With the applause of the first night ringing in the rafters at the Jazz Café, the mood behind stage was confident, even bullish – people were enjoying themselves. After what counts as arguably the most brooding and mysterious introductions ever made by the projeKcts (Levin’s upright bass is just sensational with spooky embellishments on the glockenspiel courtesy of Bill), there follows a lengthy bass jam from Gunn, Levin and Fripp. Never has so much bottom-end been pushed, prodded and rippled in the service of music as is done here. I’m not sure you’d want to hear a whole gig of it (and I’m not sure any of the players concerned would either) so fortunately things move forward at a sprightly pace, with 2i2 benefiting from an especially savage workout from Fripp. Some improvisations are tentative in nature whilst others blast ahead without a second glance. Things lurch into Smoke On The Water-style territory on 2ii1, whilst the appearance of a venerable drum machine setting the tempo takes folks by surprise on 2i5; if you like to hear Fripp and Gunn rocking out then these ones will do it for you. Also of interest here is 2i4 which has many elements of Deception of the Thrush and a sci-fi tingler to close the second night in a dizzying wave of radiophonics.
