After the fun and games at Seattle’s Fenix Club the band headed to Portland, Oregon.[endtease] Following a day off, they reconvened and took the stage of the truly cavernous Crystal Ballroom. Despite problems with the sound getting lost in the vast curves and crannies of the place, the group give a good account of themselves with Pat’s barrage of electronic devices setting the pace. The first number lasting over 20 minutes is an exciting fusing of drum n’ bass aesthetics tied to the take-no-prisoners soloing which were such a distinctive feature of this outfit. Gunn’s performance in the third section (Ghost) is just flat-out phenomenal.
After the fury of the opening section they dial the mood down with a slo-mo version of the X-Chanyn-Z featuring the supple ripples of Tony’s tiny Ashbory bass guitar. Certainly this is one of the most different takes on this motif so far. This isn’t without risk however, and it’s not until the second set that they get close to the monstrous energies they were tapping into in the earlier stages of the gig.
After the Larks’ Tongues-like duetting between Tony and Trey we get the dance-style version of Seizure. The low-down groove of this track is a joy to hear especially for those folks with a sub-woofer to boost the thump-in-the-chest excitement levels to the max. Overall this may not be the most consistent of P4’s performances but the highs more than outweigh the lows, and the show marked another example of risk-taking Crimson-style. Trivia fans may want to note that this show was also the debut of the one-string Warr guitar!
