“But now it’s 1981,” says Adrian Belew after the Crimson quartet had just finished blitzing the place with an astonishingly heavy rendition of Red. It’s always been a curious oddity in Crimhistory that the track that forged the proto-metal side of the group’s personality in the 1970s would have to wait until the following decade to give it voice on a live stage. And then not so much a voice as a roar. Belew continues with his announcement that the next number will be Matte Kudasai. The contrast between the two aspects of this group, one coming immediately after the other couldn’t be more evident as they slide into the genteel beauty of Matte Kudasai. Later in the set, Manhattan paints an entirely different portrait of the band, brimming with serious reserves of kinetic energy and unrelenting drive that leans into a bracing atonality via Belew’s impressionistic daubing of a city’s motors hurtling through the streets. Although recorded from within the audience, the quality overall is very accessible indeed, resulting in a great, if sometimes a bit blurry around the edges snapshot of the band in action.
We believe this is the second performance.
We believe this is the second performance.
