Tony Levin has certainly kept himself busy. During his illustrious career, he has played with King Crimson, Liquid Tension Experiment, Peter Gabriel, Yes, Pink Floyd, Steven Wilson, and many more. Active since 1968, he has played in over a hundred albums. Tony plays with his brother Pete on the jazz group The Levin Brothers, and will soon embark on a lengthy tour with BEAT, a band he formed with King Crimson alumni Adrian Belew, plus Steve Vai, and Danny Carey.
But before going on tour with Beat, Tony is doing a short tour of North America with Stick Men, the revered prog/fusion trio completed by Pat Mastelotto on drums and Markus Reuter on “touch guitar”, an instrument that is used as a fretboard-tapping device. They hit Toronto last week, playing a sold-out show at the Horseshoe Tavern, with local prog metal outfit Pyramid Theorem opening.
Pyramid Theorem started their set around 8 pm and certainly did not disappoint. Their blend of prog-metal showed influences of Rush, Dream Theater, and Symphony X, and they played a brief but very inspired show, of which the obvious highlight was the seven-minute “Closer to the End”. Their latest album, “Beyond the Exosphere”, was produced by Richard Chycki, and their most recent tour was with fellow Canadians Falset. A band worth checking out in more detail, and whose best album is yet to come.
Contrary to popular belief, it does get warm in Toronto, and the Horseshoe was absolutely on fire at this point. Stick Men entered the stage just after 9 PM, and kicked their set with a Crimson staple, “Larks’ Tongues in Aspic, Part Two”. As usual, Tony was holding his stance on stage left, while playing the 12-stringed beast instrument commonly known as the Chapman Stick. They soon got into “Ringtone”, from their 2022 EP, “Tentacles”. Mastelotto, playing his first show with the band 100% back at the drumkit after a health scare earlier this year that even got him hospitalized, used a few special effects on his drums which added extra mojo to the song.
The crazy thing about the arrangements of Stick Men is, given the percussive quality of both the Chapman Stick and Markus’ U8 Touch Guitar, they can alternate who’s following drums and who’s providing harmonies, most of the time interchanging such roles on the same song. Perhaps more so than in any other number on the set, that was displayed on the title track of “Tentacles”, a rocking, dissonant and jarring display of odd time signatures and intricate melodies, which showcased the almost telepathic interaction between the three musicians. In contrast, Tony played the harmonies and soloed through all of the jazzy and atmospheric “Cusp”.
I won’t go into the detail of how famous the Horseshoe Tavern is – we mentioned it in concert reviews of other artists such as Nita Strauss and Týr, yet it was cool to hear Tony shouting out to the venue and its iconic status before the stern-mustached man took on vocals on “Prog Noir”.
In case you’re wondering, yes, they obviously played King Crimson’s “Red”, and that was one of the highlights of their set, along with the funnily titled “Danger In The Workplace”, which veered into prog metal at times. The nasty riffs of the dissonant “Breathless”, from Robert Fripp’s first solo album, were also met with quite the uproar, and the trio absolutely shined, effortlessly tackling such intricate and explorative tracks. Pat, Tony, and Markus alternated the interaction with the crowd and the announcements before each song, which also made the presentation quite dynamic.
The Stick Men chose to end the set with a somewhat romantic moment, or as romantic as prog can be. They played “The Sheltering Sky,” from King Crimson‘s 1981 album “Discipline,” a mesmerizing instrumental piece that showcases the world music influences, ambient textures, and intricate rhythms. The gradual evolution and subtle dynamic shifts were a fitting end to the show, and as I’m writing these lines, the “More in ’24 Tour” is over.
The BEAT tour starts in September, and the legacy of King Crimson will surely live on, whether through their own performance or through different outfits that carry the torch of their weird and beautiful music!