A wonderfully confident beginning in Florence with Vrooom coming out a tad slower but without losing any energy. The benefits of this approach include Tony Levin’s upright bowed bass on the coda having the same space to chug up to the front of the sound. Frame is taken at a calmer pace so that the English guitarist in the group doesn’t have fingertips ablaze as a result of the double time phase shifts both during and at the end of the song.
A perfect One Time and an astonishingly vibrant Red auger well for the rolling and tumbling we get on B’boom; Bruford and Mastelotto really make this version come alive. During the improv section of Thrak Bruford executes some beautifully funky pockets but his buddies decline to lock in and get all freewheeling above the beat. As Bruf opts for his xylophone setting Pat keeps the groove going. It’s tight stuff throughout.
Indiscipline tonight is particularly incendiary and even the old warhorse, Elephant Talk, dances with a real spring in its step. Though there have been times when the inclusion of the percussion showcase Conundrum has dissipated the flow of the gig, The Talking Drum and LTIA quickly get things back up to speed. A brilliant performance from start to finish here.
