Review & photos by Ira Kantor
Before the lights dimmed, the ubiquity of powerhouse guitarist Adrian Belew was easily apparent.
From the Zappaphiles, to the David Bowie boosters, to the King Crimson devotees in attendance, the air was thick with the notion we would all be treated to a delectable buffet of rock history.
While Bowie and Zappa tunes were ultimately not part of the setlist, Belew and his youthful, vibrant backing players of bassist Julie Slick and drummer Johnnie Luca disappoint, tearing up the homey Boston venue for a full force, in-your-face, two-hour show. This wasn’t a concert for the wine connoisseurs; it was one for the Red Bull chuggers.
With 25 solo albums under his belt (Elevator being his latest), Belew found the perfect balance of classic and individual. The glorious riffs of the Crimson-era “Frame By Frame” gave way to the jangly and edgy “Men in Helicopters,” which then shifted into the feedback-fueled “Big Electric Cat.”
Wearing a now vintage Hawaiian shirt (from his days of playing live with Bowie), black pants, and sparkly loafers with no socks, Belew still remains the bouncy, smirking virtuoso of yore. See him on stage this year and it’s impossible for your mind to not conjure up his 1980 European gigs with Talking Heads; his Sheik Yerbouti-era shows with Zappa; and his 1984 excursion to Japan with King Crimson.
Belew’s guitar sounds are chock full of what should be harsh elements – cuts, slashes, and squeals included. However, his knack has always been to take what could be perceived as dissonant and morph it into ambient brilliance. This was exemplified here on tracks like “Ampersand” and “Young Lions.”
But Belew also offered a unique shift to his show midway through, a solo acoustic set full of softer tunes like “Big Blue Sun,” “The Power of the Natural World,” and “Luminous.” This then culminated in an intimate Q&A with audience members (which this reviewer eagerly participated in). Some questions were straight up gushes (“Isn’t this fucking great??” one fan exclaimed); others were more thought-provoking. From these, we all learned several Wikipedia-worthy facts:
– Despite not participating in recent King Crimson lineups, Belew emphasized that he and former bandmate Robert Fripp are on “very good terms.”
– The legend is true that when recording Lodger with David Bowie, Bowie and producer Brian Eno placed Belew in a control room and simply asked him to play ─ without any instruction on what to do or what pieces were sounding like. The album’s initial title was Planned Accidents.
– When working with Talking Heads on “The Great Curve” from their seminal Remain in Light album, Belew listened several minutes for a spot on the basic track to lay down a guitar solo. Once he did, the result proved so popular with David Byrne and crew he wound up adding in another for good measure.
– When performing with Bowie, Belew was chided by the former’s personal assistant, Coco Schwab, for his visible exuberance on stage: “Stop trying to upstage David Bowie!”
After a 20-minute intermission, Belew and crew came back in full power trio mode, firing off one terrific Crimson classic after another: “Neurotica,” “Three of a Perfect Pair,” and “Indiscipline” were true highlights, much to the audience’s delight. The band’s encore would consist of excerpts from the fun multi-layered musical romp “e.”
As this gig emphasized, Belew should be deemed rock’s Jackson Pollack. The effects and presentation of Belew’s art aren’t necessarily “pretty” in the classic sense, but it’s hard to argue that the results he produces are anything but genius.
