If the previous evening saw P4 cautiously unveiling their chosen territory, the second gig of their West Coast jaunt had them stomping all over place.
The team really begin to gel as group from the opening moments of Ghost Part 1 through to Contrary ConstruKction, where everything is left suspended in a kind of high stakes musical cliff-hanger.
Seizure is delivered with a remarkable degree of concision considering they are still very much exploring the outer edges of this tremendous addition to the repertoire. It sounds like they’ve been playing it for years somehow despite the fact that this is only its second public outing. Thrush has Fripp in a ruminative mood prior to Gunn’s ecstatic solo against the churchy strings, producing a shiver-inducing conclusion to the first set.
Ghost Part II opens with wonderfully menacing mood set up by Fripp’s soundscape where, a few minutes in, he’s joined by Gunn’s fretful arcs, before both give way to exploratory delving that continues into Light ConstruKction and a devastatingly powerful Heavy ConstruKction, wherein rumbling and grumbling bass-end rucks set up a monstrous set-list closer where Fripp slices and dices the already rarified Boulder air. That some of the ensemble playing sticks and some of it falls away is all part of the fun, and in a sense, the very raison d’etre of the group. Phenomenal stuff and one of the best gigs of the entire P4 tour.
