With or without David Jackson?

I don't think anyone could replace Jackson. I love Mel Collins and his presence has transformed the post-2013 King Crimson into a sublime live music force but his approach is nothing like Jackson's (the double saxes, the effects that Jackson uses). It's sad that he's no longer with the band but i am glad that no attempt was made to replace him.

I saw the band three times: The RFH gig in 2005, NEARfest in 2009, and NYC in 2012. 2005 was my favorite of the three and Jackson was a big part of that (the setlist was another). All three gigs were great, of course.

I agree that they sounded good with a violin but 1) that's a completely different instrument so Jackson's absence isn't as obvious, 2) they were playing different music at that time, and 3) they dropped "Generator" from the name in acknowledgment that it was a different band.

VDGG wasn't like other bands, like KC, that had members coming and going all the time. They were such a tight and cohesive unit. That's why it seems different to me than another band hiring a replacement for someone that leaves. And Jackson's style was so unique (esp. with the two saxes, which was more popular back then because of Roland Kirk's popularity but isn't very common today to the best of my knowledge). But if The Who could go on without Moon (and later Entwistle), who were similarly unique and similarly entwined with the band, I guess anything is possible.

True that Nic Potter left and Fripp guested but they were still remarkably stable from "Least We Can Do" through "World Record" (even during the break they guested as an intact unit on songs on Hammill's solo records). In the music world (rock, jazz), that's pretty impressive.

Hammill said at the time that Jackson wasn't able to commit himself to VDGG for a set period of time--something along those lines. I interpreted that to mean that it was difficult to schedule tours and recording with him. Maybe I'm misremembering his explanation.

It seems to me (from what I've tried to glean from various interviews over the years) that DJ and VdGG will never reunite on stage or in the studio. For whatever manifold reasons. More's the pity.

From a listener / fan's point of view, it's hard to imagine what could be such an insurmountable difficulty (or difficulties). We can only speculate. No-one really wants to shed too much light on it, for reasons known to themselves. That's their right, and we have to respect that. They could change their minds in the future though.

To be fair to all concerned, they have handled it with dignity, and gravitas.

I think we just have to accept the situation though. It is what it is.

I have seen VdGG with DJ in 2005 for 2 times and I must say that I was a bit disappointed of the performance of DJ. I thought he couldn't bring the power to the music on stage as he did on the recordings. But I think I stand alone with this opinion.

I would say having all 4 members on stage playing well blows away any trio performance that I have seen. The energy they can create as a foursome will always beat what the trio can do. I've only seen the 2005, but Paris and Rome were very special gigs.

The reality is that the trio and DJ have moved on in life and don't seem to be on the same page. Any attempt to bring DJ back just, even just for a tour would be contrived and the creative energy would be missing.

I enjoy the trio concerts, they are a tighter group today and they play really well together but there is slightly less magic in the performance without DJ..