30 June 1984
It is a fact that if the Crims are likely to slip or skid into a brown patch during a song then there’s a very good chance that song will be Red. Given Red’s relative simplicity, it is perhaps a mystery as to why the piece presents such a bear trap for the unsuspecting player to fall into.
The regularity with which it happens, not only in this incarnation but in the others that followed, suggests it’s down to counting and fingertips becoming over-excited in the heat of an energetic set. Or both. As with all Clams Crimsonique the wonder isn’t in the fall but the recovery.
Nor was this the only hurdle that had to be heroically overcome that evening, as Adrian’s post-Red announcement makes clear. “I’m not in the habit of talking a lot at these gigs but tonight I’d like to make a special announcement about our road crew which set all this stuff up in about one hour flat tonight due to a truck breakdown…They deserve it, c’mon,” he says encouraging the crowd to give it up for the hard work going on behind the scenes.
Although the audio quality on this audience recording is somewhat variable, sometimes sounding a little boomy and remote, it’s nevertheless a reliable snapshot of the band doing their stuff midway through a tour that would prove to be their swansong.
21 October 1984
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