Memory:Steve Barrett
I attended the April 22nd, 1973 show at the
Cowtown Ballroom in Kansas City, MO. Here are some of my memories that you might want to post.
The night was billed as a "King Crimson/Gentle Giant/Charles Lloyd" concert. It was my only time at Cowtown Ballroom. I came to see King Crimson as one of my drumming idols of the time Bill Bruford had just left YES and joined them. They played songs from their Lark's Tongues in Aspic lp. Here are some of my impressions of the night. I had never been to Cowtown and sat right down front and center the entire night. WOW, were our butts sore sitting on the hard wooden floors! Charles Lloyd came out and played one long hour, instrumental song with no vocals, no grooves played together, nor did they speak to the audience. This was "avante guarde" jazz at it's worst. Musical chaos! Nothing to sink your teeth into musically. The drummer had a double bass drum setup that had candles burning on them with huge piles of different colored candle wax adhered to them. The guitar player must have been on a bad trip or something as he played a solo then sat down on top of his amp, put his head in his hands and cried like a baby. At the time, I couldn't wait to see and hear King Crimson.
Next up was the surprise of the night. Gentle Giant came out and played the most complex, pristine music I had ever heard or seen performed live. They played about 32 different instruments between the five of them. The roadies stood at the sides of the stage and just threw them instruments constantly. They weren't just blowing "parts", but actually played each of these sometimes "unrelated" instruments on a virtuoso level. All of them played on the drum set at the same time and were completely coordinated musically. The recorder fugues they played, as well as their totally original vocal arrangements were jaw dropping. They performed with incredible showmanship and excitment and whipped the crowd into heights unknown. They totally blew King Crimson off the stage.
By the time King Crimson came out, the audience was completely drained. Robert Fripp the leader/guitar player sat on a high stool the entire night, John Wetton played bass and sang lead vocals, David Cross played the Mellotron and violin and Bill Bruford was terrific on his drumset. Their songs were long and drawn out. They just didn't connect with the audience. When someone hollered out for Robert Fripp to introduce the band, he dismissed the request by saying, "That is not important, however what is important is the name of our next song". Man that was cold and disappointing as I really wanted to love them. I remember a sigh or moan go through the crowd after he said that.
In short the entire night belonged to Gentle Giant and to this day after seeing hundreds of live performances by sooo many different types of artists over the years, Gentle Giant's performance at the Cowtown Ballroom remains in my Top 10 list. A friend who was with me that night saw Gentle Giant a few years later and got to talk with them. He brought up their night at the Cowtown Ballroom and they said that that had been one of their best live performances and memories ever. They were totally aware that they captured the crowd.