“Good evening and a fine evening it is since you’re all here. One little announcement I’d like to make before we start. If you feel so inclined to smoke something, please go as far away from me as you can to do so. Otherwise, enjoy yourselves, have a great time. Buckle your seat belts, here we go” thus speaks Captain Belew as Crimson takes off for a top flight version of Frame By Frame.
The improvisation in Thrak (now bookended by the opening and closing riffs) opens up into quite a special place. Eye-witness David Ewing thought so too, as he described the event on ET at the time, describing it as one of the highlights of the show. “ It was slow, brooding, dark, mysterious - the musicians were really listening to each other. Great stuff (which I'd love to hear them do more of). Fripp even played a trademark distorted, sustaining solo.”
Aficionados of Clams Crimsonique are directed to Vrooom; some guitar tuning that isn’t and a fascinating collision of bass notes on a downbeat which lands the stick players in places where they probably didn’t expect to be at that precise moment. Good stuff here nevertheless!
