King Crimson have announced their rescheduled North American tour will begin in July 2021, subject to current coronavirus restrictions. The Music Is Our Friend tour was originally due to take place in 2020 but was postponed due to the pandemic.
When King Crimson return to action this July, it'll be the seventh year that the band have toured since returning to performing live in 2014, a run only interrupted by the lockdown in 2020. In that time, the audience have been reinvented as much as the band itself, something Robert Fripp noted after the band’s performance in Pompeii, Italy’s famous amphitheatre: “In Pompeii, a large percentage of the audience was young couples; KC moved into the mainstream in Italy. I walked onstage knowing that this band's position in the world has changed level.”
The band’s shows regularly include material from 12 of their 13 studio albums, including many songs from their seminal 1969 album In the Court of the Crimson King. The seven-piece line-up play many historic pieces that Crimson have never previously played live, as well as new arrangements of Crimson classics. There are also new instrumentals and songs, as well as compositions by the three drummers, Pat Mastelotto, Gavin Harrison and Jeremy Stacey, which are a regular highlight. A unique show, where seven of the best musicians in the world play music without distraction or adornment.
Says Fripp: “The Crimson Beast Is in Go! Mode. Totally excellent news! Much hooraying! Glad times are here!
"The Crimson Beast Of Terror has woken from its enforced slumbering and is venturing out to stomp flat the psyches of innocents not yet experienced in the hammering onslaught of King Crimson’s uncompromising pounding – bish! bish! bish! – before turning on a beat to jellify hearts with gut-wrenching passion and soul-squeezing epic unfoldings to remind us that we are all mere subjects in the unfolding drama of the universe’s unfathomable mysteries while simultaneously rocking out and having a great time bopping about with Tony and Bobby and Gavin and Jakko and Mel and Pat and Jezza too.”
King Crimson North America 2021 tour dates
Jul 22: Clearwater Ruth Eckerd Hall, FL
Jul 23: Delray Beach Old School Square, FL
Jul 24: St Augustine St Augustine Ampitheater, FL
Jul 26: Orlando Dr Phillips Walt Disney Theater, FL
Jul 27: Atlanta The Fox, GA
Jul 28: Nashville Ryman Auditorium, TN
Jul 30: Fort Worth Will Rogers Memorial Auditorium, TX
Jul 31: Cedar Park H-E-B Center, TX
Aug 02: Greenwood Village Fiddlers Green Amiptheater, CO
Aug 03: Sandy Ampitheater, UT
Aug 05: Concord Pavilion, CA*
Aug 06: Los Angeles The Greek, CA*
Aug 07: Scottsdale Talking Stick Ballroom, AZ
Aug 23: Saratoga Springs SPAC, NY*
Aug 24: Northampton The Pines Theater, MA*
Aug 26: Canandaigua CMAC, NY*
Aug 27: Lewiston Artpark Ampitheater, NY*
Aug 28: Rochester Hills Meadow Brook Ampitheater, MI*
Aug 29: Highland Park Ravinia, IL*
Aug 31: Milwaukee Miller High Life Theatre, WI*
Sep 01: Cleveland Jacobs Pavilion at Nautica, OH *
Sep 02: Huber Heights Rose Music Center @ The Heights, OH*
Sep 04: Holmdel PNC Bank Arts Center, NJ*
Sep 05: New Haven Westville Music Bowl, CT*
Sep 07: Philadelphia The Mann Center, PA*
Sep 09: Forest Hills Forest Hills Stadium, NY*
Sep 10: Boston Leader Bank Pavilion, MA*
Sep 11: Washington The Anthem, DC*
*Support from The Zappa Band