“It’s been a bit of a strange evening” says Adrian Belew[endtease] near the end of the show. What can he mean? Well, there are moments when things get shaky (Ade has a rather squelchy brown moment during Dinosaur) and there’s a slightly distracted quality to Crimson’s overall performance here, particularly through EleKtric.
Yet a minute later The Power To Believe II sees them embarking on a sublime voyage that goes to bliss and back in a little over seven minutes; Fripp launches a solo that takes him clean out of city and off into inner space.
Elsewhere, despite struggling with a back injury and the ongoing trauma of finding himself touring Europe, (blimey how did that happen?) the old goat guitarist turns in some vintage stuff; the superfast diddly-diddly bits (technical term) on LTIA; a revved-up blaster on FaKcts of Life – are all deserving of your attention and your hard earned money.
A surprisingly brisk Elephant Talk with an interesting middle section and a Frame By Frame (played by the Double Duo for the first time on DGMLive) positively glisten and sparkle. Italy was gripped by a heatwave during June 2003 and when Crimson took to the stage of the splendidly opulent Teatro Carlo Felice things inevitably got a little hotter.
