The 21st gig on a 26 date European tour and the Crims are firing on all cylinders. The band is a well-oiled machine here and it’s obvious right off the bat the energy level is as high as a kite on a stepladder. If you listen carefully after Red, you’ll hear Fripp give the Crimson distress call.
Why distress? Because he knows that next on the set list is Frame By Frame and with excitement running high Adrian’s count in is going to be at a fair old lick. Sure enough the track whooshes off like a greyhound out of a trap. How does Old Chuckles Fripp deal with it? Well let’s just say its a safe bet he blew the smoke off his fingertips at the end.
The Sheltering Sky moves into a strange space set partly by Fripp’s reinterpretation of the main theme which then leads into a serpentine solo from Gunn. It may lack the fierce intensity that one usually associates with this piece but it creates an intriguing and welcome sequence of experimentation.
The Bruford / Mastelotto partnership are given extra sharp focus with a frankly jaw-dropping B’boom which goes walkabout from its usual patterns. Overall, the band are clearly in the zone for a remarkable version of Thrak where its improvised section sounds tightly scripted collage mixing up primeval rock and 12-tone serialism to devastating effect; the band are really locked in with each other on what might be the best version of Thrak ever. Oh, Schizoid Man and LTIA2 aren’t too shabby either. This is King Crimson rocking out. Big time!
