As the European tour inched closer to its conclusion in London,Crimson delivered a tighter set than the preceding night in San Sebastian.[endtease] Even so, it’s interesting to hear that Vrooom shares the same “phase shift” as Barcelona, only this time it seems the backline go out of phase with the front line. Was this a new arrangement being tried out or merely just a persistent brown moment brought about by dodgy monitoring?
Oyster Soup is brilliantly out of kilter in exactly the way it should be, rocking and rolling from side to side like a ship in a storm. Belew’s guitar is playful throughout offering up a sensational solo and a hilarious mid-song plea for no pictures.
Non-consensual photography and recording was a key factor in robbing this particular concert of one KC classic in particular. As Fripp noted in his diary at the time “As "FraKctured" came closer in the set, I was thinking: there has been some re-equilibration; perhaps the photography has stopped. The centre is coming together. We'll do "FraKctured". Then, flash. So, tonight no "Fractured"
Despite this set back there are a couple of strong improvisations (which appeared in a highly edited form on Heavy ConstruKction) which hint at the might-have-been nature of the ProjeKcts experiments. Listen out for arguably the strongest rendition of Heroes.Mastelotto blows off the doors at the back to great effect, moving the pulse of the tune to grind it out against the beat and the boys at the front who undaunted by Pat’s rhythmic detonations, manfully keep swinging.
