After Peter Sinfield departed from the lineup, King Crimson was never big on fancy light shows, settling for two sets of primary coloured lights at either side of the stage and some very powerful footlights that would come up at strategic moments. For example, on the first big grinding chords in LTIA Pt 1, you can hear the gobsmacked audience reaction. They are whooping and hollering because, at that exact moment, the footlights are suddenly burning brighter than the sun. Even a few rows away you would be able to feel the heat coming off the stage during those short bursts. The only time the white light would return was for the transition between The Talking Drum and LTIA Pt2.
Even without such additions, such is the power of the music, jaws would likely have been floored anyway. After that exemplary opening, there’s a brutal Easy Money whose turbulent sway in the latter building section is enough to turn even an old sea dog seasick.
Fracture still has its jazzy section in place, where Cross’s Mellotron flows and Fripp’s guitar goes into solo mode as Wetton and Bruford boom and crash around them. It’s arresting stuff that is still in the business of finding its form. When those big chords swing in you can almost feel the foundations of the building shake. Sadly there’s a tape jump at around 9.50 or so which means we don’t quite get the full transition. Nevertheless, what we have is mind-bogglingly good.
It marks the beginning of a number of tracks that are similarly clipped by a bar or two and thus listed as incomplete. However, the jump cuts are relatively minor and don’t detract too much from what is unquestionably a powerful gig.
