Nice moves, Robert! Watch Fripp and Toyah's backstage dance-off

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Robert Fripp's a 21st-century dancing man in new footage shared ahead of his autumn live dates with Toyah

King Crimson's Robert Fripp dressed in a white shirt, colourful tie, dark waistcoat and trousers, with one arm outstretched mid-dance. He's photographed backstage in a small white dressing room with his guitar on a table to the left of the photo and a carrier bag of food to the right of the image
(Image credit: Facebook/Toyah & Robert Fripp)

We're used to seeing Toyah Willcox throwing shapes onstage and in Toyah & Robert's Sunday Lunch series, but now her husband Robert Fripp has been captured getting his groove on backstage.

Filmed by Willcox just moments before the pair were due to perform at Wickham Festival in Hampshire on August 6, the footage shows the King Crimson guitarist getting lost in Rod Argent's rather splendid extended Mellotron solo in The Zombies' classic She's Not There.

"This is a pre-show dance-off!" says Toyah as she hands the camera to Fripp and shows off her own moves in the clip that's been shared on their official Facebook pages.

"I don't think there's any doubt," Fripp begins, before realising he's been out-danced: "Oh, my lovey's got this now!" 

The event in Wickham was just one of the festival appearances the couple have made in 2023. They also graced the stage at Glastonbury, Isle Of Wight and Fairport's Cropredy Convention, where they performed a set of covers including Metallica's Enter Sandman, Willcox's own I Want To Be Free, and David Bowie's Heroes.

"Addressing rock classics is fabulous fun," the guitarist tells Prog. “I should emphasise on both Toyah’s and my behalf all these songs we engage with respectfully and in homage towards the artists.

"I love playing Enter Sandman and taking the solo at the end, in homage to Kirk [Hammett]’s solo."

Fripp's snazzy moves come ahead of Toyah & Robert's Rock Party UK Tour, which kicks off in Wimborne, Dorset on September 30. Scroll down for the full list of dates... and to enjoy Mr Fripp's Disciplined dancing.

Robert & Toyah's Sunday Lunch Rock Party 2023 Tour dates

Sep 30: Wimborne Tivoli
Oct 01: Cheltenham Town Hall
Oct 07: Harrogate Town Hall
Oct 08: Whitley Bay Town House
Oct 09: Manchester Salford Lowery
Oct 14: Worthing Assembly Hall
Oct 16: Liverpool Philharmonic Hall
Oct 19: Bury St Edmunds Apex
Oct 20: Basingstoke Anvil
Oct 21: London Shepherd's Bush Empire
Oct 25: Buxton Opera House
Oct 26: Shrewsbury Theatre Severn
Oct 28: Swansea Grand Theatre
Oct 29: Birmingham Town Hall

Natasha Scharf
Natasha Scharf
Deputy Editor, Prog

Contributing to Prog since the very first issue, writer and broadcaster Natasha Scharf was the magazine’s News Editor before she took up her current role of Deputy Editor, and has interviewed some of the best-known acts in the progressive music world from ELP, Yes and Marillion to Nightwish, Dream Theater and TesseracT. Starting young, she set up her first music fanzine in the late 80s and became a regular contributor to local newspapers and magazines over the next decade. The 00s would see her running the dark music magazine, Meltdown, as well as contributing to Metal Hammer, Classic Rock, Terrorizer and Artrocker. Author of music subculture books The Art Of Gothic and Worldwide Gothic, she’s since written album sleeve notes for Cherry Red, and also co-wrote Tarja Turunen’s memoirs, Singing In My Blood. Beyond the written word, Natasha has spent several decades as a club DJ, spinning tunes at aftershow parties for Metallica, Motörhead and Nine Inch Nails. She’s currently the only member of the Prog team to have appeared on the magazine’s cover.

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