The Warfield

Those opening pensive, brooding notes suggest that there’s something dark and unsettling rapidly approaching San Francisco on this night. Yet as this utterly beautiful soundscape unfurls, there’s the possibility of redemption, of hope, of yearning, of things being better than they had been. For some folks, Fripp’s soundscaping is a mere aperitif. But if you open up your ears, this is substantial stuff with real depth and unbridled emotions gathering within its presence.

Honestly, this short ‘scape is worth the price of admission alone. Downloading this gig means it comes with the added bonus of not having your air polluted by the various ‘heads’ dotted around the place who’d lit up their reefers.


The push-and-pull aspect of Oyster Soup provides lots of fun here with Belew clearly smiling as he sings and yelps his way through the final verse. His solo once again utilising that mix of guitar and singing that makes him sound like a muezzin calling the faithful to prayer. If Fripp’s ‘spider fingers solo’ seems to peter out there’s a brief, tumbling reprise of it at the end.

Just in case you’re wondering why Adrian says “And these are the small ones,” says Belew after Oyster Soup, he is of course referring to white ‘tusks’ that have been inflated to grace either side of the stage as they had done on every date on this tour.