King Crimson on August 10, 1971 in London

King Crimson

	August 10, 1971

	Marquee London, England

Notes
Arguably the greatest find in Mister Stormy’s trawl through the Crimson archives: uncovering a previously unheard set on the second night at the band’s stint at The Marquee. Having only had the fairly grim-sounding bootleg to go on, it’s wonderful to hear the band in pristine sound. Fascinating also to at last be able hear some of the vocal harmony ideas that they had in mind for Formentera Lady.

After a thumpingly good Cirkus (complete with crystal clear mellotron duet and Ian Wallace’s double bass-drum thundering in the coda) Boz introduces “yet another newie” in the shape of The Letters featuring an exceptionally good free section. This is followed by what is arguably the very best version of Cadence And Cascade played by this line-up.

It’s interesting to note that at this stage the as-yet-untitled amalgam of LTIA 1 & Lament were clearly under active consideration for inclusion on Islands according to Fripp’s stage announcement. Although the band did record a studio version (available on the 40th anniversary edition of Islands) it clearly wasn’t thought to be ready enough to make it to the final running order. It’s interesting how similar in feel this version is to parts of Emergency! by Tony Williams’ Lifetime.

Hearing the band in such good audio quality is always welcome and more so when you can hear them enjoying themselves as much as they did here.

Please note that this download will be released in CD format as part of the KCCC in 2012.

Tracks

Disc Number 1
1.	Pictures Of A City	[PREVIEW]	10.17
2.	Formentera Lady	[PREVIEW]	6.13
3.	The Sailors Tale	[PREVIEW]	8.36
4.	Cirkus	[PREVIEW]	8.57
5.	The Letters	[PREVIEW]	4.58
6.	Cadence And Cascade	[PREVIEW]	4.43
Disc Number 2
1.	Improv	[PREVIEW]	27.38
2.	Ladies Of The Road	[PREVIEW]	6.08
3.	RF Announcement	[PREVIEW]	3.24
4.	21st Century Schizoid Man	[PREVIEW]	11.37

All previews are MP3 192kbps

Personnel
Robert Fripp
Mel Collins
Boz Burrell
Ian Wallace

Audio Source: Board Recording

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Fan Reviews

Islands in the stream, Thu., Nov 8, 2012
Written by emperornobody
What a find. I never knew this existed until a few days ago and couldn’t download the FLACs fast enough... possibly the definitive live set from this outfit (this + Summit Studios might be tied). What I keep zoning in on -- even amidst multiple epic solo turns from the other players -- is the feel and substance of what Boz is playing, and how it shows that even early on RF was destined not just to turn the world upside down as a player and composer, but to teach in equally-as-world-altering ways. From helping turn a then-newbie into a powerhouse bassist (which propelled him into some pretty Bad Company, etc.) to the global reach of Guitar Craft, you can surely see what I am saying.

I was wondering how and why this was recorded -- my assumption is the band were trying to get a reference for where the tunes slated for the record were at weeks from going into the studio -- but why not the other nights at the Marquee? We’ll probably never know but be assured, the sound is utterly phenomenal; almost perfect as some here have noted. I really like the VCS3-ized vocals at the end of Ladies of the Road, which just stomps and thrashes in general. The Improv -- really more a structured piece incorporating solos that might be titled "The Islands guys take a very interesting and jazzy stab at what will become ’72-’74 KC" -- is at times astonishing and really gives a fascinating glimpse into the later material that would follow and how committed RF was to shaping and developing it, even before the recording of Islands.

There’s almost too much to say about this one -- for instance the transition from Formentera Lady (RF’s picking on the verses = sublime) into The Sailor’s Tale is different and more gradual than the recorded version from 2 months later on the album, and dammit I think I like it better! And if you love the Mellotron, well this version of Cirkus is a veritable ’Tron orgy-and-a-half. Anyway, ’nuff said... in the immortal words of Dr. HST, buy the ticket and take the ride!!!!

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