15th August 1979
Two splendid pieces into the performance, Fripp puts down his Les Paul and begins to speak to the small but appreciative Quebec audience, initially in French. However, after a few sentences, Fripp says, “I shall speak a little in English, a little less in French.” He then goes on to explain his reasons behind leaving King Crimson and how Frippetronics and attempts to promote human contact in the performance space. The extent of just how much human contact you can get at a Frippertronics concert is evident here.
The audience has a ringside seat as he builds up loops and a series of rhapsodic solos. Toward the end of Red Two Scorer we hear his fingers fall onto a sequence that grasps at elements of the Starless melody. It’s not until much later in the concert, as the loop folds back on itself, punching momentary holes of silence into the air, that Fripp plays the Starless melody proper, causing an astonished audience to burst into surprised applause.
The final piece of the evening shows just how powerful an experience Frippertronics can be. Amidst the blizzard of repeating notes and Fripp’s deranged, detuned soloing that’s swooping and diving you can hear the ecstatic reaction. The piece is finally reduced to the glowing embers with the looped notes gently faded out to more applause. This is a wonderful gig expertly restored from audience recordings and the original reels.
12/08/2024
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