Fripp’s first appearance in the UK in over a year took place in the laid back surroundings of the The Big Chill festival. Testing out the all-new solar voyager on the first of three days proved problematic and as a result his festival debut was not recorded. Happily, such bugs and gremlins were eradicated and the second day here was preserved for posterity – a fact which won’t be appreciated by Lisa Verrico of The Times who observed “Robert Fripp opened the festival and appeared on all three days, but his impact was minimal. Fifteen minutes into his Saturday set, folk were asking when he was starting. Fripp's feet were busy at effects pedals making wishy-washy ambient sounds, but his guitar was practically unplayed and anyone waiting for a tune was out of luck.” The toe-tapping tunes in question consist of slowly unfolding layers and soaring notes that Fripp had refined two months earlier whilst Soundscaping in America. And quite beautiful they are too.
