“We started thinking, ‘Well, who could possibly be in the band?’ The only person I could think of was Steve”: Adrian Belew on how he and Steve Vai are forming a new guitar partnership ahead of a King Crimson supergroup tour
The term ‘supergroup’ is often overused – but in the case of Beat, that moniker can be used with full confidence.
Featuring Adrian Belew, Tony Levin, Steve Vai, and Tool’s Danny Carey, the band has been assembled with Robert Fripp’s blessing to perform King Crimson’s ‘80s trilogy of albums: Discipline (1981), Beat (1982), and Three of a Perfect Pair (1984).
In an upcoming interview with Guitar World, Belew sat down to dish out the project’s details – and tease what fans can expect from his new guitar partnership with Vai ahead of Beat's extensive US tour.
“I had been working on the idea of putting together a band to do the '80s trilogy,” he explains of Beat's origins. “I talked to Robert in 2019. He declined being any part of it, but he said to me, 'If you want to celebrate King Crimson, and you want to drive it, go ahead. I will give you my blessing.'”
This left Belew scratching his head for a suitable electric guitar stand-in – and only one name came to mind.
He continues, “We started thinking, 'Well, who could possibly be in the band?...Who would step into Robert's role?' The only person I could think of was Steve Vai.
“I heard Steve Vai say in an interview that he had a lot of affection for Robert Fripp's playing, especially the '80s Crimson. So, I thought, 'Well, maybe there's a chance.' Lo and behold, he was so excited; I couldn't believe it.”
After Vai was locked in (and COVID had delayed the project by three years), Belew turned to fellow King Crimson alumni Tony Levin, and Tool's Danny Carey, to complete the lineup.
With the band formed, there was just the tricky part of piecing the music together. For Vai and Belew, that meant developing a guitar-playing relationship that could live up to Fripp/Belew double-act.
To do that, the two Beat bandmates hunkered down and Vai's LA studio and began the process of going through the King Crimson catalog.
“Steve and I got together in LA, and I went to his studio full of gorgeous stuff, like 400 guitars, and we sat there for a whole day ticking through,” Belew recalls. “We listened to all the songs I had decided we should do, which was a partial setlist.
“We went one by one through them, saying, 'Okay, here's what you can hear, here's what Robert's doing there, here's what I'm doing here.' We also had a book with all that material transcribed for guitar, my parts, and Robert's, except my solos.”
As for what fans can expect from the Vai/Belew partnership, the guitarist acknowledged it will be different from the relationship he shared with Fripp, but asserted there will be some certain sonic similarities.
“It really came to the point where Robert and I had separated into our own worlds,” he concludes. ”But I always said the perfect analogy was like two sides of the same coin. Because Robert has his approach, and I had my approach.
“I suspect Steve and I will end up being the same as Robert and me – a different version of it, of course, but two sides of the same coin.
“Steve wants to make sure that what we do is honorable to the originals,” Belew expands. “Not that we have to play them exactly the same and not that we're going to be a cover band, I believe we will make it our own.”
Keep an eye on GuitarWorld.com to catch the full interview with Adrian Belew.
