There’s always been something incredibly cinematic to King Crimson’s music - at least to this pair of ears and eyes.
Of course, everyone will visualise things differently but as far as the movie playing in this Crimhead’s imagination is concerned, the opening improv beginning with Tony’s bowed bass conjures some kind of potentially destructive leviathan gradually coming into sharp focus into a strange, dystopic vista. Or maybe just the various Crims as they join Tony one by one on stage!
Vrooom and its Coda reverberate to Bruford and Mastelotto’s powerful double-drumming and the pair propel and push a mighty version of Dinosaur and of course, they are at the forefront of B’Boom with its gothic veil of soundscapes which become increasingly distressed as the pace picks up.
In the aftermath of the heavy-bombing of the THRAK theme, the space between the notes is quickly but not always sensitively filled. Robert rides in on midi'd groovy organ which blots out a short-lived cameo from Trey. Then, the guitarists click through their array of effects, and of course there's the power drill applied to the fretboard. Some nights this section of the show is magical but here the various dots don’t always connect to a convincing picture.
Elsewhere, Sex, Sleep, Eat, Drink, Dream is a scorcher and again the splitting of rhythmic duties between the drummers and the bass end is a white-knuckle ride that’s quickly followed by a storming version of People, a track that is all to often overlooked. Marrying smart pop hooks to polyrhythmic ambition buzzing with darting guitar lines, it’s arguably one of the great triumphs of the Double Trio.
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