The first of two nights at the Cactus cafe gets underway with Mastelotto on flying form as Hindu Fizz captures the space and holds it open for his two band mates to try out a variety of ideas and themes. Cactus Masque features Gunn wailing and sailing atop Fripp’s bittersweet string surges then swooping down to the bass end, letting Fripp take over the principal soloing.
Super Slow finds the guys sounding rather in search of a feel or theme, trying out different motifs and settings in the hope of finding something that sticks but with hindsight, we hear all kinds of elements of Frying Pan bubbling up from a swampy gloop, reminding us that this was work in progress that would ultimately lead to The Construction Of Light.
Eye-witness Vince told readers of ET that they “need not worry about the future of the King. He's in good hands. The band played a 45 minute set then another after a short break. The second set featured a cool Trey-Fripp duel that had me thinking of some
psychdelic Allman Bros mutation. Fripp played the role of bandleader, signaling Trey when to start playing Warr games interlocking with Fripp's guitar runs.To me, the King made several appearances, mostly contained within Trey and Robert's chord progressions. Fripp used his "xylophone" guitar sound in some blistering runs that had the crowd hootin' and hollerin'(this is Texas). I enjoyed P3 more than P2. Heavier, more Kingly to my ears. I thought Fripp seemed invigorated playing with Trey and Pat, which bodes well for the next KC recordings.”
