The Continuing Saga of King Crimson

The reasons that older rock bands get back together probably are varied, from nostalgia to creative urges to boredom. And, by the way, there is the money. King Crimson seems to be a bit different. The band appears is a lifelong project — ProjecKCts in the band’s parlance — more or less led by Robert Fripp. It features fluid lineups and musical genres.

Here is the start of its profile at Wikipedia:

King Crimson are a progressive rock band. Formed in London in 1968 (but featuring a transatlantic lineup since 1981), they’re widely recognised as a foundational progressive rock group despite the band’s own resistance to the label.^[5] The band has incorporated diverse influences and instrumentation during its history (including jazz and folk music, classical and experimental music, psychedelic rock, hard rock and heavy metal,^[6] New Wave, gamelan,electronica and drum and bass).

The band’s line-up has persistently altered throughout their existence, with eighteen musicians and three lyricists passing through the ranks. The only musician to appear in every line-up of the band has been founding guitarist Robert Fripp, although others’ tenures have sometimes extended for decades. Due to the number of musicians involved in King Crimson over the years (and the band’s emphasis on creativity and on recruiting high-level players) the band is at the hub of a network of other bands and projects, and has been influential to many contemporary musical artists. The band has a large following, despite garnering little radio or music video airplay.^{[7]  (Continue Reading…)}

This fall, the band announced that it would reunite (in a configuration with three drummers). There is some confusion, however: The story said that there would be no tour until September, 2014. tour. Last week, however, a story at Noise11 said that some Australian dates slated for next month have been postponed. The article — nor the King Crimson site to which it refers — provides any reason for the delay. It is not even clear that the two stories refer to the same group of musicians.

In any case, the music and the band survive. Above is “Epitaph” and below is “Starless.”