In the 80s, King Crimson reformed for the first time, changed creative direction as ever, and recording the albums Discipline, Beat, and Three Of A Perfect Pair. Last year, two of the members from that period, singer/guitarist Adrian Belew and bassist Tony Levin – under the blessing of band co-founder Robert Fripp – banded together with guitarist Steve Vai and Tool drummer Danny Carey to create Beat, as a live creative reinterpretation of those iconic albums.
Taking in 65 standing room only shows across North America during that first year, they followed it with expansive runs in Mexico and South America in 2025. Now, in partnership with InsideOutMusic/Sony they have announced the release of Beat Live worldwide on 26th September, with a record release show by the band on the first of that month at the legendary Budokan Theatre in Tokyo.
Ahead of that a new live video has been issued, one of the classic King Crimson track ‘Frame By Frame’, about which Adrian Belew commented, “In the eighties Robert Fripp made the observation the King Crimson quartet was perhaps the best live band in the world at the time. Tony, Steve, Danny and I are committed to honoring this legacy with each and every performance staged.”
While Steve Vai noted of the track, “This is a miraculous piece of music. It contains unique death-defying poly-metric intertwined guitar parts that seamlessly and elegantly support a most gorgeous lyric and vocal melody line. It’s a joy to perform every time. Did I mention that the guitar parts are death defying?”
‘Frame By Frame’ follows on from the video for ‘Neal And Jack And Me’ , both of which you can watch here at RAMzine. Adrian Belew reflected on that first video, “You’re walking on stage with three virtuoso musicians, world class professionals who have seen it all but are still having fun playing this music which is timeless and unlike anything done before or since and the audience knows every word and are so thrilled with the performance the energy and love beaming back at you is overwhelming. What could be better?”
“Touring with Beat has proved to be so much more than I could have expected,” said Steve Vai. “Performing this music with Adrian, Tony and Danny has been one of my favorite touring experiences and we are now at the top of our game and captured the magic on Beat Live.” While Tony Levin noted, “The band rocks. So glad we got high quality recordings of what it is we do live – Innovation meets classic material.” Danny Carey stated, “I look forward to every show I get to perform with Tony, Adrian and Steve with excitement and awe. Playing gigs with musicians of this caliber is a dream come true. These songs are fun and challenging and the promise of inspiration, execution, and surprise has never let me down. I can’t wait to do more!”
Beat Live will be available as a 3-LP set, a Blu-ray release accompanied by 2-CDs and a 12-page photo booklet, and a limited collector’s edition that will contain the Blu-ray, 2-CDs, a bonus CD, and a 36-page artbook. Copies can be ordered here.
The Blu-ray track listing features ‘Neurotica’, ‘Neal And Jack And Me’, ‘Heartbeat’, ‘Sartori In Tangier,” “Model Man’, ‘Dig Me’, Man With An Open Heart’, ‘Industry ‘Larks’ Tongues In Aspic Part lll’, ‘Waiting Man , The Sheltering Sky , ‘Sleepless , ‘Frame By Frame , ‘Matte Kudasai , ‘Elephant Talk’, ‘Three Of A Perfect Pair’, Indiscipline, ‘Red’, and ‘Thela Hun Ginjeet .
The concert film was directed by Scrote, and edited by a collective iincluding Scrote, Steve Vai (Harmony Hut, Encino), Alan Berry and Don Adams. The bonus material video was directed and edited by Alan Berry. Additionally, a mid-tour interview captured by Sweetwater is included in the programme.
The vision for this undertaking emanated from initial dialogue between Angelo Bundini aka Scrote and Adrian Belew. Tour Producer Bundini recalled, “When Adrian called me to help bring his idea to fruition, I immediately thought it best to focus on the 80s albums: Discipline, Beat, and Three Of A Perfect Pair. These three records famously mark Adrian and Tony’s entry into King Crimson. Their fluid, melodic virtuosity, and Fripp’s and Bruford’s dramatic precision created a totally unique, dynamic push and pull that would influence nearly every rock musician and/or band going forward for years, if not decades, to come.”
