It was Fripp’s practice to re-use loops created on other evenings and begin soloing much earlier than might be the case. A case in point is the second track on this concert in which Fripp overlays a delightfully angular solo over the harmonious backing. Elsewhere there’s Fripp’s version of God Save The Queen which of course is a nod to Hendrix’s rendition of The Star Spangled Banner.
Hendrix pops up again when in response to a comment from the audience he wryly weaves in a bar or two of Foxy Lady and again makes a brief appearance much later in the show. And is that a snippet of Fracture in the very early stages of Under Heavy Manners & Solo? The concert ends in a flurry of super-fast runs, ragged bends, de-tuned pegs, and all manner of apocalyptic sturm und rang falling on the ears of the audience during 1983. As the audience file away into the evening the calming Loop III from July provides a kind of closure to this remarkable restoration of a great-sounding audience recording and the surviving reels.
12/08/2024