Emerging out of a nebulous sample-driven interlude this could well be the very best version of FraKctured of the tour. Not simply because all the parts are expertly executed but because the band, and Fripp in particular, seem to relax and grow into the piece. At the end with the sustained note, it definitely feels like something extraordinary has just taken place.
The improvs on this tour are in a sense a collection of fractal and fraKCtal showreels with different emphasis and contrasting configurations all displayed at breakneck speed. There’s no smooth or cautious transitions here but rather a serious of abrupt handbrake turns into alternative grooves, atmospheres and musings. Not all of it works of course but there are always moments where the composite elements within the group as a whole become something else entirely - but blink and you might miss it.
The improv tonight spills over into what was meant to be Oyster Soup but for nearly two minutes drifts off into something else entirely. There’s always a fine line between what’s formally composed and what comes out of the air. As Pat triggers the guitar sample that introduces Oyster but the track doesn’t quite materialise, it’s as though the improvisation process were reluctant to give itself up, coming back as it were to claim the track from whence it came. All things considered, this really is a rather special concert.
