At the beginning of this audience recording it sounds like the group is playing in an airport concourse such is the overall ambience. However, as things build and then slide over into Larks’ Tongues In Aspic Part I, the sound becomes slightly more focused - but only just.
Having blasted the air with all guns blazing, by which we mean John Wetton in this instance, David Cross’s stately violin solo is a beautiful contrast and is given the respectful silence it so thoroughly deserves.
Easy Money seems less than turbo-charged with Fripp offering little other than a somewhat truncated solo compared to some of the others in the tour. The fact that they were having equipment difficulties throughout the evening might account for this.
That said, Fracture has an extended improv immediately ahead of the power chords and there’s a truly gorgeous molten guitar solo in a superb reading of The Night Watch.
The main improv here is initially driven by the rhythm box and bluesy licks from Wetton over which Cross skips and soars. However, around the 7-minute mark things take a different turn. Fripp introduces a high-register cyclical motif that’s briefly reminiscent of Discipline, shimmering with Bruford’s glockenspiel and the frayed edges of Cross’s pianet notes. It’s a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moment but an exciting gear shift nevertheless.
