Danny Carey has never been one to rest on the familiar. Known to millions as the rhythmic architect behind Tool, he has spent the past year stepping into new terrain with BEAT: a project that draws on deep musical lineage and a fearless approach to reinvention. Alongside Adrian Belew, Tony Levin, and Steve Vai, Danny Carey has been reimagining King Crimson’s celebrated 1980s trilogy: Discipline, Beat, and Three of a Perfect Pair, with a fresh intensity that respects the original while breathing something unmistakably present into it.
The journey has been more than just a studio or stage exercise. Since BEAT first took these reworked arrangements to audiences, the response has been electric, not simply because of nostalgia, but because the performances carry the spark of musicians who know exactly how to inhabit and expand their source material. For Carey, the culmination of that energy is now crystallising into Beat Live: a concert album and film capturing the project at full tilt. Due for release on September 26, the record pulls from a setlist that threads together the likes of “Heartbeat,” “Red,” and “Sleepless,” distilling the mood of BEAT’s shows into a form that can be revisited long after the final encore fades.
Carey speaks of the release with the understated pride of someone who has lived inside the music night after night. “The Beat Live release is something we’ve all been waiting for,” he says. “The response from the audience has been incredible, and I’m proud of how it turned out.” There’s no mistaking the sincerity: this is a project that has evolved organically, born from mutual respect among players who have nothing left to prove yet everything to explore.
The year’s momentum will crest on September 1, when BEAT takes the stage at Tokyo’s Budokan for a record-release concert. The venue carries its own weight in the history of live music, from legendary recordings to performances that have become part of rock mythology. For Carey, it’s not just another date on the calendar. “Performing at Budokan is a dream come true,” he reflects. “It’s a place with so much history, and I can’t wait to feel that magic again with this amazing group of musicians.”
If the past year has shown anything, it’s that BEAT is not interested in simply revisiting the past. The interplay between Belew’s inventive guitar lines, Levin’s elastic bass work, Vai’s virtuosity, and Carey’s percussive precision creates something that feels alive in the moment, untethered from any single era.