Fripp’s appearance in the G3 roadshow was always going to be something of challenge for those punters of a certain outlook and expectation as to what their guitar heroes get up to. That’s certainly the case if this reflection from one disgruntled G-tour witness is anything to go by. “I love Fripp, but it does show his lack of showmanship i mean playing live is about entertainment above all really... and to just do soundscapes i think is quite pretentious. Vai claimed fripp could mop the floor with both of them, i would love to see that, and im sure so would the guys who paid £20 for their ticket would aswell.”
Now nearly 14 years after first being heard in Florida this music finds an altogether different audience.
As was the custom on his previous outing with the G3 tours, Fripp began ‘scaping a good half before the punters began to arrive. The result is a slowly developing piece that encompasses the romantic idyls of Acceptance Affirming, the creepy dream sequences of Space Piano and it’s close cousin, Space Music II, which drifts enigmatically as vibraphone sounds tumbling into the depths, and swells of pensive strings rise, fall and slowly slide away. The concluding Requiem Affirming may be sombre in tone but is brimming with that yearning sense of longing;a slow-burning passion that makes these solo performances so special.
Space, in all senses of the word, is very much the place where Robert found himself at this concert. Just three days after this concert the G3 tour came to an end in South Carolina. From there, Fripp met up with Trey Gunn and Adrian Belew in Nashville and began work on what would become Space Groove by ProjeKct 2 - the very first step in the ProjeKcts series.
