“Thank you very much. Good evening. Great to be back,” says Belew after the opening number on the first night proper of King Crimson’s 4th tour of Japan. Five numbers into this gig and the band are sounding like they’ve arrived in body and in spirit.The blistering runs on FraKctured possess that jaw-dropping quality of being incredibly articulate while at the same time utterly brutal. It’s a good stepping off point for the band as they begin to knit together a convincing show with Vrooom being carpet-bombed throughout by Mastelotto’s crunching snare.
Mastelotto is at the forerfront of the improvisation in the set. Driving forward a chunky beat that sounded as though it might drop into a Siezure-style groove, the rest of the team approach it with a degree of uncertainty. Fripp embarks on a lead sortie over the thudding beats before dropping back to Seizure’s string sections, as Belew jams on his nagging chord. It’s actually Gunn who takes the lead solo in the middle of the piece, all howls and ferocious flurries. There’s a moment where the rhythm buddies are out on their own; hard to believe it’s just two people at the centre of that particular storm.
During Interlude, Belew goes into the “on soft grey mornings” section of Court Of The Crimson King. Fripp, by now on phat midi bass mode, isn’t having any of it. A decidedly odd moment in the setlist.
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