“Moonchild!” somebody shouts on this audience recording. Of course he hasn’t a hope in hell.[endtease] For his trouble he gets a mesmerising almost meditative performance of Frame By Frame. With the Discipline album still only a couple of months old this performance has a remarkable authority to it, catching Crimson as it does on a classic night in which they manage to both swing and rock with equal abandon.
Despite our hindsight and familiarity with the set there will be lots here that will surprise and delight even the longhaul Crimheads amongst us. If The Sheltering Sky was meant to start with the trumpet theme nobody has told Fripp, who just starts letting rip like he can’t wait to get going. Bruford’s percussive intro to Indiscipline doesn’t sound a million miles removed from the electronica textures of ProjeKct 4 no less!
The new material that would later feature on Beat positively smokes; a still worldless Neurotica (then called "Manhattan") burns between blistering mutant metal jazz and ruminative math rock. The cascading lines of Neil And Jack And Me are still shiny new with a rockier than usual arrangement. And how about that Fripp solo at the end?
Sartori In Tangier features Fripp on his trusty Roland organ and Belew making monster noises along the stage make this a surging, raging version you’re unlikely to forget in a hurry.
Loving restored by DGMLive regular Daniel Loretangeli, this gig is a welcome addition to the official archive and one you should grab with both hands asap!
