Crawled up 101 in rainy rush hour traffic to get to the show. I managed a halfhour stop at the Amoeba Records store to score a couple CDs (The new "Doves" and "Head of Femur"). I wandered into the hallowed hall shortly after the doors opened and crossed tracks with a couple of guys from another message baord. Nice guys, we hung out and talked music before the show and between sets. Made the down time pass fast. Their tastes in music are vastly different from mine (Zeul and lots of oddball Euro-prog like Magma), yet we all found ourselves crossing over at PT. This band clearly appeals to a LOT of people.

Robert Fripp opened. The man needs to be b!tch slapped for the set he performed. I LOVE a lot of Bob's work done over the years, but this stuff . . . He played about a 1/2 hour of soundscapey "Frippertronic" B.S. It was just him and a guitar playing and looping and playing over that and looping and playing over that and looping that etc. The pieces were interminably dull. Dense and noisy. Each piece sounded like the other, this buzzy string driven drone that was utterly devoid of rhythm. I suppose that this would be fine if played on a lazy sunday morning, folding laundry, but it was wholy incorrect for a "rock show" gig opening for what is essentially a very loud and powerful metal band. The crowd was quite patient and respectful. No heckling, but I sure saw a lot of people staring at the ceiling . . . It was just boring, and I think a large part of the audience was just as fidgety and bored as I was.

Then PT came out and everyone got well. Wow, these guys really freakin' rawk! This aint no wussy lightweight airy-fairy prog band. PT has metamorphasized into a metal band, all the way. Yeah, you can't miss their artistic, Pink Floyd-y leanings, but the order of the day is definitely hardcore powerchord action. The drummer, Gavin Harrison, was completely over the top insane. He has this freewheeling style, spraying 64th notes in every gap and hole. Keyboard player, Richard Barbieri laid down his atmospheric 2 fisted minor chords all night. He never took a solo, but his layered and spooky contribution to the band is invaluable. He's one of my favorite keys players because he shows remarkable restraint. Overall, a super-tight band. This is my 4th time seeing them and they just get more and more polished.

I was hoping Fripp would take the stage during the PT set and fire off one of his screwball, square sounding solos, but he never did, the snotty old fart.

Looking around during the show, the place was totally packed. PT gets no airplay. They aren't on any big soundtracks. No MTV exposure. Where did all these people hear about this band? I can't figure it out. It was mostly an over 30 crowd. Lots of pot smoking. Lots of wives and girlfriends. Overall, a very satisfying and fun concert experience.

Well, one bad thing . . . When I ordered the ticket a month ago I got raped. The face value was $25, but I ended up paying $39.50 by the time I was done with taxes, "convenience" fees and surcharges. WTF is THAT about? This is SO out of control, it's obscene. I'm still pretty pissed about it. But this concert was great, and when I look at the prices people are willing to pay to see the Stones this year (I've seen 8th row tix for $5000 listed online) I feel a little better about it.