Following a short jaunt around the UK coinciding with the release of LTIA, Crimson took off for Europe.[endtease] Nine days into their tour they rolled into Paris and gave an astonishing show. Although we are all familiar with the music now, you have to remember that this would have been the first time Continental audiences had the chance to hear the new quartet in action. Opening with Doctor Diamond, the assault continues with a fearsome rendition LTIA pt 1. Just this sequence alone is worth the price of the download.
However if that doesn’t convince you then in addition to the album songs themselves, there’s over half an hour of full-blooded improvisations in this show. The first is based around the themes and motifs that would later be clarified (although ultimately abandoned) in Guts On My Side – yet more evidence of Crimson’s policy of throwing song ideas around on stage and seeing how they stand or fall. The whole band is storming through the show although special mention should be made of the guitarist who frequently exceeds all expectations – even those of seasoned Fripp-listeners in the DGMLive team!
David Singleton and Alex Mundy have restored this concert from two separate bootleg sources and even the truncated Schizoid Man makes this the most complete version of this concert now available.
