It seemed like a long time ago when I enthusiastically bought a ticket to the “Remain in Light” tour, but four months sped like the blink of an eye and last Friday I found myself in the company of chasinvictoria for the first time since 2018 as he made a stop on his summer tour of the Lower 48 to attend this crucial show with me. He had bought VIP and that meant that we needed to get to the venue by 3:00 p.m. for that to happen! The show was an early one. Starting at 6:00 p.m. and undoubtedly ending by 10 p.m. because the outdoors venue happened to be in the heart of Asheville, and noise ordinances will not be broken!

But that was fine with us! It meant that I had more quality time with chasinvictoria after the show. Technically, Jerry Harrison and Adrian Belew were the opening act for Les Claypool’s Flying Frog Brigade on this longer, summer leg of their tour. And while I’m lukewarm on the merits of Les Claypool, I’m grateful to the guy for making this much larger tour viable for our heroes. The brief was to revisit the vibe of the 1980 TVLKING HEVDS tour that saw the “Expanded Heads” nine-piece lineup abetted by enough players to tackle their more complex, polyrhythmic album of 1980. And this meant that many extra hands were required to perform this music. Harrison and Belew had worked with the band Turkuaz and when they split up, many former members formed the band Cool Cool Cool and they were the extra hands here, plus a few extras…as we’ll see. Let’s just have a scorecard before we go any further.

• Jerry Harrison – vocals, guitar, keys
• Adrian Belew – vocals, guitar,
• Shira Elias – vocals
• Sammi Garett – vocals
• Craig Brodhed – guitar, keys
• Chris Brouwers – trumpet, keys
• Michael Carubba – drums
• Yahuba Garcia-Torres – percussion
• Julie Slick – bass
• Greg Sanderson – tenor sax, wind controller
• Josh Schwartz – baritone sax
• Steven Scales – percussion

The show began right on time with an iconic bass line courtesy of Ms. Slick from the Adrian Belew Trio. It was a surprising choice for first song… “Psycho Killer!” That threw me a curve ball since I was expecting heavy hitters from “Remain In Light” right up front, with maybe an iconic track like “Psycho Killer” saved for the encore at the end. Adrian Belew was the first vocalist this evening and he showed why Tina, Chris, and Jerry once asked him to become their lead vocalist in TVLKING HEVDS. He wisely demurred then; sensing a hornet’s nest of band issues, but in the intervening 43 years, it all makes perfect sense.

For the second song, the classic live arrangement to “Cross-eyed + Painless” began to sway and strut for a deceptive few minutes while the band vamped and Belew let angular shards of his guitar drift through the thicket of Funk before ratcheting into its familiar state of enervated electric tension. Lead vocals were shared by the women onstage to let us know that this was not going to be a hidebound exercise in re-creating the album. Harrison rocked his lime green guitar and joined in on the chorus with BVs. It was very different to hear the women perform the infamous “facts rap” portion of the song.

Next, we had a surprise special guest take to the stage. Percussionist Steven Scales had played in the Expanded Heads lineup and also with what came immediately after the 1980 tour: “The Red + The Black,” “Tom Tom Club,” and “The Catherine Wheel.” Like Belew, he was certainly in demand by the now separated Heads. We were fortunate in that he lived locally and was properly invited to sit in on this single gig. This was why I saw two sets of congas at stage right. As Mr. Scales took his place onstage, the band had now swelled to an even dozen musicians onstage as they began “Houses In Motion.” Harrison sang lead here and I’d swear he slipped a completely new verse into the song. Mr. Sanderson performed a very credible replication of Jon Hassell’s trumpet solo in his wind controller before a funky drop that left plenty of room for Belew to solo adroitly until the conclusion of the song.

By this time Harrison was wearing as wide a grin as the one perpetually on Adrian Belew’s kisser. The psychedelic drifting that came next was initially perplexing but I should have pegged it as a new intro to “Fear Of Music’s” amazing song “Drugs.” Which Belew took lead vocals on as the large band injected copious amounts of Funk into its snaking groove. They followed that with another “Fear Of Music” song; “Cities.” While the show had been billed as a “Remain In Light” gig, I was pleased to be getting some love for the equally amazing album that preceded it. It was a kick to hear Belew put himself 110% into the vocals; really biting down gleefully on the lyrics, “what do I smell, I smell hooooooome cooking! It’s only the river, it’s only the river!”

Steven Scales rejoined the stage as everyone who could moved to the front line for an amazing take on “I Zimbra” with twice the congas and a horn section as all twelve musician were cooking this groove. Harrison moved out in front this time. The three drummers all took solos in the expanded climax with Scales on congas, Garcia-Torres on timbales, and Carubba on traps. Afterward, Scales came to the front and roused the crowd with his enthusiasm as Belew took five.

I soon found out why. They pulled a Jerry Harrison solo gem from his “Casual Gods” album, the single “Rev It Up!” While I was holding out for some “Red + The Black” material, this was certainly no slouch. Particularly with the hot synth solo that Mr. Brouwers gifted us with. In my mind I could almost imagine that I was at a full Harrison solo show. A monk can dream. They then put a stool up front and miked some bongos for Mr. Scales to once again join the party. This time for a feisty “Slippery People” as sung by the ladies and featuring a call and response bongo/synth dialogue between Scales and Harrison. I was particularly impressed by the vintage Prophet 80 on Harrison’s rack that he used to obtain that vital quacking synth sound in his solo. Josh Schwartz baritone sax solo was another new wrinkle that they were putting into the cloth of the song…one I could certainly get behind!

It was Harrison’s time for a breather when Belew led a dive into one of the most appropriate Crimson songs to add to the set list… “Thela Hun Ginjeet.” As with the last time I saw Belew in 2017, he used playback for the “found vocal” portion of the song. Singing live only on the chorus. It was thrilling hearing the horns join in with a hammering Julie Slick on bass to take this pressure cooker to its rightful and proper conclusion.

A fourth song from “Fear Of Music” manifested in “Life During Wartime” with Harrison on lead vocals. I was excited that he left plenty of room for a wailing Prophet 80 solo with the unexpected boost of some syncopated horns in the climax. Ms. Slick’s thuggish bass heralded a surprisingly swaggering “Take Me To The River” that Belew sang as Mr. Scales stalked the stage with…more cowbell! I really enjoyed Harrison’s deep backing vocals here. But the entire audience got to sing here in a break led by Scales. The added horns gave the climax just the right amount of goosing.

Then the show finished with “The Great Curve,” featuring Belew on vocals. With Scales back at his congas to better aid in cooking the polyrythmic stew of the song. With Belew taking the liberty of really opening up his climactic solo on the song. Taking off like a stock car at a checkered flag before getting airborne at it whirled around our heads until it all stopped.

It was a generous 75 minute set for what was the opening band on the bill. Longer than I’ve maybe I’ve ever seen an opening set, and damn good too, because I had been waiting decade to see this gig! I’d never had a chance to see TVLKING HEVDS in Orlando, though I did see my first Belew King Crimson show there. The decades I’ve spent carrying the torch that I’ve held for Jerry Harrison since his amazing “The Red + the Black” album have gotten my hands rather well done by this point in time! I’m fine seeing Adrian Belew. I’ve done it many times, though I hardly take the man for granted! But the magic of this event was that I was finally seeing Jerry Harrison perform 30 feet in front of my grateful eyes.

This was an event that I had certainly never anticipated. And that he linked up with Belew [always game for having some intense fun] to re-dip their toes back into the waters of their 1980 tour together was an unexpected treat. And this gig was particularly unique in that for one time only, Steven Scales joined the large band onstage to put a third of the Expanded Heads lineup onstage.

And as usual, I always appreciated the ways in which the music onstage differed from the experience on disc. With women singing some of the songs and an injection of more horns than the scant two appearances on the “Remain In Light” album. While I had been anticipating most, if not all, of that album to be in the set, what was delivered differed from my expectations greatly. In the end, there were only three songs from “Remain in Light” and a greater number from “Fear Of Music!” With a handful from the first two and fifth Heads albums. While I didn’t get any songs from “The Red + The Black,” at least we got one Jerry Harrison solo song. I would have also liked to have also heard the single “Man With A Gun,” but I really couldn’t see something that downtempo in a set this upbeat and expressive. This was a rather great TVLKING HEVDS set that had room for a tune each from Harrison and Belew’s wheelhouses.

And it felt great to be seeing this show with my old friend chasinvictoria, as we were playing these records together since high school, and we are really, really old now, as the age spots that I see as I type these words can attest to. We’ve seen so many shows in each other’s company and it’s wonderful to think that it is still happening 45 years later. There are six more dates left in their American tour and if you’ve never seen Jerry Harrison, here’s the last of your rare chances to do so!

REMAINING REMAIN IN LIGHT TOURDATES

• Jun 13, 2023 | Music Hall at Fair Park | Dallas, TX
• Jun 14, 2023 | Moody Ampitheater | Austin, TX
• Jun 16, 2023 | White Oak Music Hall Lawn | Houston, TX
• Jun 17, 2023 | Mardi Gras World | New Orleans, LA
• Jun 19, 2023 | Saenger Theatre | Mobile, AL
• Jun 20, 2023 | Hard Rock Event Center | Tampa, FL

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