearsals)
7 Breathless (Live 2018)
8 The Errors (Live 13 Nov 2017)
9 Ian, Boz & Robert (Studio Jam 1971)
10 Disengage (Exposure Rehearsals) *
11 Guts On My Side (Live 19 March 1974)
12 Dr. Diamond (Live 16 June 1973) *
13 21st Century Schizoid Man (Live Detroit 1972)
14 Trees (Extract Live 1969)
15 The Sheltering Scape (Assembled by Alex R Mundy)

*Tracks previously unreleased on CD

Release date September 4, 2020 ~ Pre-order here 
 

King Crimson to Tour North America with The Zappa Band Summer 2020

King Crimson will be playing one tour this year in USA and Canada during June and July 2020. Except for shows such as the Ottawa Blues Festival, all the dates will be double bills with the Zappa Band.

“The Summer tour will be a throwback one for us in a few ways; great to be going back to outdoor venues, some of them the ‘sheds’ we played in the 1980’s. And we’ll be travelling by tour bus, old school! As for what pieces we’ll play, that hasn’t been decided yet, but will likely be a wide selection from the 50 years of Crimson repertoire. With 7 players on stage we can cover it all.” - Tony Levin

Since King Crimson's return to live performance in 2014, with critically acclaimed sell-out shows all over the world their three-hour shows regularly include material from twelve of their thirteen studio albums, including many of the songs from their seminal 1969 album In The Court of the Crimson King, described by Pete Townshend, as an “uncanny masterpiece”. The new 7-piece line-up plays many historic pieces which Crimson have never played live, as well as new arrangements of Crimson classics – “the music is new whenever it was written”. There are also new instrumentals and songs, as well as the compositions by the three drummers, Pat Mastelotto, Gavin Harrison and Jeremy Stacey, which are a regular highlight. A unique show, where seven of the best musicians in the world play music without distraction or adornment.

Tour dates:
June 4 - Clearwater, FL - Ruth Eckerd Hall
June 5 - St. Augustine, FL - St Augustine Amphitheatre
June 6 - Miami, FL - Mizner Park Amphitheatre
June 8 - Orlando, FL - Dr. Phillips Walt Disney
June 9 - New Orleans, LA - Saenger Theatre
June 10 - Memphis, TN - Graceland Soundstage
June 12 - Cary, NC - Koka Booth Amphitheatre
June 13 - Portsmouth, VA - Union Bank Pavilion
June 14 - Philadelphia, PA - The Mann Center
June 16 - Glens Falls, NY - Cool Insuring Arena
June 18 - Boston, MA - Rockland Trust Pavilion
June 19 - New York, NY - Forest Hills Stadium
June 20 - New Haven, CT - Westville Music Bowl
June 22 - New Brunswick, NJ - State Theatre
June 24 - Huber Heights, OH - Rose Music Center @ The Heights
June 25 - Louisville, KY - Palace Theatre
June 26 - Detroit, MI - Meadowbrook Amp
June 28 - Baltimore, MD - MECU Pavillion
June 30 - Vienna, VA - Wolf Trap
July 1 - Lewiston, NY - Artpark
July 5 - Chicago, IL - Ravinia
July 7 - Montreal, QC - Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier - Palace des Arts
July 9 - Quebec City, QC - Festival d'ete
July 11 - Ottawa, ON - Bluesfest
July 12 - Rama, ON - Casino Rama

For more information: www.dgmlive.com  

King Crimson to Release 5 Discs of Live Music in Their “Audio Diary 2014 - 2018'

Back in 1969, King Crimson made its reputation as a live band – initially with the hipsters, scene setters & other musicians who frequented the likes of the Speakeasy & The Marquee in London, then, more broadly, with a breakthrough gig to a vast mainstream audience as guests on the bill with The Rolling Stones in Hyde Park in July of that year. So it’s appropriate that the current incarnation of King Crimson was to be found just opposite the entrance to Hyde Park at the end of June 2019 almost 50 years on from that concert, playing a trio of packed gigs at the Royal Albert Hall.

Then, as now, it’s the live performance that’s key to the band.

The current line-up - the longest surviving in Crimson’s half century of existence – started touring in September 2014 & hasn’t stopped since. Now routinely spoken of in terms of ‘best live band in the world’, the band’s reputation has been further enhanced via a series of live releases beginning with the “Live at the Orpheum” mini-album (2015) & running to last year’s 3CD/Blu-Ray “Meltdown” set, drawn from a series of concerts in Mexico in 2017.

With a vast repertoire covering material from the debut album “In the Court of the Crimson King” (including ‘Moonchild’ which was never performed in 1969) through to works from “Lizard” which, likewise, was never performed at the time, Crim classics from “Islands”, “Larks’ Tongues in Aspic”, “Red” & other studio albums, through to compositions from Fripp’s solo album “Exposure” (‘Breathless’), radical reinterpretations of 80s material (‘Neurotica’, ‘Indiscipline’), to songs from the current KC band precursor album by Jakszyk, Fripp Collins (‘A Scarcity of Miracles’, ‘The Light of Day’) and newly written pieces for this line-up, (‘Meltdown’, ‘Radical Action’), this 5CD set provides a comprehensive overview of 5 years’ worth of concerts – one year per CD – with performances selected from that first concert in Albany New York in 2014, to the band’s penultimate 2018 concert in Tokyo.

CD1is fully mixed from multi-track tapes by Robert Fripp & Jakko Jakszyk, while the other 4 CDs are taken from the band’s stereo soundboard recordings, the most accurate recorded representation of the live band in the opinion/ears of many of the band’s hardcore fans.

Packaged in a rigid slipcase featuring artwork from the beloved and dearly missed Francesca Sundsten, containing 3 gatefold sleeves containing the 5 individual CDs, plus a 24-page full color booklet with previously unseen photographs.

Audio Diary 2014-2018
CD ONE (2014)
HOODOO
LARKS’ TONGUES IN ASPIC, PART ONE
A SCARCITY OF MIRACLES
LEVEL FIVE
ONE MORE RED NIGHTMARE
INTERLUDE
BANSHEE LEGS BELL HASSLE
THE TALKING DRUM
21ST CENTURY SCHIZOID MAN

THE LIGHT OF DAY

CD TWO (2015)

RADICAL ACTION I/MELTDOWN
INTERLUDE
SAILOR’S TALE
THE LETTERS
THE COURT OF THE CRIMSON KING
STARLESS
EASY MONEY
PICTURES OF A CITY
SUITABLE GROUNDS FOR THE BLUES
THE CONSTRUKCTION OF LIGHT
LEVEL FIVE

CD THREE (2016)
LARKS’ TONGUES IN ASPIC, PART TWO
EPITAPH
DEVIL DOGS OF TESSELLATION ROW
RED
BANSHEE LEGS BELL HASSLE
CIRKUS
RADICAL ACTION II
PICTURES OF A CITY
PEACE
LARKS’ TONGUES IN ASPIC, PART ONE
EASY MONEY
21ST CENTURY SCHIZOID MAN

CD FOUR (2017)
CIRKUS
STARLESS
THE LETTERS
HEROES
INTERLUDE
LAST SKIRMISH
INDISCIPLINE
DAWN SONG
PRINCE RUPERT’S LAMENT
THE ERRORS
FALLEN ANGEL
NEUROTICA
ISLANDS

CD FIVE (2018)
THE COURT OF THE CRIMSON KING
SUITABLE GROUNDS FOR THE BLUES
PICTURES OF A CITY
MELTDOWN
BOLERO
RADICAL ACTION
ONE MORE RED NIGHTMARE
MOONCHILD
EASY MONEY
LEVEL FIVE
PEACE
CADENCE AND CASCADE
BREATHLESS

Catch King Crimson's North American tour:
SEP 03, 2019 - GREEK THEATRE, Los Angeles
SEP 05, 2019 - FOX THEATER, Oakland
SEP 06, 2019 - FOX THEATER, Oakland
SEP 08, 2019 - PARAMOUNT THEATER, Denver
SEP 10, 2019 - AUDITORIUM THEATRE OF ROOSEVELT UNIVERSITY, Chicago
SEP 12, 2019 - WARNER THEATRE, Washington D.C.
SEP 14, 2019 - BUDWEISER STAGE, Toronto
SEP 17, 2019 - ST DENIS THEATRE, Montreal
SEP 19, 2019 - BOCH CENTER WANG THEATER, Boston
SEP 21, 2019 - RADIO CITY MUSIC HALL, New York City
SEP 23, 2019 - THE MET, Philidelphia
SEP 25, 2019 - HARD ROCK ROCKSINO, Cleveland
SEP 27, 2019 - THE RYMAN AUDITORIUM, Nashville
SEP 29, 2019 - THE COBB CENTER, Atlanta

For more information: www.dgmlive.com

King Crimson 2019 Tour – Celebrating 50 Years

As part of a series of events and releases for their 50th anniversary, King Crimson's 2019 tour will include special concerts across three continents, including both festivals and headline shows.

Since the band's return to live performance in 2014, with critically acclaimed sell-out shows all over the world including two defining shows at the Roman amphitheatre in Pompeii, previously home to Pink Floyd, the audience has been reinvented, as much as the band itself:

“In Pompeii, a large percentage of the audience was young couples; KC moved into the mainstream in Italy. I walked onstage knowing that this band's position in the world has changed level.” Robert Fripp

With its fiftieth anniversary, it seems that the wider world is finally ready to embrace King Crimson. A process that began with Kanye West's sampling of “21st Century Schizoid Man” for his 2010 hit “Power”, now sees their song “Starless” as the soundtrack to the opening scenes of Nicholas Cage's new 2018 film “Mandy”.

The band's packed three-hour shows regularly include material from twelve of their thirteen studio albums, including many of the songs from their seminal 1969 album “In The Court of the Crimson King”, described by Pete Townshend, as an “uncanny masterpiece”. The new 8-piece line-up plays many historic pieces which Crimson have never played live, as well as new arrangements of Crimson classics – “the music is new whenever it was written”. There are also new instrumentals and songs, as well as the compositions by the three drummers, Pat Mastelotto, Gavin Harrison and Jeremy Stacey, which are a regular highlight. A unique show, where eight of the best musicians in the world play music without distraction or adornment.

King Crimson will be playing three shows at the Albert Hall in London in June 2019!
18 June - http://axs.com/uk/events/365703/an-evening-with-king-crimson-tickets?skin=aegpresentsuk
19 June - http://axs.com/uk/events/365704/an-evening-with-king-crimson-tickets?skin=aegpresentsuk
20 June - http://axs.com/uk/events/365705/an-evening-with-king-crimson-tickets?skin=aegpresentsuk

“MELTDOWN” – A BluRay filmed at the band’s five sell-out shows in Mexico City in 2017, was released in October 2018.

“COSMIKC F*KC” – an in-depth documentary of King Crimson will appear in 2019. 

dgmlive.com/king-crimson 

King Crimson Meets Van der Graaf Generator! David Cross & David Jackson Release New Album “Another Day” - OUT NOW

Another Day  

During the 1970s David Cross was a member of King Crimson and David Jackson was a member of Van der Graaf Generator. Now much to the excitement of music aficionados worldwide, the duo have teamed up for an amazing new album titled “Another Day”!

Released via Cherry Red Records, the 12 new tracks on this album showcase the talents of Cross & Jackson and will appeal to the fanbases of both artists and the bands they have been in. It's an innovative meeting of minds. This new studio album also features Mick Paul on bass, Craig Blundell on drums and was produced by Jake Jackson. 

“From the first notes we ever played together David Jackson and I realised that we were driving in the same direction, free to play anything from fierce avant-garde cadenzas to haunting melodies and rocking riffs. ‘Another Day’ is the culmination of our ambition to date and has been realised as a quartet album through extraordinary instinctive performances from our collaborators, Mick Paul and Craig Blundell. The icing on the cake was the incisive, original vision which emerged in the mixing stage from our producer Jake Jackson. I love it.” - David Cross (March 2nd 2018)

“I am thrilled and very proud of this album with David Cross. It’s the best thing I’ve done in many years! We met at a Festival in Italy in 2010 and emergency improvised our way into a special kind of exciting harmony - and friendship too. Enjoying the space between two soloists, we soon discovered new ways of writing and arranging. Add in our legendary rhythm section of Mick Paul and Craig Blundell and I can guarantee you haven’t heard anything quite like this album before!” -  David Jackson (26th February 2018)

Rock Music Legend John Wetton Dies (12th June 1949 – 31st January 2017)

Rock music legend John Wetton sadly passed away in the early hours of this morning, Tuesday 31^st January 2017, after a long and courageous battle against colon cancer.

 

John rose to fame with King Crimson in the early 70s during the iconic Red era and later formed the band UK. In the early 1980s he was a founder member of supergroup ASIA which was his biggest commercial success. The band’s 1982 self-titled debut album was the biggest selling album in the world that year and gave fans and mainstream radio the mega-hit Heat of the Moment.

 

 

 

John also enjoyed a successful solo career, including the seminal album Battle Lines, and formed iCon with ASIA bandmate Geoff Downes. In 2006 the original line-up of ASIA reformed and toured the world several times to promote four new studio albums.

 

John had been planning to tour with ASIA for the band’s forthcoming US arena tour with Journey and following the success of his solo Studio Recordings Anthology, to continue working on the ongoing re-issue programme of his solo albums, via his own Primary Purpose label. 

 

John valued his over 11 years of sobriety and volunteered time in fellowship with other alcoholics to share his experience, strength and hope with them. John is survived by his recently wed wife Lisa and 18 year old son Dylan, brother Robert and mother Peggy. 

 

The very last studio song of John Wetton’s career was the closing track on the most recent and indeed final ASIA album “Gravitas” and included the profound lyrics “Think the best of me, till we meet again."

 

A statement by Geoff Downes:

It is with great sadness and a heavy heart, that I have to report we have lost my dearest friend, brother, bandmate and long term musical collaborator, John Wetton, who has passed away after a long and tenacious battle with cancer. He will be remembered as one of the world’s finest musical talents, and I for one of many was wholly blessed by his influence. It was a massive privilege for me to have worked with this genius so closely on our numerous projects together over the years. His bass playing was revolutionary. His voice was from the gods. His compositions - out of this world. His sense of melody and harmony - unreal. He was literally a 'special one'.

 

But John was much more than a gigantic and unique musical talent. He was a supremely intelligent man, marked with his great observations and wisdom about life; all couched within his wicked sense of humour. The wit was dark and deep, only fully perceptible to those on his same wavelength. I was fortunate enough to be able to be on that wavelength, and discover that we had much in common. Many of his personal life experiences were reflected in his lyrical contributions to the songs. His heart was always in the music. That was John, through and through. It was always about - the music.

 

As a person, he was fiercely loyal, loving and generous, particularly to those he cared about. But he could be as stubborn as a mule or as gracious as a nobleman, depending on the mood that grabbed him on any particular day. There were some who couldn't read his brilliant mind and complex personality. Some found him charming, others infuriating. But however you found John, there was no denying his rare talent as a musician and songwriter was second to none.

 

Both of us having been brought up with similar backgrounds in provincial England, we shared a love of many things - sport, and in particular - football, English church music, current affairs, comedy, literature, you name it....pretty much everything that 2 kids from the sticks were exposed to in our youth.

 

Our planets seemed to be immediately in alignment when we first met in early 1981. There was a laddish camaraderie that grew between us as we became as close as two non-related brothers could be. He was an avid reader and film enthusiast, something he pursued with great interest. This helped inspire him to some wonderful lyrics to the literally hundreds of songs we composed together. Back then, we immediately hit the ground running as we composed much of the debut ASIA album together and forged a formidable partnership which lasted right up until now. It was a wholly natural process for us, whereby we could knock out 2 or 3 songs in an afternoon. They were always greeted with our gentlemanly handshake and smiles once we had wrapped up another one in the bag.

 

Above all else though, his passion for life was to the fore. The battles he endured throughout were immense and well documented. Firstly with alcohol, which he so resolutely overcame, then open heart surgery and finally cancer, which sadly was to take his life in the end. He once observed to me that this disease is a "merciless assassin". Just another example of his perception and the descriptive language that he was so richly blessed with. He took all of these battles on board with great bravery and almost a 'laissez-faire' attitude, tinged with his inimitable wry wit.

 

To say I will miss my him greatly is beyond understatement. He was such an inspiration to me. We were planning another album, but sadly he was not well enough to complete it. I feel heartbroken about this, as I knew John thought it was to be one of our finest albums to date. I remain as proud as ever of our Wetton/Downes writing partnership. I am hoping one day that I will be able to finish it, and that it will be appreciated by all those who loved his and our music, and most importantly, a legacy he would have been proud of.

 

Life will not be the same without him. And words are not really enough to describe the loss I feel right now, and the many friends and fans all over the World will also be feeling. It is the end of an era for all of us. But we will soldier on - the music of John Wetton needs to be heard loud and clear from the rooftops.

 

Dearest John, may you rest in peace brother.

X

Geoffrey

Please join me in sending our sincerest thoughts and prayers to Lisa, Dylan and the entire Wetton family at this difficult time.

A statement by Carl Palmer: 

With the passing of my good friend and musical collaborator, John Wetton, the world loses yet another musical giant. John was a gentle person who created some of the most lasting melodies and lyrics in modern popular music. As a musician, he was both brave and innovative, with a voice that took the music of ASIA to the top of the charts around the world. His ability to triumph over alcohol abuse made him an inspiration to many who have also fought that battle.  For those of us who knew him and worked with him, his valiant struggle against cancer was a further inspiration. I will miss his talent, his sense of humor and his infectious smile. May you ride easy, my old friend. - Carl Palmer

Official Website: www.johnwetton.com