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.
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 trie...
It had been 16 years TO THE DAY that I had last seen KC (I was in the Mann Music Center gig), now I was in the other side of the ocean. The venue is basically a big Disco next to the Manzanares river...with bad acoustics.I was lucky enough to get there "early" by Spaniard standards, so I was in FRONT row facing Trey (I’m a bassist/Stick player too, I thought it’d be the best place to be...it was), AAMOF I appear in one of the photos of the "Eyes Wide Open" booklet...took me YEARS to realize ...
It had been 16 years TO THE DAY that I had last seen KC (I was in the Mann Music Center gig), now I was in the other side of the ocean. The venue is basically a big Disco next to the Manzanares river...with bad acoustics.I was lucky enough to get there "early" by Spaniard standards, so I was in FRONT row facing Trey (I’m a bassist/Stick player too, I thought it’d be the best place to be...it was), AAMOF I appear in one of the photos of the "Eyes Wide Open" booklet...took me YEARS to realize it too...Regarding the flash photos..come on, this is Madrid and people don’t give a sh*t no matter if you ask them nicely, like they had prior and DURING the concert, so , yeah, no "FracKtured" (thank you, varios gilipollas!)The gig itself featured VERY HEAVY material (or rendition thereof) and there was a good vibe, people were psyched and we all enjoyed the show.I remember a HUGE ovation from the crowd during the really fast part of LTIA pt. IV, we were all blown away....I was flabbergasted when , in the middle of a complicated stretch of that song, Trey decided to comment something to Pat, as if nothing else were happening, both exchanged a few sentences while chaos and mayhem were ensuing musically...wow...one of these days I’ll play like that... As for the recording, it is VERY clear, but somehow, since I suppose this is a FOH mix, the engineer did not separate RF from AB , so , when they both are playing "clean guitar" sounds, you have to wear headphones to tell them apart...now, when Fripp is playing his "Soundscapes" sounds or any other different sound , it’s obvious....Don’t know what the FOH guy was thinking, but "Heroes" was PAINFULLY loud (WAY louder than the rest of the concert), I had to plug my ears...did NOT enjoy it...I thought that I’d be able to get this on DVD (Bootleg TV), since that was the original intention IIRC...heck , at least I got this, which is better than nothing...Still have the T-shirt from the tour...(Could you please release as a download the 2003 Madrid Concert?)In Summary, I give this performance a 9 out of 10 since , yes, there were quite few glitches and somehow "Señor Freep" did not give his "best" in this show, don’t ask me why, that’s how I felt it...Ade was REALLY digging it, though (always a trooper). Trey was "along for the ride" and Pat was enjoying it up to a point-I saw a couple of times some expressions denoting disappointment regarding his gear not responding or working properly...Anyway, I had a great time...
Written by Jorge Souto
Before I listen to it...
This is the best Christmas gift I could’ve got! I’ve been waiting for it for over seven years, since I read at the venue that a recording of the concert would soon be available through KingCrimsonTV... Anyway, I’ve asked for it twice or more, so thanks a lot for uploading this (and San Sebastian and Barcelona at the same time, that’s more than I could’ve imagined). If my memory serves right, getting to listen again to Adrian’s wild playing, Trey’s unexpected taste (afterward...
This is the best Christmas gift I could’ve got! I’ve been waiting for it for over seven years, since I read at the venue that a recording of the concert would soon be available through KingCrimsonTV... Anyway, I’ve asked for it twice or more, so thanks a lot for uploading this (and San Sebastian and Barcelona at the same time, that’s more than I could’ve imagined). If my memory serves right, getting to listen again to Adrian’s wild playing, Trey’s unexpected taste (afterwards I could clearly identify his parts in the Double Trio), Robert’s runs through the frets, and Pat’s polyrhythms will be a fantastic, though not so easy experience. They played really HEAVY stuff! The order chosen for the pieces perhaps did not help much to get into the show, but the boys did. The highlights for me were Adrian’s solo Three of a Perfect Pair, Thrush and Heroes. This last piece sent chills down my spine again and again. They sounded like a machine gun, with Fripp’s guitar shifting back, forth and sideways in an incredibly loose way! No wonder people wanted more after those encores!
