35 years ago King Crimson on fire
November 7th, 2004 by Koldo Barroso
35 years ago today, on 7th November 1969, King Crimson and Iron Butterfly got caught up in the middle of a gangster payback in Chicago.
The bands were at the Kinetic Playground in Chicago for a gig, as part of the US tour. Shortly after their performance, gangsters fired the club and destroyed the roof and light show. The fire brigade broke into the place and while extinguishing the fire, they ruined more equipment than the mob including most of Iron Butterfly’s sound equipment and King Crimson’s Mellotron. The bands knew later that the promoter’s insurance wasn’t paid.