BEAT - 2024 - "Neon Heat Disease" LIVE in Los Angeles

BEAT: Former King Crimson members ADRIAN BELEW and TONY LEVIN band together with guitar virtuoso STEVE VAI and explosive Tool drummer DANNY CAREY for the first time to create BEAT, a creative reinterpretation of the three iconic 80s KING CRIMSON albums – Discipline, Beat, and Three Of A Perfect Pair.

ADRIAN BELEW

“The 1981 through 1984 King Crimson created a music all its own. Timeless. Beautiful. Complex. Fierce. For the fans who lived through it then, and the ones who never got to witness it, our aim is to bring it to life again. A monumental task but we’re going for it! There are not enough exclamation points to express my excitement!”

STEVE VAI

“Being a part of this ensemble is an extraordinary privilege and opportunity to perform some of the most beloved, timeless, and monumental music of the 80’s (and beyond) with truly inspired musicians. This music resonates deeply with me. Adrian, Tony and Danny are unique musicians with an otherworldly insight into presenting rich musical complexities in a very accessible way, and I am looking forward to searching each other’s musical minds in real time on stage. I’m sure sparks will fly.” He continues, “Father Robert Fripp is one of our historical geniuses. His highly specific and exceptionally brilliant guitar technique is studied and revered. His contribution to the quality of my musical life, and so many others is supreme. I can assure the fans of KC that I will be putting my best foot forward to respect this great music with the care and intensity it deserves. Did I say ‘sparks will fly?’”

TONY LEVIN

“This is going to be quite a tour. Revisiting some of my favorite music is a treat in itself, but in company of this stellar lineup, I expect to have my musical butt kicked! And it’s also great that we’re not just playing a few shows, we’re hitting it hard. So, Road Dogs are coming to your area soon.”

DANNY CAREY

“I am very excited to share the stage with three of my favorite musicians on the planet. Tony, Steve and Adrian have always been a source of inspiration for me since the beginning of my career, and now to be able to share a bit of my musical journey with them is a dream come true. There’s nothing better to make some sparks fly and light a fire under your ass than getting out of your musical comfort zone, and I can’t think of any other three guys I’d rather do this with. I think I can speak for all of us when I say I hope all of our fans are as excited as we are about this tour.”

“A truly virtuosic and deeply musical homage to King Crimson’s legacy – hugely entertaining”: BEAT LIVE captures the joy of Adrian Belew, Steve Vai, Tony Levin and Danny Carey reviving and evolving the 80s"

In 2017, as they were working on the live production of Celebrating David Bowie, Adrian Belew and the show’s producer Angelo Bundini got chatting. Wouldn’t it be great, Bundini enthused, if Belew could put together a live band performing songs from Discipline, Beat and Three Of A Perfect Pair, the celebrated King Crimson triptych of the 1980s?

Founding member Robert Fripp was consulted. He eventually declined involvement, but gave Belew his blessing to proceed. The pandemic and the conflicting tour schedules of eminent in-demand musicians further stalled proceedings, but by 2024 Belew’s dream line-up was good to go.

Tony Levin would revive his position on Chapman stick, Tool’s resident Bill Bruford aficionado Danny Carey would handle drums, and Steve Vai – a big fan of Fripp’s 1979 solo LP Exposure – would step up on second guitar alongside frontman Belew.

“Crimson’s music has a complexity that scratches an itch I have,” Vai said in 2024, chatting about the challenges of nailing Fripp’s “relentless” riffage on Discipline and other releases.

Documenting the band’s September 2024 show at The Theater On Broadway, Los Angeles, BEAT LIVE is a truly virtuosic and deeply musical homage to Crimson’s legacy. The deluxe Blu-ray version has beautifully filmed footage of the entire show – hugely entertaining from the moment a grinning Belew appears in a salmon-pink suit and pork pie hat.

Buzzing on the live resurrection of such deliciously tricksy tunes as Neal And Jack And Me – not to mention Three Of A Perfect Pair material that was never played live back in the day – BEAT also sound supremely relaxed here, as can be garnered from Belew’s banter with the crowd.

He and Vai coax alien love secrets from their guitars, while Carey pounds on Bruford’s old rototoms, given to him by Belew. There’s an audible joy in their live performance, which, together with their ability to segue from pachyderm-impersonating dissonance (Elephant Talk) to languorous ambience (Matte Kudasai), ensures they never sound remotely indulgent.

The quartet’s combined chops are next level, but it’s all done in the service of some wonderfully daring and unique music that Belew’s articulate, stream-of- consciousness lyrics pull in a more art-rock direction. And Vai, we’re reminded, is often at his very best while serving the music of others.

Belew is clearly in his element here, thrilled that he and Levin’s work with Crimson is alive, kicking and evolving.

Track listing:

CD1:

1. Neurotica 

2. Neal And Jack And Me 

3. Heartbeat 

4. Sartori In Tangier 

5. Model Man 

6. Dig Me 

7. Man With An Open Heart 

8. Industry 

9. Larks’ Tongues In Aspic, Part III 

CD2:

1. Waiting Man 

2. The Sheltering Sky 

3. Sleepless 

4. Frame By Frame 

5. Matte Kudasai 

6. Elephant Talk 

7. Three Of A Perfect Pair 

8. Indisicipline 

9. Red 

10. Thela Hun Ginjeet 

Personnel:

Adrian Belew – guitar & vocals

Tony Levin – bass, chapman stick, keyboards, backing vocals

Steve Vai – guitar

Danny Carey – drums