Adrian Belew Power Trio at Boulder Theater [Review]
Belew's Power Trio truly three of a perfect pair
By Eric Frank
March 22, 2017
Talk talk talk, it's only talk.
Comments, cliches, commentary, controversy
Chatter, chit-chat, chit-chat, chit-chat,
Conversation, contradiction, criticism...
Adrian Belew, the guitar virtuoso known for his work with King Crimson, Talking Heads, David Bowie, Frank Zappa, Nine Inch Nails, Paul Simon and more, blew away the audience at the Boulder Theater on Tuesday, March 14th. While those familiar with Belew's extensive catalogue expected no less, a performance of such magnitude is nonetheless as inspiring as it is mesmerizing.
Looped through his on-stage laptop, the opening notes of the night created a web of sound which Belew spun down and around his audience. Though seated, the largely older, proggy crowd was instantly entranced despite the house-lights being on (at the band's request), which is normally a bit of a distraction. Belew and his trio - siblings Julie and Eric Slick, bass and drums, respectively) would rip through some newer material, every bit as fascinating and original as the older stuff that got Belew to where he is, while manifesting unearthly sounds of horns, surf-rock, pitch-shifting whammy screams and harmonized guitar. I'm not sure I've ever heard so much sound from a three-piece band.
Donning a sporty red ball cap (a la David Byrne during "Take Me To The River" in the ever popular Stop Making Sense movie), Belew delayed any Crimson tunes until nearly halfway through the set, the first being "One Time" off of 1995's Thrak. Next came "Dinosaur" pulled from the same album, followed by "Heartbeat" from 1982's Beat album, perhaps my personal favorite era of Crimson. The opening arpeggio of "Frame By Frame" elicited a roar of approval from the crowd and would yield the loudest and longest feedback scream I've ever heard at a show, let alone at the intimate Boulder Theater.
A jaw-dropping drum solo later aided by precision bass segued into a nasty groove complete with the phattest and dirtiest synth-guitar tones I've heard, maybe ever. Belew's tones are generated first by his Adrian Belew Custom Parker Fly guitar. The signal then passes through his Axe-Fx Guitar Processor, his (discontinued) DigiTech HM2 HarmonyMan Intelligent Pitch Shifter, a series of volume/expression pedals and a laptop computer. Once the nasty tonal dust had settled, "Snap crackle pop", says Belew, "I think I broke it."
The set break music featured Belew's contribution to the Pixar animated short, "Piper," released in tandem with 2016's Finding Dory.
Upon the start of the second set, my show-notes remind me that Adrian Belew probably allowed a band like Umphrey's McGee to unearth their sound. Heavy yet groovy, complex yet listenable, the highly original music is a benchmark for assimilating musicians. The second set was filled with crowd pleasers including "Three Of A Perfect Pair," the polyrhythmic and up-tempo "Neurotica," "Elephant Talk" and more.
Seeing this show reminded me how much Belew has influenced my own musical taste and compositional approach. I like it weird; in tonal quality, in song structure and in the tools I use in hand. Belew brings about "the madness of my dreams" and continues to inspire generations of music fans, musicians and composers. The final number of the night is, well... a letter. The song "E" from the album of the same name is an up-and-down running arpeggio that toys with one's sanity, again reminding me of something Umphrey's McGee might compose. The precision needed to make the song work is not only present in all band members but perhaps most impressively, by Belew himself who live-loops complex arpeggios atop one another. The focus of this band is almost unnerving.
So that's it. After almost not attending due to my companion backing out, I took a last-minute prog-rocker and Crimson lover who enjoyed the show perhaps more than I did. And I enjoyed this show a lot. Oh, and it was his birthday. Not a bad way to celebrate another year around the sun, regardless of age.