Drawing to the end of an intensive series of live dates in Europe, the gang are captured in pristine sound quality here on their penultimate date in Germany. It’s a recurring feature of LoG gigs that the first number can often be a little wobbly and so this one is no exception with Robert becoming temporarily unseated (as it were) with the band comping along.*
Fans of the LoG have often complained that in a majority of concerts available, the sound balance has left Barry Andrews rather short-changed. Not so on this concert where the mix is rather more equally distributed than is usually the case.
As ever with a LoG the fun is found in the downright wacky mix of music that one the hand (or should be foot?) claims to be about dancing, whilst on the other containing the kind of angular and dissonant lines that defy the usual pop rock conventions. The tightly-drilled rhythm section enable Fripp to hurtle off into some splendidly splenetic soloing that toys with his past and hints at what’s to come. One show stopping moment occurs during Dislocated when Fripp launches into a solo and near the four-minute mark begins quoting the lead melody from Exposure’s Breathless.
The only thing this concert lacks is the noise and subsequent atmosphere generated by the appreciative audience - no microphone was trained on the crowd, and so the numbers stop only to be met with silence. Careful ears will hear distant smatterings from punters as well as the occasion warble from the guitarist.
*Although this track is listed as incomplete it’s really only the first downbeat which has eluded the tape.
