"That was a weird gig". Thus sprached our drummer as we left the stage for the final time. The physical construction of the venue served the aim of alienating audience & performer by placing an unused orchestra pit between them. Onstage, there was little sense of the audience, enveloped by darkness. When the Paramount was refurbished, Row E became Row C. So, originally, there was a greater proximity. Were I to have been in the audience, I would have felt alienated from the performer.
The audience was small and, towards the end, most supportive. During "Frakctured" I experienced an alarming emptiness at the centre, as if violation were underway, and never fully recovered from this. Even "good" performances suffer violation, as the recent Guestbook posting commenting on the last Paris show suggests. (As an aside, that particular poster wonders why Crimson doesn't play more often in France, and by extension Europe. The poster answers their question within their posting without (at least the appearance of) realising it).
By "Fraktured" the show was leaking like a sieve with some recovery at the end during the encores. Alternatively & otherwise, from the guitarist's stool in Asbury Park, the show began well, was interrupted by the official photographer, lost something in the middle, and recovered during the encores. Most of the New Jersey Guitar Circle were there.
"Fear is a preparation for failure."
