You don’t hear Trey Gunn’s bass so much as feel it during this barnstorming Red, the notes not quite registering in the ears but more in the solar plexus. Then there’s the exceptionally nimble lines he devised for TCOL, which Tony Levin in a later incarnation of Crimson described as the hardest thing he’d ever had to play in his long career.
Gunn seems in very good form throughout this show. The fleet-fingered work during LTIA IV when he matches Fripp note for note in the turn around on the fast-running lines and climb-out before the coda is breathtaking stuff.
The improvs in this set don’t quite ever catch fire. There’s a listless quality to the contributions here as they fail to either be drawn along by Mastelotto’s rigid tempo, or take things somewhere else.
Belew makes a valiant attempts to overcome his sore throat during his solo rendition of Three Of A Perfect, and after the jokey throat-clearing at the top of Oyster Soup seems relieved that this is going to be the last of his vocal duties for the night as his guitar solo mimics the wail of an ambulance in the solo spot.
Not a bad gig by any stretch but somewhat subdued compared to the others so far in this run.
