The incremental entry of the Crims on stage to the percolating percussion of Waiting Man always heightened the sense of excitement, and yes, expectation. First Bruford, followed a few bars later by Belew who would join in on the electronic drums, then Tony Levin, and finally, Robert Fripp. The remarkably clear and highly listenable audience recording conveys something of the magic that this moment instilled in audiences during the tour. The hypnotic pulsing, with Levin and Fripp’s contrapuntal accents combined with Belew’s sleek vocal lines sailing over the top, is completely mesmerising.
Bruford briefly quotes from the opening Waiting Man melody in his extended drum intro to Indiscipline, where the tune skitters briefly in the fusillade of dextrous drumming. If ever the man felt hemmed in by the structures of the main songs elsewhere in the set list, then this section was surely designed to let him get it all out of his system. It’s also one of the very few times punters would use the ‘drum solo’ part of the night as an excuse to go to the toilets or the bar, given the way audiences always responded to this number.
