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.

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

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)