BEAT Live by BEAT

It is on the occasion of the evening at the Arena Santa Giuliana in Perugia for Umbria Jazz 2026 on Saturday 4 July '26 which includes a double unmissable appointment for lovers of progressive and electric jazz that I publish this review. Tomorrow I will be lucky enough to see two magnificent bands in a single evening:

Perigeo ("The Last Concert"): The final farewell to the scenes of the band led by Giovanni Tommaso, which returns to perform with the full original line-up after more than fifty years from the first edition of the festival in 1973.

BEAT: The supergroup composed of Adrian Belew, Tony Levin, Steve Vai and Danny Carey, dedicated to the reinterpretation of the three historic 80s albums by King Crimson (Discipline, Beat and Three of a Perfect Pair), of which I have talked at length in these days.

… and Tony Levin (electric bass, Chapman Stick, double bass, vocals, synthesizer with Peter Gabriel, Stick Men, Liquid Tension Experiment, King Crimson, Bruford Levin, Upper Extremities, Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe…) who join two undisputed monsters of their instrument,  Steve Vai (guitar, sitar, bass, piano, vocals, with Frank Zappa, David Lee Roth, Alcatrazz, Whitesnake, just to name a few) and Danny Carey (of Tool), who decide to play three King Crimson albums that are not only magnificent but that I personally adore: “Discipline“, “Beat” and “Three of a Perfect Pair“, superb and innovative works, three fantastic albums, which took the band from prog to a fusion of art rock and new wave, in the 80s. (my copies of the trilogy in the photo)

This is a creative reinterpretation of the three iconic albums over 65 shows in North America, before continuing with a long tour in Mexico and South America in 2025. The Live album focuses on the sold-out show in Los Angeles, at The United Theater on Broadway on November 10, 2024, a show titled Neon Heat Disease - LIVE In Los Angeles.

This is the statement that accompanied Belew’s album announcement: “Getting on stage with three virtuoso musicians, world-class professionals who have seen it all but still have fun playing this timeless music, unlike anything done before or after, and the audience knows every word and is so excited by the performance that the energy and love they send you are overwhelming. What could be better?”.

This is Steve Vai’s comment: “Touring with BEAT turned out to be much more than I expected. Playing this music with Adrian, Tony and Danny has been one of my favorite touring experiences, now we’re at the top of our game and we captured the magic in ‘Beat Live’”. 

And Tony Levin: “The band is fantastic. I’m really happy to have high-quality recordings of what we do live: innovation meets the classic repertoire”.

The albums are almost entirely part of the live set, with some notable omissions: all the tracks from Discipline are included except the Title Track; all those from Beat are there, but Two Hands, The Howler and Requiem are left out, while from Three of a Perfect Pair, No Warning is left out.

There are great psychedelic moments, carpets of sounds of indecipherable origin as in Industry, which closes Disc 1 Side 2 with its very long instrumental section, or the sharp sounds typical of Electric Prog throughout Side 1 of the first disc, which opens with a crazy run of Neurotica, Neal and Jack and Me and Heartbeat, with cutting rhythms and guitar dissonances over a stratospheric bass.

Fantastic is the opening of Disc 2 Side 1, with a perfect rendition of Larks' Tongues in Aspic Part III. Levin’s bass with Carey’s drums are explosive and the guitar entries of Belew and Vai are simply masterful. Pure hypnosis also thanks to an excellent mix that moves the sounds between the L and R sides in an ingenious way; great use of the Talk Box, I hadn’t heard it in years, and Vai’s solo that makes you dream right up to the close of the piece with the audience going wild.

Waiting Man opens with a hypnotic drumming in a totally electronic mood, finely chiseled to foreshadow the theme that begins with the same sounds multiplying and intersecting and doubling and overlapping; first one guitar comes in and then the other and the mood doesn’t change, but the instruments grow in this intricate skein of pre-ordered and sophisticated sounds. Then the voice arrives and the deep bass. The emotions of the melody and the almost folk-like singing arrive. The guitars with their unbroken, dissonant and biting mantras duet with the bass.  Then the powerful drums in sound but with an essential yet complex rhythm, an extraordinarily articulated foundation. Then Vai arrives with his crazy solo. A lustful track that ends badly with an almost clean cut on this vinyl version.

The Sheltering Sky opens Disc 2 Side 2 with electro-acoustic base rhythms and a guitar solo with dissonances and melodies shattered in the sound, an Arabesque and tense atmosphere before the psychedelic opening of the track. Essential sounds. Electronic percussion traces a continuous time throughout the piece, over which guitars and bass alternate in solos made of technique and taste, not pure virtuosity and individualism, but solely for the benefit of the atmosphere. Scream-worthy solo by Vai. A grand piece even in this live interpretation.

Sleepless opens with an intro of sumptuous bass by Levin and then kicks off with its catchy groove, bass always monstrous throughout the track.  A piece that doesn’t lose its hallmark of being driving and catchy at the same time, with beautiful multi-voice singing and cutting guitars dialoguing in dissonance. Carey manages to add complexity even to an essential base, gigantic for those who can grasp the nuances. The typically rock phase showcases the guitars. Levin has fun setting up a self-contained groove while Carey plays with the toms on an impetuous foundation. Wonderful, pure energy.

And as if everything I’ve listened to weren’t enough to call it a masterpiece, here comes Frame by Frame, which opens Disc 3 Side 1 with an imposing collective, a riot of super-technical guitar and drums that dig into your mind at incredible speed, while the guitars, playing rhythms in different times, confuse. 

Next comes the electronic blues of Matte Kudasai, slow with splendid voice and guitars with different roles, blues arpeggio, acoustic arpeggio and electric smears to enrich an exceptional track. 

Elephant Talk with its headlong and dense funk, the disturbing guitar riff over which Steve Vai delights us with beautiful solos, splendid vocal performance, the metronomic rhythm section. The synth appearances with unusual sounds, the sometimes extreme dissonances, the hypnotic guitar theme that runs through the whole track. A fantastic journey into musical absurdity. Excellent.

Three of a Perfect Pair with beautiful voices and choruses and Carey laying down the odd-meter base and the time-change passages in a masterful way.  There’s room for a completely instrumental phase made of guitar sounds, then back to the gripping main theme. Beautiful Carey’s drumming with its sounds, which (thankfully) he didn’t want to give up.

Disc 3 side 3, the last of this splendid BEAT work, begins with a monumental track, Indiscipline, which opens overwhelming with a Carey-and-Levin phrasing of extraordinary power and technique, heavy and strong and impetuous Carey, before the start of the unsettling phrasing between the guitars over a dense rhythmic base. Tension through the roof. Then the voice comes in and while the bass powerfully drives the beat the drums lighten a lot and the guitar follows with tasty virtuosity. Then the great chaos that isn’t chaos but simultaneous free-theme technicalities… this moment opens again to the “light” phase in which the voice is the protagonist with a beautiful performance by Belew. The alternation gives us a new final phase of power and technique together. 

Thela Hun Ginjeet closes the record, with its fast 80s rhythm, splendid guitar solos, Carey and Belew who seem to trace a South American rhythm, rock with samba moves; in this track there’s the hypnotic, incessant riff of dissonant guitars, Belew with passionate vocals. Splendid closing.  

Fantastic artwork, three panels and a 4-page insert with beautiful photos of the concert and these great musicians, as well as of course the now well-known Elephant on the cover, beautiful, I’ll display it for a long time.  

A completely live record with astounding recordings and perfect performances, musicians who excel in their respective roles with great attention to the overall sound without overdoing the virtuosity: the guitar work and vocal parts of Adrian Belew are huge and complex, Tony Levin’s bass has no equal, even after this record, and Steve Vai unleashes his virtuoso style, with Danny Carey’s super-technical drumming, who brings his TOOL style and sounds into the band, with great technique, taste and precision, completing a stellar band. 

Energy and intensity can be felt in every performance, a sort of immersion of the musicians in the pieces, which has given life to great performances, in a sound that sees the individual skills perfectly integrated into a group sound.      

A gift that four of the greatest musicians of the last fifty years wanted to give us, especially to those who had the chance to see them live. 

An album that earns the title of best live album of 2025 and rises into the top 5 albums of the year. 

I recommend listening to it to everyone, preferably on headphones and loud.