King Crimson concert CD/Blu-ray, Live In Takamatsu

[privateuniverse]

King Crimson will be giving away one free song (as an MP3 download) from every night of the current tour. You can get a free download of "Easy Money" from opening night in Aylesbury here.

 

[kap'n krunch]

KCRIMSON RADICAL ACTION TOUR SPOILER ALERT!


Please do not read if you don't want to find out...





They play a wicked version of "Fracture"...just imagine the original one on steroids...That will just blow you away!!

 

[colsky]

I'm regretting not going to see them this time!

I saw the setlists and noticed that they also did part of the .......

title track from Lizard (as well as Cirkus). WOW! Was this part of Lizard instrumental, or with vocals?

 

[César]

Starless... During first vocal part, Pat is playing solo the drums and they're mixed in the four speakers. During the middle section, while Pat is making the small sound effects, Bill and Gavin's drums can also be heard in all speakers. Confusing... I can say now I'm deceived by the mix, bummer.
And the show is outstanding.

 

[onthewall2983]

Is there a 2.0 mix?

 

[César]

Is there a 2.0 mix?

Yes, there's a stereo mix too, no time to check it yet.
During In The Court Jakko lead vocal is also on the four speakers.
I'm really looking for your reviews hoping for any of you to reveal any logic in the mix.

 

[von kulper]

Starless... During first vocal part, Pat is playing solo the drums and they're mixed in the four speakers. During the middle section, while Pat is making the small sound effects, Bill and Gavin's drums can also be heard in all speakers. Confusing... I can say now I'm deceived by the mix, bummer.
And the show is outstanding.

This is unfortunate. King Crimson should pretty much be a guarantee of a competent surround mix (going all the way back to Eyes Wide Open...). I think I recall reading once that Fripp isn't a fan of live surround mixes. Could this have played a part in the strange mixing choices? Has anyone else listened to this yet who could comment?

 

[IMachine]

I was also disappointed by the surround mix.
The overall sound is very good, but I would wish it was mixed by SW.

 

[colsky]

Listened and watched until Red today. Gotta admit I'm confused about the mix. Pat is mixed on FL and SL, Gavin on FR and SR and Bill sounds to me as mixed as a phantom center between the surround speakers. So far, so good. But then the mellotron comes out of all speakers as Mel does most of the times. I have the feeling that most of the instruments can be heard in all the speakers (apart from the center which is dead silent).

I agree with pretty much all you say about the positioning. I'm on my third run through of it, there's a hell of a lot of music here! I have to say that it's a brilliant performance, and soundwise this easily beats most live blurays. As for the surroundness and instrument placement, i would say that the 3 drummers are where they should be as regards the front speakers, but i agree that what is coming out of the rears isn't consistent. I think though that there's plenty going on all around and the clarity is superb, so overall it's an excellent listen, and a very interesting watch.

 

[FVDnz]

I managed to get in on one of Tony's photos when he toured with The Crimson ProjeKCt in Auckland 2 years back. Let me see if I can locate the photo now...

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Here I am on the guardrail - 2nd from the right.

 

[rtbluray]

I was also disappointed by the surround mix.
The overall sound is very good, but I would wish it was mixed by SW.

Steven Wilson cannot mix everything in surround, and if this year is any indication, I have a strong feeling that we will be seeing less and less surround from him in the future, not because he's losing interest in it, but because he's devoting more and more of his time once again to his own music, making it and promoting it on tour.
Now obviously we should still continue to see all of his new (solo) releases in surround going forward, but it appears that he's no longer going to mix newer releases for other artists in surround, and he's also said before that he really does not have much interest at all in mixing live material (in surround) for other artists, hence why he could never be bothered to mix something like this.
Plus, the main thing that's still keeping him in the remixing game is the nostalgia factor of getting to (re)mix many of his favorite albums under the supervision of the artists that made them, but he's also said recently that he won't be taking on quite as many remixing projects in the future besides the ones that have already been started. (Unless of course if Kate Bush comes around to the idea of stereo & surround remixes of her work, in which case SW will probably drop everything else to get this done!)

Sorry for the tangent, but I'm still waiting on my copy of "Radical Action…" to get here, so I can't talk about that at the moment…

 

[4-earredwonder]

Steven Wilson cannot mix everything in surround, and if this year is any indication, I have a strong feeling that we will be seeing less and less surround from him in the future, not because he's losing interest in it, but because he's devoting more and more of his time once again to his own music, making it and promoting it on tour.
Now obviously we should still continue to see all of his new (solo) releases in surround going forward, but it appears that he's no longer going to mix newer releases for other artists in surround, and he's also said before that he really does not have much interest at all in mixing live material (in surround) for other artists, hence why he could never be bothered to mix something like this.
Plus, the main thing that's still keeping him in the remixing game is the nostalgia factor of getting to (re)mix many of his favorite albums under the supervision of the artists that made them, but he's also said recently that he won't be taking on quite as many remixing projects in the future besides the ones that have already been started. (Unless of course if Kate Bush comes around to the idea of stereo & surround remixes of her work, in which case SW will probably drop everything else to get this done!)

Sorry for the tangent, but I'm still waiting on my copy of "Radical Action…" to get here, so I can't talk about that at the moment…

Thanks for the info, rt. A depressing thought but if you recall, Steve tweeted that his ears weren't that good meaning he's apparently suffered a hearing loss and at such a relatively young age [Steve is 48]....NOT a good thing. Ear Splitting touring schedules and the high decibels of a recording studio remixing other musician's music is definitely taking its toll and as hearing isn't regenerative, he really should take further precautions while touring.

I've stopped going to LIVE concerts as I've suffered somewhat of a hearing loss in my right ear. LIVE concerts seem to be getting louder and louder......sometimes so MUCH so, it's OBNOXIOUS. I've even cut the volume back on my daily listening sessions. Music actually sounds better when it's played at the 'correct volume.' And yes, there IS a correct volume for ALL your music. Sort of like finding the sweet spot!

 

[von kulper]

Thanks for the info, rt. A depressing thought but if you recall, Steve tweeted that his ears weren't that good meaning he's apparently suffered a hearing loss and at such a relatively young age [Steve is 48]....NOT a good thing. Ear Splitting touring schedules and the high decibels of a recording studio remixing other musician's music is definitely taking its toll and as hearing isn't regenerative, he really should take further precautions while touring.

I've stopped going to LIVE concerts as I've suffered somewhat of a hearing loss in my right ear. LIVE concerts seem to be getting louder and louder......sometimes so MUCH so, it's OBNOXIOUS. I've even cut the volume back on my daily listening sessions. Music actually sounds better when it's played at the 'correct volume.' And yes, there IS a correct volume for ALL your music. Sort of like finding the sweet spot!

I agree, and completely unnecessary. So loud, it's uncomfortable. I don't understand the thinking behind this. So, now I'm one of those dorks at the concerts with the ear plugs in. I can enjoy shows considerably more, and it so nice to leave a concert and not have the constant screeching and ringing in my head for the next 24 hours. Definitely the way to go.

 

[rtbluray]

Thanks for the info, rt. A depressing thought but if you recall, Steve tweeted that his ears weren't that good meaning he's apparently suffered a hearing loss and at such a relatively young age [Steve is 48]....NOT a good thing. Ear Splitting touring schedules and the high decibels of a recording studio remixing other musician's music is definitely taking its toll and as hearing isn't regenerative, he really should take further precautions while touring.

Actually I think hearing loss is not the main reason why SW is cutting back on his mixing work. It's just that he only has so much time, and his music is still not only his main focus and passion, but it's also what generates him the most money. The remixing work is more for the fun of it, but it's not a big money generator for him.

But speaking of volume (and getting back to "Radical Action…") how dynamic is this new release?
I should say that having wide dynamics is not always a good thing. The "Live at the Orpheum" DVD-A/V is much quieter than the "Live in Toronto" CD, and yet, I find that the latter release is superior in every way (performance, mix, and fidelity)

 

[onthewall2983]

Can someone indulge me as to if the concert video has the same or a different tracklisting to the CDs?

 

[colsky]

But speaking of volume (and getting back to "Radical Action…") how dynamic is this new release?
I should say that having wide dynamics is not always a good thing. The "Live at the Orpheum" DVD-A/V is much quieter than the "Live in Toronto" CD, and yet, I find that the latter release is superior in every way (performance, mix, and fidelity)

I can only go by my ears, and can't give DR numbers, but it sounds nice and dynamic to me, and it sounds much better than Orpheum, which I think sounds a little odd. Over at SH forum people were moaning about poor DR numbers for this and possible compression.

 

[colsky]

Can someone indulge me as to if the concert video has the same or a different tracklisting to the CDs?

The same tracks, but I haven't compared closely enough to tell if they're the same performances.

 

[kap'n krunch]

IIRC they have the same songs , but in different order....
The ones on the CD don't have the audience noise, so it sounds like a studio recording...

 

[FVDnz]

Steven Wilson cannot mix everything in surround, and if this year is any indication, I have a strong feeling that we will be seeing less and less surround from him in the future, not because he's losing interest in it, but because he's devoting more and more of his time once again to his own music, making it and promoting it on tour.
Now obviously we should still continue to see all of his new (solo) releases in surround going forward, but it appears that he's no longer going to mix newer releases for other artists in surround, and he's also said before that he really does not have much interest at all in mixing live material (in surround) for other artists, hence why he could never be bothered to mix something like this.
Plus, the main thing that's still keeping him in the remixing game is the nostalgia factor of getting to (re)mix many of his favorite albums under the supervision of the artists that made them, but he's also said recently that he won't be taking on quite as many remixing projects in the future besides the ones that have already been started. (Unless of course if Kate Bush comes around to the idea of stereo & surround remixes of her work, in which case SW will probably drop everything else to get this done!)

Sorry for the tangent, but I'm still waiting on my copy of "Radical Action…" to get here, so I can't talk about that at the moment…

Which is why I'm imagining that Jakko Jakszyk may take the reigns in remixing Live at Carnegie Hall instead - that is if Benefit does become released in book format. ;-)

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[keenly]

Which is why I'm imagining that Jakko Jakszyk may take the reigns in remixing Live at Carnegie Hall instead - that is if Benefit does become released in book format. ;-)

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I would be happy if Jakko did more mixes.