Adrian Belew is a local boy who’s made considerably better than good, a Covington native who parlayed a solid reputation as a regional guitar hero into global adoration.
Belew’s prowess in the late 1970s attracted the attention of Frank Zappa, who tapped Belew to record and tour his Sheik Yerbouti project, which led to a stint with Talking Heads, an offer to join King Crimson, tours with David Bowie, sessions with some of the biggest names in music (including Nine Inch Nails, Paul Simon, Laurie Anderson and Tori Amos, among others) and an almost cosmically eclectic solo career that has bridged the gaps between twisted Pop/Rock success (“Oh Daddy”), ambient experimentation (Desire Caught by the Tail) and skewed Prog Rock bliss (his Crimson catalog). And Belew’s moonlighting position as an esteemed producer began with The Raisins’ debut in 1983, which ultimately resulted in the formation of The Bears, an almost Zappaesque re-imagining of The Beatles.
Belew’s current touring project, dubbed “Two of a Perfect Trio,” is a fascinating convergence of the guitarist’s various musical explorations but, most notably, his longstanding work with King Crimson. The show opens with Stick Men, a trio comprised of guitarist Markus Reuter, bassist/Chapman Stick wielder Tony Levin and percussionist Pat Mastelotto and follows with a set by the Adrian Belew Power Trio, featuring Belew, bassist Julie Slick and drummer Tobias Ralph. The titanic encore features active Crimsonites Belew, Chapman and Mastelotto playing some of their favorite KC works and then culminates with Reuter, Slick and Ralph joining their bandmates on stage for a wild double-trio finish.
For Belew fans, King Crimson fans and fans of brilliantly quirky and viscerally powerful music in general, Two of a Perfect Trio promises a night like no other in recent memory.
ADRIAN BELEW plays the Southgate House Thursday, Oct. 6. Buy tickets, check out performance times and get venue details here.
This article appears in Oct 5-11, 2011.
