The Travis & Fripp roadshow has moved on from Madrid to Malaga and the surroundings of Teatro Echegaray. The alchemy of improvisation can be fickle and elusive and while the two players have agreed ‘areas’ in which to operate and move, the content therein is very much open to interpretation. The opening piece that traditionally unfurls a T&F performance, The Chaos Of Stone, has defined margins, as indeed does Blue Calm, an undoubted classic within the T&F repertoire. Yet with The Unanswered Question, the duo seems far apart, never quite coming together. The heavy guitar certainly shakes things up from what might be seen by some as a rather cozy sound world. However, accepting that this is all subjective, to these ears it’s not until late into the overall performance that sparks begin to happen. From his perspective, Fripp came off the stage feeling unsettled. “This was a hard evening for me. The second step in any process is always vulnerable. But, this was also the as if first performance, and the first for this audience. We played for an hour to a full house of c 250, more conservative & little older than the audience in Madrid. Probably, not all of those present would have picked this as their music of choice; and most of those likely to have chosen otherwise were women. But the audience was also respectful & very generous: a standing ovation & encore (from those who had not already left).” Even after a meal and a phone call home, back at the hotel, Fripp was not a happy gigster. “Unable to shake off a profound dissatisfaction with this evening’s performance, I feel as if I have lied to my Mother”
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