December 03, 2005
	St Peters Church    Newlyn, Cornwall, UK

Newlyn Soundscapes   December 3, 2005
Written by Demelza

This concert passed me by.....almost. Only a flyer that I found quite by accident in the Penzance branch of MVC alerted me to the upcoming Soundscapes concert due in two weeks time. To say I was a bit excited was an understatement, due to several reasons I have not been able to travel very far to concerts and this would be the first time that I would be present at a live Robert Fripp presentation.

The venue Newlyn Church (St Peters) is a small church, holds about 200 people at a push but it has great acoustics, a fine atmosphere and being in a small village at the tail end of Cornwall kind of ensures that it would take either very enthusiastic fans or very lucky local ones to attend. The weather sadly was not that good, spots of rain began to fall about 12.30 for the event due to start at 1.00. I thought there would be a queue but no....only a long haired teenager who gleefully mentioned that he saw KC in concert at the Royal Albert Hall a while back and couldn't believe that RF was coming to play locally (the feeling was mutual). We were then given kind permission to enter early to avoid the rain not realising that I almost clipped RF with the heavy church door as I entered. I don't think he noticed though.

Inside the church the setup, stool and a couple of guitars were set up in the top corner, tucked away behind both a pillar AND a large painting on an easel. I exchanged a knowing "I bet most people thought he was going to play in the front by the altar" look with my friend as well as directing a "cut throat death" gesture towards a guy who was unpacking a camera about 10 feet away from the playing area. Yes, it was then that RF appeared clad in a black leather jacket, black trousers, black shirt and a rather funky grey scarf to start tuning up. It was also at this point that camera guy decided to take a photo, with flash of course.

Mr Fripp was not impressed, he stood up and delivered a very polite but stinging rebuttal to the gentleman who decided to distract him whilst preparing for the concert. Satisfied that the camera was put away and a quick glance around to notice that there were no other cameras he went back to tuning.

In the next 10 minutes before the concert, the place became packed. Standing room only. I made a guess at which people would probably leave after a few confused minutes, not understanding exactly what was happening. One person thought he was tuning his guitar for a full half an hour, when of course this actually was the first soundscape! Without announcement or any type of signal the concert began.

The swelling chords filled the church like a gentle tide. The first soundscape was quite calm and measured and was rarely interrupted by little more than a few additional guitar effects. The 35 minute piece was very calming and seemed to reflect the feeling of the venue itself. Then the first "walk" began, to look at the paintings and take in some ambience. A number of people took this small break as an opportunity to get away and I should imagine about 25 people left at this point.

The next soundscape built from the swelling chords and clearer guitar playing punctuated the music, chimes, deep pipe organ groans built up and around each other, but never to a point where the music developed away to make a clear theme even though it threatened to. It was almost a tease. Very enjoyable.

Another walk, and a hastier than expected return to the stool led to the beginning of the third soundscape, now the tone changed.........the first few notes were....well the first thought that connected in my head was "One More Red Nightmare" the theme continued with a rapidly increasing amount of guitar playing, fast runs, intricate little motifs, then a break and another surprise would emerge. It was at this point I concentrated hard on just closing my eyes and listening, the music instantly gave me new impressions. I couldn't see when RF was moving his hands to the guitar, or taking the pick from his mouth to fiddle with the "machinery". This third soundscape was by far my favourite musically.....but the fourth soundscape was something different again, a return almost to the first soundscape in tone but even more gentle and even comforting. A fitting conclusion to the almost "angry" tone of the previous soundscape.

The last 20 minutes of music was accompianed by a number of dancers from the Shallal Theatre who were the concert beneficiaries. It was at this point and the first time that RF looked up from his guitar and equipment to look elsewhere. He was focused on the dancers and it was wonderful to experience the way the two interacted, the dancers moving freeform and improvised to the calm and gentle soundscape music. The music was reminiscent of raindrops and the dancers held out their hands as if to catch the falling rain. It was a very moving performance. As the last dancer left the stage the music slowly faded. A pause and the audience erupted into hearty applause, led by RF sporting a huge smile whilst clearly directing his praise to the dancers. A brief nod to the audience and he was gone, down the aisle and out of the door. I was pleased that he managed to escape as I noticed the rustle of bags to retrieve KC albums and pens as soon as the applause sounded.

The concert now over, I just sat and looked around the church, while small gang of men who suddenly materialised descended towards the equipment to "oooh" and "ahh" at the racks and bother the setup guys with questions. I took another round to enjoy the paintings and then noticed the merchandise table selling "Love Cannot Bear" CD's and signed posters of the event.

I was most pleased with my purchases and when home hoping it would not be too long before I experienced a RF concert again.

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