There weren’t a lot of women in attendance at those periodic Prog Nights; they were more like anti-date nights. On another level, hearing that classic music acted as a nice counterpoint to all of the brand new stuff – The Strokes, Radiohead, Aphex Twin – that we’d listen to in the clubs and concert halls. Listening now to these freshly archived shows from King Crimson and Genesis, I feel like I’m channeling a bit of that heady, blissed-out vibe we achieved on Prog Night several years ago. Given the recent proliferation of bands like Dirty Projectors, Grizzly Bear, and Animal Collective touting instrumental mastery, complex song structures, off-kilter time signatures, and wildly layered vocals, it seems appropriate to spend some time listening to the classic acts that kicked off these kinds of musical values.

The King Crimson show, the last ever from the original lineup, reflects a band playing complex music with airtight arrangements. Yet this quartet was also still hungry enough to unleash raw, mind-bending improvisational passages. The disturbing ferocity and brooding nature of encore / set-closer “Mars” is astonishing. If nothing else, listeners should get this song and listen to it on-repeat for weeks. It is an interesting precursor to contemporary noise and metal scenes. The measured build around a simple, repetitive figure seems straight-ahead enough but the band’s ability to swell the intensity to an emotional peak that is impossible to ignore is a bit chilling. The music demands a visceral reaction from the listener. When the song crescendos, there’s a pulse in my chest, there’s heat in my blood. It’s the same sense of menace that more recent acts like Godspeed You Black Emperor, Fuck Buttons, and Mogwai are able to conjure in their best moments.

The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway is the focus of this Genesis set from 1975 and it is a fine rendition of that album’s broad creative scope. A friend recently told me that the Lamb Lies Down on Broadway was both the birth and death of prog rock. He was kind of joking but I understand what he was getting at. The songs from this record are wonderful distillations of all-things prog; they deftly combine expansive creative energy, inventive song architecture, and an impressive knack for good hooks into a set that is both cutting edge and wholly accessible to a range of listeners. After LLDB, it’s kind of difficult to imagine where the group could go without entirely re-thinking their sound and, in a sense, with Peter Gabriel’s departure after this tour they did have to reinvent themselves. The performance, nonetheless, is spot-on. With the chirping guitars and swirling synths on this performance, it’s hard (again) not to think of more recent acts. In particular, Animal Collective comes to mind. Their trippy live performances and endless streams of catchy melodies certainly take a cue from the tone Genesis achieves here.

Listening to these shows definitely makes me wonder what ever happened to Prog Night. There’s so much to appreciate in both of these performances and it’s really interesting to hear how these sounds from decades ago are still creeping up in contemporary music.

—Guest blogger Andre Perry is a published writer whose works can be found in The Believer and Popmatters.com. He also curates the Mission Creek music festival in Iowa City, IA.

[Prog Blog: King Crimson and Genesis is a post in From the Vault - The Wolfgang's Vault blog.]