There’s only so many ministrations Mister Stormy can apply to the source material of this concert. As the man himself explains, “This was a request from the forum, it's a bit wooly, but once one adjusts it's listenable. I sometimes wonder after chasing hiss and trying to find the music, if I've improved them or not. Well, it may not sound like it to you, but this is tonnes better. The first half of the cassette needed retuning, quite a lot of these cassettes do, as the batteries on the machines are sometimes running flat, so the tape slows down. Sometimes they are too fast/high pitched as well but that's the joy of the job!”
Despite the less-than-optimal sonics, it’s obvious the Crims are having a good show. When the band goes into the heavy slashing riff in the second part of Fracture the crowd burst into applause. Given that they would be hearing this track for the first time did they think it was LTIA Pt2? Well, no, as it happens. The audience frequently shows their appreciation at what's going on if you listen across the set suggesting they are well tuned into the gig.
With a graceful Night Watch and a robust reading of Lament the other new, paint-still-wet item is the improv following a lovely Exiles. The quiet atmospheric introduction suffers somewhat because of the overall murkiness of the tape but after some gentle chording, Wetton breaks out his thunderous snap-bass and the team enter into a stop-start interlude. Cross can be heard on electric piano with Fripp providing some Mellotron voicing. Despite the audio shortcomings, this is an intriguing excursion for the Crims. The short version of all the above? The band is cooking!
