Adrian Belew performs at City Winery in DC on April 10, 2019. (Photo by Jason Nicholson)
Adrian Belew, one of rock’s premier guitarists, visited City Winery recently to explore his catalog. In addition to some of his best known solo hits, Adrian drew on the power of his current quartet to present a number of King Crimson songs.
Of course Adrian was frontman for King Crimson, the long-running prog rock group, for roughly 30 years. Toward the end of his set on April 10, he dug into the King Crimson catalog with his drummer Jordan Perlson; guitarist, keyboardist and vocalist Saul Zonana; and bassist Julie Slick.
Adrian cut his teeth on epic tours with Frank Zappa, David Bowie, and the Talking Heads among others, and those experiences surely shaped his work. Among Adrian’s prolific output is his 1990 album Young Lions, which contains some of his most memorable songs, and he selected a few of them for the show at City Winery, including the title track and “Men in Helicopters.”
Stream Young Lions by Adrian Belew on Spotify:
On sale only at the merchandise table at the show, Adrian offered a new album, Pop Sided, which also lent its name to the current tour.
Setlist:
Set 1
Matte Kudasai (King Crimson song)
Big Blue Sun
Ampersand
Happy With What You Have to Be Happy With (King Crimson song)
Young Lions
Beat Box Guitar
Everybody’s Sitting
Incompetence Indifference
Back in the Day
Fish Head
b
Set 2
What Do You Know? (Part 1)
Of Bow and Drum
Big Electric Cat
b3
Men in Helicopters
What Do You Know? (Part 2)
Wait to Worry
Superboy (The Bears song)
You Never Know
City of Tiny Lites (Frank Zappa cover)
Three of a Perfect Pair (King Crimson song)
Frame by Frame (King Crimson song)
Sleepless (King Crimson song)
Neal and Jack and Me (King Crimson song)
e2
Encore:
Thela Hun Ginjeet (King Crimson song)
Adrian’s at the peak of his guitar powers! See him on tour near you. Here are some photos of Adrian Belew and his band performing at City Winery in DC on April 10, 2019. All photos copyright and courtesy of Jason Nicholson.
