Earlier this year I discovered, to my amazement, that a drummer named Paul Morris was assembling musicians for a monumental task -- the formation of a King Crimson tribute band. On August 22nd I witnessed the results of this labor of love at Good Hurt on Venice Blvd. My preconceived expectations as to just how a unique group such as this would go over with the often cynical Los Angeles club-going crowd were to be dashed. I can sum up my preconceptions this way:
(Methinks), “King Crimson fans -- particularly 1970s pre-Adrian Belew era Crimson fans, the period that Paul Morris hopes to re-create -- are likely to be aging, chrome-domed, eccentric Trekkies. Male, prog-rock nerds who long ago stopped going to clubs in favor of re-living the glories of past musical passions in private with their couches and big-screen TVs.” Well, I’m a huge King Crimson fan and that doesn’t descibe me, so critic look within.
My prejudices were happily shattered tonight. I arrived at the Good Hurt to find a near capacity young hip crowd that was enthusiastically eating up this music. Whereas I expected to see a generally disinterested uncomprehending majority there to see some other bands flanked by a handful of hard-core fans reveling in the shadows, I found exactly the opposite. Even before the opening psychedelic strains of “Lark’s Tongues In Aspic” most of the audience were on their feet near the stage in eager anticipation, and half of them were women! It was great to be part of this crowd. It was The Great Deceivers’ first gig and everyone knew how special it was. (BTW, their name is a clever reference to a King Crimson album).
Before launching into the dastardly powerful “Red” the band laid down some bizarre odd-timed minimal counterpoint. “Feel free to dance,” quipped the synth-player/vocalist. I found this totally amusing because only the most schooled practitioner of modern dance could have done so. More on this later...
The Great Deceivers consist of drums, bass, keys, electric guitar and violin, plus a host of pedal boards and psychedelic effects. They faithfully reproduce some of the most challenging and original music of the late 60s and 1970s. The violinist in particular is an extraordinary talent and managed to sound alot like Crimson guitarist Robert Fripp at times. The keyboardist seamlessly melded with the harder edged sound produced by the group and sang quite well to boot. It is to the band’s credit that they managed to coordinate arrangements with violin and keys on a song like “Red” that didn’t originally feature these instruments. The Great Deceivers’ guitar player probably has the hardest job in this band and he pulled it off admirably for this first gig. He even threw in a few musical nods to Adrian Belew now and again which added a freshness I was not expecting since this material pre-dates Belew’s now famous additionto King Crimson. The rhythm section played with a non-traditional and accomplished flair. The fat, distorted bass and precision drumming provided a steadfast epoxy that solidified this radical, visionary music.
Now, back to that bit about dancing. Shorty after breaking into “21st Century Schizoid Man”, Crimson’s most famous song (circa 1969), two beautiful young women charged to the front of the stage and spontaneously started dancing with reckless abandon, one of them spilling her purse. I did a double take and started to question my senses. It was like being on an episode in the Twilight Zone. Nobody dances to King Crimson! What planet is this? This song is older than these two girls put together. Surely someone put them up to it or they had boyfriends in the band. I questioned them afterword and they told me that nobody put them up to it. They were, in fact, here to see another band and had never heard the song before. Now that, my friends, is cool!
The Great Decievers finished up their 40 minute set with “Starless”, only their fourth song of the night. Remember -- this is progressive rock. Longer songs allow for more dramatic development and dynamic songsmithing and King Crimson are masters at sucking you into their world and transporting the listener on a great aural trip. “Starless” is a brooding, beautiful, dark, melodic ride and only one of two songs tonight to feature vocals. It brought the house down. I can only hope that The Great Deceivers post some of the footage shot at this show on their MySpace page. It will be three months before they gig again.
Believe.
