Support
Looper's Delight
|
Support |
|
|
Someone was asking if anyone had seen Fripp on the G3 tour. I haven't, but here are two accounts of those who did (I've deleted various non-Fripp info from the original posts): From: Mike Stack <MTS95004@UConnVM.UConn.Edu> Subject: G3 Review, mostly... Hi there. Last night was the G3 show in Hartford, so myself and two of my friends headed over to check out RF, basically. Showed up around 6pm or so, were checking out the merchandise when we heard RF starting up. Headed in, checked out the show. He played from 6-7:20 or so, sat off to my left (we were pretty much dead center). Lots of interesting stuff, seemed to be a lot more chordal strumming than on the albums he's put out. At one point towards the end of RF's set, some idiot started screaming and yelling and banging the chair in front of him. Fripp got louder. Idiot got louder. Fripp got louder. Fripp also looked somewhat annoyed at this point. A few interesting notes about RF's performance -most the crowd didn't give a damn, including some guy dressed all snazzily in his business suit, who didn't shut up the whole night. -RF occasionally got up, took off his guitar, and walked further to my left to talk to someone else. Don't know who. -RF wore a white shirt untucked and black pants, while switching to a black shirt during the encore (more later...). -No one smoked anything illegal during Fripp's set, something that couldn't be said for the rest. Encore. Satch announces KWS, RF, and Vai. Opener was a tune called "I'm Going Down". Somewhere in the solo breaks, RF got the nod from Satch. Could barely hear his solo. Nothing special. Followed by Zappa's "My Guitar Wants to Kill Your Mama". Didn't like the vocals, or the soloing. Fripp was not given one. Followed by the Kinks' "You Really Got Me". More really bad vocals, sounded like KWS, Vai and Satch never heard the Kinks verson of the tune either. More true to Van Halen. Fripp was heard once in this one. The second time the riff came, I heard him screaming, then he was shut down. Last song was a blues tune which for some reason said Stevie Ray Vaughan to me, though I couldn't place it. Ego war between Vai and KWS. Fripp took an organ solo practically (sounded like an organ at least, think he's been hanging out with Adrian too much...:). Vai and KWS got progressively louder during the song. All in all, fairly disappointing encore as such things go. (and another account) ate: Sat, 21 Jun 1997 21:44:10 -0400 (EDT) From: AACUNZO@xray3.chem.sunysb.edu Subject: G3 SPOILERS - I swear I didn't make this up Hello ET, WARNING: This post contains spoilers regarding the G3 shows. Skip it if you don't want to know about the shows yet. With that out of the way, I must start off by thanking Simon Beauchemin for his warning in ET #388 regarding Fripp playing before the scheduled show times on the G3 tour. Because of his post I made sure to get to the Jones Beach show extra early. And BTW, whoever is responsible for this setup made a really stupid decision - although most of the people seeing this tour probably don't know Fripp, some people paid good money because they wanted to see him, and having him go on before the scheduled show time is pretty inconsiderate. They should have just printed the correct time on the tickets. Anyway, the show time was supposedly 7:30. When we were allowed to enter the venue (around 6:45), Fripp was already on stage playing. The place was empty, and we walked right up to the front and got to stay there for most of his set, (which lasted a little over an hour, I think) even though our seats were farther back. It was great hearing soundscapes over a concert PA; you can really feel the vibrations through your seat and your body in the louder passages. I don't want to try to describe what the soundscapes sounded like, but as the place filled up during his set, I was trying to guage people's reactions to Fripp. Although I did hear a few people making fun of him, a lot of people seemed intrigued by these strange sounds - this may have something to do with the number of guitar players in the audience, though - "How the hell is he doing that?" :) Fripp's set was followed by Kenny Wayne Shepard, Steve Vai, and Joe Satriani. Now we get to the fun part. At the end of Satriani's set, the other three guitarists joined him onstage for the encores. It really was quite a sight - at center stage were a 19 year old blues guitarist and two "shredders" (I like some of Vai's and Satriani's stuff, but let's face it - these guys aren't exactly known for their subtlety, especially Vai). And off on stage right was an older Englishman on a stool in a white shirt and black vest. The whole encore was just a surreal experience. The first song they did I guess was called "Goin' Down." Each guy took a solo spot, including Fripp, although I couldn't hear his solo too well. Then came "My Guitar Wants to Kill Your Mama" and "You Really Got Me." Fripp didn't take any solos in these songs, although he played rhythm throughout all the songs. And then to finish the night off, they played "Red House." Yes, Fripp played a straight 12-bar blues - I never thought I would see that! And on this song, he did take a solo - using a Hammond Organ sound on his guitar! It was just a normal sounding blues organ solo, except I think he went higher than the range of any organ. :) I think he used the organ sound during the whole song, but there was so much sound coming from the stage it was hard to tell! Everyone looked like they were having a blast during the encores - I even saw Fripp smiling several times! When Satriani introduced them all at the end of the show Fripp got a good response from the crowd (although not as loud as the "stars" did.) Satriani and Fripp left the stage with their arms around each other. All in all it was a pretty good night, if only because I got the amazing chance to witness Fripp going from "small, mobile, intelligent unit" to "Wild Thing" Fripp in the span of about five hours. :) Let the games begin, Andy Acunzo aacunzo@ccmail.sunysb.edu P.S. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I'd ever get to see Robert Fripp play "Red House" and "You Really Got Me." P.P.S. I was thankful that at the end of Fripp's set he didn't return to the stage in leather pants and no shirt, as Steve Vai did.