More great news for "Proggers"!!!!

Getting back to my March 15 post (”Exciting music news”), there is another new item that has me very excited!! Yes my friends, the court of the Crimson King is back in session! King Crimson is coming back for a tour later in 2008! King Crimson has been inactive the last four to five years or so. While they never officially broke up, they have seen some changes in personnel during that time. First off, Trey Gunn, who plays the Warr Guitar (which is like a Chapman Stick, bass and guitar combination), left the band in late 2003 after nine years in the group. Then, the great Tony Levin returned to play bass and the Chapman Stick! Tony first appeared in King Crimson in 1981 and remained with the band until 1999. Now he’s back! Joining King Crimson is new drummer Gavin Harrison, who is also a member of Porcupine Tree. Levin and Harrison will join King Crimson mainstay, guitarist Robert Fripp, guitarist and lead vocalist Adrian Belew and drummer Pat Mastelotto. So far, three New York City dates have been announced - August 14, 15 and 16, all at the Nokia Theater in Times Square. There are also three Chicago dates and two Philadelphia dates announced so far as well

King Crimson has had a long and crazy history, which can be broken into three eras. First was the early years from 1969 through 1974. During these years, King Crimson released seven studio albums (two live albums and a compilation came out of these years as well) and were plagued with many personnel changes. Through these years, musicians like Greg Lake, Bill Bruford, John Wetton, Ian McDonald, Boz Burrell, Peter Sinfield, Ian Wallace and Mel Collins were all at one time or another members of the band. King Crimson returned for a trio of studio albums from 1981 through 1984. This time, the lineup was constant - Robert Fripp, Bill Bruford, Adrian Belew and Tony Levin. The present day era started upon their third reunion in 1994. The four members of the ‘80s lineup were back and joined by Trey Gunn and Pat Mastelotto, creating what was referrred to as the “double trio”. The double trio produced one studio album (and numerous live albums) before, first, Bill Bruford, and then Tony Levin, both left the band. Despite that, the band continued as a quartet for two more studio albums (plus a wealth of other releases including EPs). This period also saw the band break into subgroups, or “Projekcts”. Robert Fripp referred to these splinter groups as frakctals of King Crimson that coexisted with the full lineup. Their purpose was to act as “research and development” for King Crimson as a whole. From 1997 through 1999, four different Projekcts were created featuring the six members of the double trio. After that, two more were born after Bruford and Levin’s departure. Now, King Crimson adds a new phase to the current era, and you can bet that I’ll be at the Nokia Theater for at least two, if not all three of the August shows!