Events

[BLUES] A globally celebrated guitar god known for his innovative approach, Adrian Belew was originally plucked from obscurity by none other than Frank Zappa. He ended up playing on Zappa’s live Sheik Yerbouti album (1979) and appearing in the concert film Baby Snakes.  He also toured with Bowie early on, playing on the Stage and Lodger albums before hopping on board with Remain in Light-era Talking Heads and the spinoff project, Tom Tom Club.  Belew landed his spot in King Crimson in 1981, and while that might be what he’s most remembered for, he has never been content to focus on one project at a time. After forming his own band, GaGa, while still involved with Talking Heads, Belew released his solo debut, Lone Rhino, in 1982 and follow-up, Twang Bar King (1983), while simultaneously fronting King Crimson and writing/recording and touring a celebrated trio of increasingly ambitious albums with them – Discipline (1981), Beat (1982) and Three of a Perfect Pair (1984). By this point, not even a decade from his appearances on Zappa and Bowie recordings, Belew’s idiosyncratic stamp was unmistakable: big, sweeping gestures that often cut against the melodic grain of a song, giving way to distorted sound effects and skronk via his unorthodox use of electronic filtering, his whammy/tremolo bar, guitar-neck bends and instrumental impersonations of animals, birds, insects and machines. Since the trilogy with King Crimson, of which he remained a member until 2013, Belew has released another 13 solo albums and has kept a more pop-oriented band alive, The Bears, while also remaining a sough-after session man who has worked with everyone from Bela Fleck to Cyndi Lauper, from NIN to the late Joe Cocker. He’s been tapped repeatedly to design guitars and he invented the FLUX:FX app for iOS systems. His latest album, Pop-Sided, will be released this year and his gig at the Tralf on Thursday, February 28, is opening night for his tour in support of the release. Maybe avoid shaking the man’s hand if you have the opportunity: he announced he has conjunctivitis on social media last weekend… but the show must go on. Longtime Belew collaborator Saul Zonana opens.