If you do nothing else, you have to listen to Trey’s opening solo on Heavy ConstruKction - blistering, smoking, incendiary and other heat-related hyperbole actually fail to justice to what the man is doing! Ditto RF when he jumps in. The pair clearly relish being freed up of their structural responsibilities in King Crimson and are just loving the rush of tangling and sparring with each other.
Sus-Tayn-Z opens with Robert quoting the melodic line that’s been haunting him since his solo on Bringing Down The Light with Fripp and Sylvian (and probably quite a while before that) before developing into a really trippy sequence that seems specifically designed to blow the minds of those in attendance. Light ConstruKction offers a slightly different lolloping gait to what we’re used to hearing, courtesy of those harshly-voiced digital piano patches.
Trey’s diary records that he felt that during the first half, they had to work very hard, having to deal with audience expectation and some negativity - repeated shouts of “you’re an idiot!” Eye witness accounts suggest in fact this invective was not aimed at the band but rather at an over-enthusiastic fan wildly dancing with a pint of beer in his hand, splashing his libation of choice over those nearby.
Trey goes on to observe that for him, it was the second set that really came together. To these ears, twelve years after the event, it’s a close-run thing but the first set just edges ahead in terms of sheer thrills and spills. Robert was heard to that he wanted to rock out that night, and that's what we get - plus a rare second encore!
