“This next song is aptly titled Circkus” says Boz with a slight edge in his voice. Here’s the band at the half way point of what they know is their last tour together. [endtease] Certainly there’s a lot of clowning around that masks some of the unresolved tensions and resentments that were part of the Crimso chemistry at the time.
“I feel lost, I feel out of control, I feel I’m going MAD!” declaims Fripp as he fails to quell a call to party from the rest of the troops on stage. A case of many a truth said in jest perhaps? Alongside such psycho-drama there’s some good music; Formentera Lady is a rootsy, gutsy affair, with Boz’s crooning especially good over Mel’s thorny soloing. For fans of the vintage sustained laser-beam tone that Fripp made all his own, The Sailor’s Tale will not disappoint.
Ladies Of The Road features some laugh-out-loud banter between Boz and Fripp’s blues guitar pastiche. Perhaps because of all the fun and games throughout the gig, Groon lacks the bite of other versions that are available, and whilst Schizoid Man rescues things with a revved up guitar solo, the encore improv is probably Fripp’s most uncommitted performance of the era. Cadence and Cascade is robbed of a proper conclusion when the tape runs out. It could almost be a metaphor.
“This next song is aptly titled Circkus” says Boz with a slight edge in his voice. Here’s the band at the half way point of what they know is their last tour together. [endtease] Certainly there’s a lot of clowning around that masks some of the unresolved tensions and resentments that were part of the Crimso chemistry at the time.
“I feel los...
The best-sounding show of the 1972 show is sadly one of its weakest
Everybody knows the classic "Earthbound sound" of the cassette soundboards recorded during King Crimson Mk. II's terminal 1972 tour: thuddy, hissy, overloaded, flattened dynamics, etc. The sound quality of that original album (among other things) felt like Fripp's unsubtle commentary about his state of mind at the time: he had a sour view of this experience, one which took years to sweeten, and he wanted listeners to know it. The Stanley Theatre show is singular during this tour as being the one...
Everybody knows the classic "Earthbound sound" of the cassette soundboards recorded during King Crimson Mk. II's terminal 1972 tour: thuddy, hissy, overloaded, flattened dynamics, etc. The sound quality of that original album (among other things) felt like Fripp's unsubtle commentary about his state of mind at the time: he had a sour view of this experience, one which took years to sweeten, and he wanted listeners to know it. The Stanley Theatre show is singular during this tour as being the one live show that DOESN'T sound that way: other than the in-studio radio session at Summit Studios later in March, this is the sole existing known recording of the 1972-era band that doesn't sound like it's been squashed like a grape by the limitations of a cheap input microphone.
Shame that the actual show is terrible, authentically one of the worst that Crimson gave during an era where intra-band tensions have probably never been higher. The surprise for many Crimson fans -- returning to this once-neglected era via DGM and the miracle of downloadable music after years of its reputation being canonically set as "the unfortunate era" -- is how riveting and exploratory many of these Islands-era shows are (I recommend 10/18/71 Leicester and 2/17/72 Detroit in particular). None of that is in evidence here, where the group is sloppy (one suspects partially drunken as well) right from the get-go of "Pictures Of A City." None of the playing ever gels, and the low point is hit on "Ladies of the Road," a song which was always the source of live mischief but which here collapses into outright unprofessionality on the part of all but Fripp.
It is interesting to hear a band quietly feuding with itself onstage, and it makes for a memorable one-time listening experience. But this is not the place to go for a quality (or even representative) show for this era, which is a shame given that it is by far the best-sounding concert tape we have from this era.
Written by Samuel Langer
Interesting. Goofy. Decent.
A decent concert. Crim seems dialled-back in this concert, and Ian and Boz are goofing around a lot, which I like! The sound quality is good, and I absolutely LOVE the encore improv, groovy as hell and has great scatting from Boz. And as a flute player I like Mel's flute improv. It's worth buying this concert only if you've already heard other Boz-lineup '72 concerts.
Written by Rainer Robles
Definitely not bad
Of the shows from 1972, this is one of the best sound quality-wise, but not performance-wise. Fripp's solo on "Sailor's tale" is calmer than usual. This "Cirkus" must be one of the slowest-paced renditions ever. There's nothing wrong with "Ladies of the road" (i.e., the bridge was performed with no mistakes), it's just that is full of comedy! Mel Collins quotes "Sunshine of your love" on "Groon". The last three tracks were the part I liked the most, even if Collins didn't solo on "Schizoid". The...
Of the shows from 1972, this is one of the best sound quality-wise, but not performance-wise. Fripp's solo on "Sailor's tale" is calmer than usual. This "Cirkus" must be one of the slowest-paced renditions ever. There's nothing wrong with "Ladies of the road" (i.e., the bridge was performed with no mistakes), it's just that is full of comedy! Mel Collins quotes "Sunshine of your love" on "Groon". The last three tracks were the part I liked the most, even if Collins didn't solo on "Schizoid". The improv was nice, and it's very sad that the tape ran out and thus we miss the absolute ending of "Cadence".
Written by Christopher King
Pittsburgh March 6, 1972 Improv
I could listen to Crimso improvs alone all night! The single group improv here at the 1972 Pittsburgh gig was a one chord vamp in F that includes Mel's sax riff that more famously was the theme to the song/improvisation "Earthbound" on the Earthbound album. As noted in other reviews here for this gig, the band was at low energy. (Odd Pittsburgh audience where someone shouts out, "Who Killed the Kennedys?" and Boz says something like, "If you hum a few bars and we'll fake it." Ha!) Weirdly I thin...
I could listen to Crimso improvs alone all night! The single group improv here at the 1972 Pittsburgh gig was a one chord vamp in F that includes Mel's sax riff that more famously was the theme to the song/improvisation "Earthbound" on the Earthbound album. As noted in other reviews here for this gig, the band was at low energy. (Odd Pittsburgh audience where someone shouts out, "Who Killed the Kennedys?" and Boz says something like, "If you hum a few bars and we'll fake it." Ha!) Weirdly I think it's worth the download to hear Crimso at low ebb, just so you can understand the heights they soared at other times. Anyway, the improv could have been far more interesting as Ian Wallace starts out with a quirky, foot-tapping challenge 9/8 beat, but Boz comes in and his bass line completely ignores that interesting rhythm, and rather than crash the band, Ian matches him and switches back to a far less interesting 4/4 thump. Mel never moves his sax much beyond a simple blues scale. Fripp wisely segues the band to "Cadence and Cascade" to close the show.
