This was the first time I would see both opening band
LizZard and the
Adrian Belew Power Trio live.
I never heard the music of LizZard so I was very curious what they would sound like. I know
Adrian Belew's
work with
King Crimson and have heard some of his solo albums as well. Still, I had no clue what to expect
that evening and which music he would play.
LizZard
LizZard is just like the Adrian Belew Power Trio-a band that has three members, including female musician
Katy
Elwell on drums (which is always a big plus from me).
Mathieu Ricou is the guitarist and lead vocalist.
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Mathieu Ricou and Katy Elwell (r) |
William Knox plays the bass and also provides the background vocals. Sadly William had to deal with a big
problem as they just started to play. The strap of his bass guitar came loose and it seems like it couldn't be
fixed. Luckily one of the crew members of the venue provided him duct tape to 'fix' the strap back on the bass
guitar. Sadly the tape wasn't helping so Mathieu grabbed a stool and gave it to William, who continued playing while sitting.
The band itself plays very tightly. The music is heavy but also features a lot more serene, ambient-like moment
reminding me of
Tool from time to time. Mathieu was the spokesman that evening when it came to interacting
with the audience and making announcements. He also thanked the venue and the audience. The music the band played
can't be compared with the music Adrian Belew makes, so it was a surprising combination to make this band the
opening band for the evening. Somehow it was a great pairing for that evening as the audience really enjoyed the
show, and I did as well. I hope this band will tour more often in the near future.
Adrian Belew Power Trio
Power trio drummer
Tobias Ralph used the same drum kit Katy used during her performance with LizZard. The
opening band using the same drum kit as the headliner is something I haven't seen much often at this venue. When
the band started to play it was an instant hit! Tobias is a fantastic drummer and
Julie Slick is a phenomenon
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Adrian Belew |
on bass. I also loved her stage outfit with her dinosaur shirt and leggings. Adrian Belew luckily didn't suffer
too much from his cold (when I interviewed him backstage before the gig he told me he suffered from a cold). He
was very interactive with the audience and had a lot of fun while playing and making announcements. He was surprised
that so many people showed up for the show and even made a joke about the fact that if something goes wrong that
there's an ambulance outside.
The band played a lot of King Crimson tracks, but also performed music from Adrian Belew's solo work. The sound
of the Crimson tracks really came close to the original sound of the tracks in my opinion. When they started to
play
Frame By Frame I had goosebumps! After that track Tobias gave a powerful drum solo. Sometimes Adrian
was improvising on his guitar and 'tricking' the band members, trying to get them out of their rhythm. He used
his loop station and a lot of guitar effects to get the right sounds. He also amused the audience by pretending
his guitar doesn't work correctly when he used some special guitar effects to make it sound like his guitar was broken.
The band played two separate sets with a small break in between. They also came back for an encore, which was
the King Crimson composition
Indiscipline. The audience really loved it and gave the band a lot of cheers.
I also enjoyed the show a lot. Julie and Tobias are amazing musicians and Adrian is a mad man and wizard on the
guitar. I know, it's still a bit too early to say this but this show was the best gig of 2016 I've seen so far!
Iris Hidding (edited by Robert James Pashman)