“Good evening and welcome to those of you out there in Radioland to an evening of live music, improvised music dedicated to the notion of hazard. Here in the studio, we are creating a first in that Frippertronics has never before gone out live on the air and this is recommencing a tradition of live music. I’m very privileged to be the first person to kick it off this time,” says Fripp in his opening remarks to the audience assembled in Montreal on the last date of his extensive North American tour.
Originally broadcast on local radio there’s been some slight nips and tucks to the dead time accrued while the guitarist rewinds the reels on the Revox and other necessary adjustments.
Intensely dramatic, with its dense clusters of swirling notes and darting staccato attacks, as each piece gradually coalesces it’s as though the music itself is slowly clawing its way into the world and the ears of each listener. This, coupled with the yearning quality that seems to emanate from the leading solo lines, and the quirky introduction of a couple of national anthems along the way makes Frippertronics a special journey. Fripp says that the intention was to break the divide between player and punter and to forge a connection with an audience and the music on a more intimate scale. Listening to this concert it’s hard not to conclude that the mission on this occasion was successful.
Thanks to Frippertronics expert Al Okada for providing this guide to the tracks played in Montreal and where they subsequently appeared.
Track 1 = 1986 with solo (1986 from Let the Power Fall)
Track 2 = Red Two Scorer with solo (from Under Heavy Manners/God Save the Queen)
Track 3 = 1983 with solo (from Under Heavy Manners/God Save the Queen)
Track 10 = God Save the Queen with solo (from Under Heavy Manners/God Save the Queen)
