The second gig in series of six solo concerts before P2 live concert debut the following month, finds RF before an appreciative crowd. Of the show, the reviewer of the Chicago Tribune felt “This was not a display of virtuosity in the conventional sense--Fripp clearly has no interest in demonstrating the speed, fluidity or dexterity of his “chops.” Instead it was an extended exercise in mood manipulation, as waves of sound veered from thick, atmospheric drones to more dissonant textures that even at their loudest caressed rather than pummeled the senses.”
In the opening section high sustained notes build up into ominous drifts, single pin-pricks of light pierce the soundclouds and towards the end, a brass-like undertow burnishes the sweeping single notes.
The second track begins to put in place the ascending themes of the Affirmation; the mood is stately, grand and sombre, whose floating chords seem filled with sadness
Improv III contains its fair share of bleeps, bloops, pan-pipes and a swatch of fiery lead guitar before moving sideways into angst that dominates the second half of the show, veering towards dense, darker forms, distorting and swirling across the stereo picture.
Along with the complete concert (including the portion of the music which began too early for some concert-goers to hear), the Q&A session heard here was also used for the spoken-word Robert Fripp Unplugged series. In preparing this concert for download Alex Mundy encountered one or two difficulties. “Unfortunately, this dat comes from the desk, rather than direct from Robert’s rack, so there is a little hiss and hum, I guess just white noise from the desk, cabling etc.
I have taken some off, but I didn’t want to take the high and low end frequencies away. Also there seems to be a gate on the desk, which just does occasionally chatter a bit on the louder sections. This also effects Roberts Q And A section a little. But besides those little problems, this is a very good performance, with some great moods!”
The second gig in series of six solo concerts before P2 live concert debut the following month, finds RF before an appreciative crowd. Of the show, the reviewer of the Chicago Tribune felt “This was not a display of virtuosity in the conventional sense--Fripp clearly has no interest in demonstrating the speed, fluidity or dexterity of his “chops.”...
This is a record I’ve been coming back to often over the last few months, largely because it’s so free-flowing and exploratory. There is a lot of long, sorrowful sweeps here, but they’re not intense - they come and go at leisure, and Robert does his share at convincing the audience relax and take it as a natural background to whatever they’re doing. The result is music that doesn’t hurry to say anything directly, instead winding its way through textures and harmonies freely. For poigna...
This is a record I’ve been coming back to often over the last few months, largely because it’s so free-flowing and exploratory. There is a lot of long, sorrowful sweeps here, but they’re not intense - they come and go at leisure, and Robert does his share at convincing the audience relax and take it as a natural background to whatever they’re doing. The result is music that doesn’t hurry to say anything directly, instead winding its way through textures and harmonies freely. For poignancy and power, you may be best advised to look elsewhere in soundscapes, but if you just want to hear Robert happily at work in an improv setting, you can’t do much better than this. Oh, and the Q&A, along with Robert’s rather amusing introduction (which actually comes almost a third of the way through the performance) are a fun bonus - the guitarist is seems to be in good spirits and the audience likewise shows lots of respect. This is probably a unique recording if you are interested in soundscapes recorded with responsive audience - on other releases, this response is usually omitted. Here, meanwhile, you can definitely get a glimpse at what was definitely a very interactive and productive evening.
Written by Armand Gieling
Sadness has his own intent.
There are more waves with a sorrowful timbre than usual in other soundscapes, and that makes this download so beautiful. The soundquality is also very good, and the little disturbance on some places is not irritant at all. Thanks DGM!
Written by Andy Fox
Excellent music, fantastic value!
Ethereal, with an edge! The Q&A was a welcome bonus.A fantasitic bargin at six quid (ish)Sound quality was excellent.
Written by Joshua Klocek
living in the chicago area, i consider myself privilaged to have been able to see crimson 4 times at the park west theater. my first concert ever was seeing crimson on the first thrak tour at the rosemont theater, with the california guitar trio as the support act. now, granted that being my first live concert, and as i was 15 years old at the time, it is indelibly etched upon my being as a magical night.but this show, which fell a month after my 18th birthday, and attending with my fa...
living in the chicago area, i consider myself privilaged to have been able to see crimson 4 times at the park west theater. my first concert ever was seeing crimson on the first thrak tour at the rosemont theater, with the california guitar trio as the support act. now, granted that being my first live concert, and as i was 15 years old at the time, it is indelibly etched upon my being as a magical night.but this show, which fell a month after my 18th birthday, and attending with my father, a lifelong crimsonhead, who was kind enough to give me his original vinyl KC collection when i was twelve, was beyond special. we arrived early and took seats at the tables right at the stages end, and right in front of robert. alternateing between watching him at such a close distance(ive been a guitarist since i was ten so i was very curious to see him play and bleep and drone) and closing my eyes(i didnt feel like walking around as per robert’s suggestion) and taking the music in with out visuals, i was forever changed as a player. THAT was really the first time music, even tho i was not the one playing it, felt like it took me into its confidence. and what a wonderful place it was. so thank you DGM live and thank you robert for finally releasing this performance. the music is without peer, and actually just as i remember it, yet somehow new all the same. plus, the q and a is priceless and worth the price alone! altogether, with an appreciative and respectful audience(save for the dolt who felt it necessary to take two flash photos which not only affected robert but also the audience, i know i was), magnificent, soaring, gut-wrenching soundscapings, and the fripp stand up routine( i jest of course), this is an important addion to DGM, and should be an important additon to the collection of all who frequent this site. i cant recommend this highly enough.
