Like many others seeing this tour, ET eye-witness Nick Bratton, was especially impressed by Bill and Pat’s work. “The opening tom duet by Bruford and Mastelotto was impressive. They were staring straight into each other's eyes, and I could see Bruford counting out the beat. The real coup de grace of the performance was when, in the middle of Thrak, everyone stopped except Adrian, who began playing a piano melody through his midi
synth which sounded not too distant from "Fool on the Hill." The resemblance was strikingly Beatles-esque, and when he began to sing, I realized that King Crimson was covering the "new" Beatles song, "Free as a Bird." It was hilarious...The final stunning blow came in the second encore, when Bruford, Mastelotto, and Belew took the front of the stage and played a frenetic percussion improvisation on a rack of blocks and the two toms. Bruford's solo was sizzling, and later he and Pat really got down on one tom, Pat playing it with his drumsticks and Bill manipulating the sound by using his palms, fists, and fingers on the surface of the drum head. A truly astounding performance. The crowd was courteous for the most part. The token buffoons who invariably shouted "Bruford!" during the improv could not match his endurance with their bellows. This, their 99th show of the Thrak tour, was by far the best I have attended.”
