Crimson

I spent most of the day dribbling away in exhaustion from the soul ride. I’ve been more tired, but it is difficult to focus on anything for too long.

So I’ve been blasting the Crimson DVD, excited for the concert tonight. If the concert is a hundredth of the performance on the DVD it could be the best concert of my life.

We made the long journey to Peenix and back, but the trip was worth it. Crimson’s performance at the Orphuem theatre was beyond excellent.

We saw Crimson two years ago at the Web theatre. It was incredible, but the sound was quite muddled and very loud. I remember listening to Level 5 (aka Lark’s Pt 5) and feeling like I was being punched in the face with each pounding cord. It was exhilirating, but overwhelming. That’s usually the case with Crimson music in general, I suppose.

This year the sound was perfect. I could hear what everyone was playing and the volume was loud enough to chill the bones and demand attention.

They played well. There were some technical glitches, but it was the first show of the tour. The setlist was similar to the DVD (only minor changes). The audience was, for the most part, attentive and generous. No one ruined things by flashing photos, of surprise to Fripp I am sure.

I really don’t know what else to write about the concert. It was a very special night: to be in the presence of such powerful music. Many of their pieces create a “space” which cannot be described and has to be experienced. Such is the way with music. I don’t understand it, just know that it is very special and beautiful.

Afterwards a couple of young guys with Tool shirts were hitting garbage cans and such with amazing skill. We stood around watching them play for a while, then headed back to Tucson.

Unfortunately there was a free Dolphins/San Diego football game at Sun Devil stadium that night. It had been relocated from San Diego due to the fires. This meant thousands of people were heading back to Tucson or San Diego at that time. They were also looking for food. So were we.

After not finding anything open we settled, begrudingly, for MickeyD. It has been some time since I’ve been in a MickeyD and the new menus and technology were interesting. Our fellow patrons were not the least bit interesting.

Team Nascar (complete with mullets) were in front of us with Team “look I know swear words” behind us. Throw in a couple of Nicewonger brother look-a-likes and you know you’re in trouble.

The poor employees were probably expecting another quiet night, not a packed room full of pissed off, anxious football fans, (plus a few quiet and exhausted Crimson fans).

Back at 1:30am, dead to the world, but very much alive. Elektrik sang in my head as I went to sleep. I felt lucky to have had two incredible experiences in two days.