Despite the strains that surfaced during the recording of Beat earlier in the year, Crimson were top form[endtease] during this tour, with notable shows in Philadelphia (available as KCCC26) and The Pier in New York just two days before Montreal.
Highlights from this incomplete set would have to include Neurotica which must have ploughed the punters into the back of their seats with its collective G-force. I really can’t think of any band from the period pulling off this kind of incendiary hybrid between rock, pop, funk and free-form. The Howler is a feral beast having been released from its studio captivity, and Indiscipline bristles with a shocking energy that will surprise even the most jaded veteran of this well-worn wig-out extravaganza. Mention must also be made of Sartori in Tangiers which makes a very handsome debut on the pages of DGMLive.
Alex and David have heroically scraped off the accumulated dust and grime of 24 years from the original 8-track master. Although liberal coatings of DGMLive’s patented fairy dust have revived and restored this gig, there are one or two bits that are forever lost;Frame By Frame cuts out dead and Matte exists only in the memories of those lucky enough to have been there.
Though it barely begins to compensates for such losses, there's a free bonus bootleg track chronicling in exhaustive (some might say exhausting)detail the thrills, spills and heady exhilaration that is the King Crimson soundcheck.
