The Beat project, which brings together Adrian Belew, Tony Levin, Steve Vai and Danny Carey, has planned five stages in Italy for the summer of 2026. The tour, organized by D'Alessandro and Galli, will offer a live reinterpretation of the three albums that defined King Crimson's 1980s season, within some of the most scenic contexts in the country.
Ticket sales will follow this calendar: from 10am on Thursday 11 December there will be a pre-sale reserved for subscribers to the D'Alessandro e Galli newsletter, while the general opening is scheduled for 10am on Friday 12 December.
Here are all the tour dates:
- 30 June – Gardone Riviera, Vittoriale Festival
- 2 July – Pompeii, Amphitheater of the Excavations
- 3 July – Bari, Locus Festival
- 4 July – Perugia, Umbria Jazz – Arena Santa Giuliana
- 6 July – Udine, Udine Castle
The group was born with the declared purpose of touring the music of the “Discipline” period: the “wave” phase of the prog-rock progenitor band, which lasted over three studio albums in the first half of the Eighties. In fact, the name “Beat” is actually a tribute to that creative cycle: that's what the reborn band seemed to be called around 1980, at least before His Majesty Fripp decreed that no, the new name wasn't needed – they were still King Crimson. But the new crimson adventure of Levin, Belew & co – despite having received Fripp's endorsement – could not claim the royal title, and so that old hypothesis comes in handy again. Dry and clear in its indication of the rhythmic pulsation as the foundation of sound and fulcrum of a newfound vitality. What better name, in short, to bring back to the stage the music of that period of transformation, which marked a before and an after in the history of progressive rock (and not only that)?
Almost two hours of recordings on stage compose “Neon Heat Disease: Live In Los Angeles”, a double album that revisits all the cardinal pieces of that fundamental season, finding them as explosive as then. In the early Eighties, King Crimson definitively distanced themselves from progressive clichés, giving an indelible turning point to the trend. Just as the idea of ”prog” crystallized and the seventies references established themselves as totems to emulate ad libitumFripp, Belew, Levin and Bruford reaffirmed him as the archetype of a lucid and open sound, capable of capturing sparks of the future.
As if the title “Beat” hid a temporal tunnel, that idea of the future is here again. It's not a nostalgic evocation, but a revitalization of sound. Two of the original architects, with two new and very reliable traveling companions, deliver nineteen unmissable songs for every fan. The performance, sharp and muscular, demonstrates that the propulsive force of that repertoire is still intact: it is not history, it is a rhythmic vector that continues to dictate the pace.
Antonio Santini for SANREMO.FM
