By the time the band arrived in Orléans to do their Crimson thing, they’d been on the road for just over a month. It’s no surprise therefore that the band sounds well played in. The mesmeric intro of Waiting Man featuring Bill and then Adrian on electric drums builds in tension as they are then joined Tony’s ambidextrous Stick playing. Finally, Robert enters with the skittering motif floating above it all. Sadly this recording has an awkward jump cut that jolts the listener from such reveries and into the song’s coda.
There’s an equally frustrating moment occurs near the end of a wonderfully spacey rendition of The Sheltering Sky. Happily, the bulk of Robert’s wonderfully stratospheric soloing has been concluded. After the splendid wheels-within-wheels circulations of Discipline, the rubber really hits the road with a racing version of Neil and Jack and Me that sometimes sounds as though they’re in danger of crashing the whole thing.
There’s an unexpected bit of tuning up before Frame By Frame. This kind of thing is a rarity when it comes to KC shows if you think about it. Just for a moment, it could be the introduction of an entirely new piece. Nor is it the only surprise. Listen out for a lovely harmony introduced by Fripp just ahead of the final verse.
That speed and pace of earlier tracks like Neil and Jack and Me is as nothing however to the truly turbo-charged lick at which they drive through Neurotica. You can almost visualise burning tyre tracks flickering across the stage as the piece screeches to a halt.
