Adrian Belew’s ‘80s King Crimson Tribute May Record New Music

Adrian
Belew’s
all-star
touring
celebration
of
his ’80s
work
with

King
Crimson
was
a
runaway
success
from
the
moment

it
was
announced
last
April.
Now,
guitarist

Steve
Vai says
that

Beat,
the
collective
which
also
features

Tool
drummer

Danny
Carey
and
bassist

Tony
Levin,
may
end
up
working
on
new
music
together.

“We
touch
on
it,
of
course,”
he
told
the


UCR
Podcast
during
a
recent
interview. “Right
now,
the
goal
is
to
honor
this
King
Crimson
music
the
best
we
can
and
play
anywhere
that’ll
take
us.
But
that
has
a
shelf
life,
obviously.
Because
once
you’ve
toured
the
world
with
it,
I
wouldn’t
want
to
go
back
out
and
tour
the
whole
world
again
doing
the
same
thing.
Because
there’s
way
too
many
things
to
do.”

Vai’s
schedule
alone
speaks
to
just
how
much
there
is
on
their
collective
plate.
Beat
will
reconvene
in
May
for

a
short
run
of
dates
in
Argentina,
Chile
and
Brazil.
As
we
spoke
with
him,
he
was
reviewing
video
of

the
livestream
the
group
did
in
Los
Angeles
this
past
October. “I’m
listening
through
and
working
on
[that]
right
now,”
he
shares. “We’re
working
to
make
[it]
a
video
[for
future
release].”

He’s
also
celebrating
the
arrival
of


G3
Reunion
Live,
the
new
concert
recordings
that
commemorate
the

2024
tour
dates
which
brought
him
back
together
with
his
longtime
friends Joe
Satriani
and

Eric
Johnson
to
replicate
the
original
lineup
of
G3
that
first
toured
in
1996.
The
most
recent
live
dates
segued
into
further
road
work
for
Satriani
and
Vai,
who
revealed
a
new
single
last
year, “The
Sea
of
Emotion,
Pt.
1”
and
plans
for
their
first-ever
collaborative
album
(a
milestone,
considering
they
had
worked
together
for
50
years
without
ever
teaming
up
in
the
studio).

But
he
was
openly
enthusiastic,
talking
about
the
perspective
he’d
gained
looking
at
the
livestream
footage
of
the
Los
Angeles
performance. “Adrian
Belew
is
a
totally
unique
artist,”
Vai
explains. “He
has
really
great
ears
and
intonation,
but
his
ability
to
create
unique
sounds
from
a
guitar
and
make
them
musical
and
appropriately
fit
them
into
a
piece
of
music
is
quite
amazing.
I’d
just
marvel
at
him
every
night,
you
know,
because
he’s
so
different
than
anybody
or
anything
I’ve
ever
co-created
or
worked
with.
Nobody’s
like
anybody
else,
really.
But
there’s
nobody
even
in
Adrian
Belew’s
playground.
There’s
nobody
even
trying.”

READ
MORE:

How
Adrian
Belew
Put
Together
His ’80s
King
Crimson
Celebration

He
has
kudos
for
his
other
bandmates
as
well. “Tony,
you’ve
got
to
hear
those
parts.
You
have
to
listen
to
them
in
solo
in
order
to
realize
that
he’s
playing
what
he’s
playing.
It’s
just
fantastic,”
he
says. “There’s
so
much
personality
[the
way
he
plays
the
Chapman]
Stick.
All
of
the
phrases,
they
have
an
attitude
to
them.
And
what
a
wonderful
man,
my
goodness. 
It’s
the
same
thing
with
Danny.
I
knew
Tool
and
I
was
aware.
I
loved
the
music.
There’s
something
very
rich
and
deep
in
it.
But
Danny
is
a
marvel.
I
mean,
he
can
play
all
of
the
complex
stuff.
But
the
most
remarkable
things
I
would
see
him
do
was
when
he
would
solo.
This
is
a
guy
that
he
just
never
repeated
himself.”

The
Challenges
of
Creating
New
Music
as
Beat

Vai
is
looking
forward
to
what
the
future
might
hold,
even
if
it
takes
a
few
moments
to
play
out. “Going
out
there
and
playing
this
music
was
an
evolution
for
us
in
the
first
place.
So
if
we
do
it
again,
it
would
be
nice
to
do
something
additional.
So
we
talk
about
it.
The
challenge
in
my
mind
is
the
foundation
of
the
band
is
a
King
Crimson
kind
of
attitude,”
he
explains. “There’s
all
these
accouterments
that
go
into
a
King
Crimson
song.
Now
we’re
not
King
Crimson
because,
you
know,
I’m
not

Robert
Fripp
and
my
musical
mind
works
very
differently.
But
I’m
a
fan.
I
understand
and
I
know
certain
parameters
of
what
might
work
in
something
that
could
work
for
Beat,
but
also
not
be
too
far
removed
from
King
Crimson.”

“So
it’s
a
fun
challenge.
You
know,
way
back
years
ago
when
Adrian
first
asked
me
[about
joining
the
band],
it
created
an
idea
in
my
head.
It
created
an
overview
of
the
kind
of
music
I
might
contribute
to
something
like
Beat,”
he
continues. “I
immediately
just
started
playing
this
riff,
grabbed
my
iPhone
and
recorded
it.
It
just
sat
on
the
shelf
until
Adrian
got
here,
years
later.
I
picked
up
my
guitar
and
started
playing
it
and
he
goes, “Alright,
that’s
it.
Let’s
keep
that
on
the
shelf.”
So
things
like
that
work
best
when
they
happen
organically.
We’re
hoping
that
will
organically
develop
—
and
that’s
just
one
riff
that
I’m
talking
about.
You
know,
once
you
open
the
can
of
worms,
everything’s
going
to
start
flowing.
But
right
now,
it’s
just
flowing
in
a
different
direction.”

Listen
to
Steve
Vai
on
the ‘UCR
Podcast’