“You can rehearse until you're blue in the face, but once you hit the stage and the lights go out, all bets are off”: Steve Vai and Adrian Belew tackle King Crimson classics as their much-anticipated Beat tour kicks off

Steve Vai and Adrian Belew have finally kicked off one of 2024’s most anticipated live acts with the opening night of the Beat tour.

The pair formed Beat – a supergroup whose name was coined by Robert Fripp – for a tour that will see them play King Crimson’s trilogy of 1980s albums: Discipline, Beat, and Three of a Perfect Pair.

They’ve been joined by King Crimson alumni Tony Levin on bass and Tool drummer Danny Carey for the shows. Vai says he has been working “feverishly” to be stage-ready over the past five months.

The 65-date tour began in San Jose last Thursday (September 12), with the band delivering a 19-song show across two sets.

“The first show of a tour can be like a gauntlet,” Vai reflected on social media afterward. “You can rehearse until you're blue in the face, but once you hit the stage the lights go out and there’s a live audience eager to be entertained, all bets are off as to what it’s like in rehearsal. But the band delivered well and we were all relieved to get through a good first show.

“I’ve been fronting my band for the last 35 years and I discovered a very comfortable place on the Beat stage with master of ceremonies, Brother Adrian Belew at the helm. It is so enjoyable to play this historical music for such a passionate fan base. I discovered the sincere devotion of the audience for this music and the whole band felt their firm support.”

Indeed, a big part of Vai’s prep for the shows focussed on finding that balance between playing like himself and playing like Robert Fripp, who he is essentially replacing.

Beat - Man With An Open Heart (King Crimson) September 12, 2024 in San Jose, CA - YouTube

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Speaking to Guitar World, Adrian Belew, who spent just shy of two decades as the band’s co-guitarist alongside Fripp, had previously theorized about how the two guitar partnerships would compare.

“It really came to the point where Robert and I had separated into our own worlds,” he said. ”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.”

Footage from the opening night shows the band working through Man With An Open Heart, a song rich with chiming-yet-biting clean guitars, driven by Belew. But when it comes to the leads, there's a distinctly Vai-like flavor to the way they are delivered, complete with some subtle whammy bar wavers.

2024.09.12 // King Crimson BEAT // Heartbeat // San Jose Civic - YouTube

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That trend continues on Heartbeat, with some overdriven volume swells and swish cleans coming from Vai's Ibanez signature guitar. It feels like a very natural marriage between the Fripp and Vai styles – something that will surely excite fans of both world-class players.

Of course, this is Steve Vai, who can make even the most finger-breaking shred look as simple as brushing your teeth. But in the five months leading up to the show, Vai wrestled with his abilities and his physical limitations in the wake of undergoing shoulder surgery.

That surgery meant wielding his ridiculous Hydra guitar became a challenge. It also meant living up to Fripp's endurance and “the absolute relentlessness of what he does” made Vai's task all the more tricky.

“I am looking so forward to the roll out of this tour and being on stage with such seasoned and immensely talented bandmates,” Vai’s post concludes. “Not to mention they are all outstanding people that I enjoy being with. Thanks so sincerely to our San Jose audience for making this first show such an enjoyable experience.”

Head to Beat for details regarding the rest of the tour.