Something of a feast for fans of the League of Crafty Guitarists here.[endtease] There’s lots of previously unreleased material here to sit alongside the tunes that will be familiar from albums such as Show Of Hands (1990) and Intergalactic Boogie Express (1995). With Fripp concentrating attention on Sunday All Over The World in 1989, live work for the League had been somewhat sporadic but even a cursory listen to this lengthy set (the second of two consecutive evenings in New York) shows that this is arguably the tightest line-up in the League’s history.
There’s an element of show, and to some extent, showing off in the gig with the turn-on-dime runs and rhythms executed at breakneck speed – especially on the David Pittaway-penned Fomp and Paul Richards’ Beeline both offering different dissections of the 12 bar blues. But the LoCG isn’t all about technical wizardry and advertisements for Charles Atlas-style callisthenics.
Embracing truly moving and intricate melodies of gossamer-like beauty is also an essential part of the experience. In this respect Land’s End never runs out of invention or expression, and merges in spellbinding fashion into the wondrous Breathing Fields. Sourced from a bootleg recording there are inevitably occasional moments where the conversation gets too close to the performance – why do people always choose the quietest moments to talk? Interspersed with Patricia Leavitt’s unaccompanied vocals, this is the most comprehensive and varied recording of the League in action.
