Stomping along at a rate of notes, it’s interesting hearing the Thela immediately career down a different road via the spacey interlude before coming back into focus for the chugging punchfest that is LTIA Pt IV. This is a strong sounding set with the band rocking hard throughout though not without room for some off-piste moments.
The first improv is an interesting melange of beat-boxy rhythms and the hand sonic bells melody that would later appear as The Power To Believe melody smeared with some vibrant day-glo guitar FX from which the moto perpetuo of FraKctured. And what a version! Just listen to Mastelotto and Gunn dig deep beneath Fripp’s hurtling lines in the trio section of the piece - it’s an astonishing feat of precision and power.
After some gothic strings at the conclusion of Frying Pan the second improv prowls and growls into place with some roaring elephantosity courtesy of Trey Gunn. The second part thrums like some steam-belching industrial mechanism with Belew’s squealing guitar constantly ducking and diving between the galloping beats.
Pat’s clearly having a wild time of it throughout the night with some crazy samples at the start of Dinosaur, during and at the end of it. And Mastelotto is the star of Frame By Frame, beating out fascinating patterns during the verses as every bit beguiling as the phasing from the guitarists at the front and end of the pieces.
