Drawn from a single concert at the Amsterdam Concertgebouw in November 1973, The Night Watch is one of the most celebrated King Crimson live recordings.
A recording was originally broadcast by the BBC, as a result of which the concert was available in parts for many years under a number of bootleg titles all, as Robert Fripp noted, sharing the same lo-fi/hi-price problems. When DGM began issuing archive concerts in the mid 1990s this was high on the list to be restored and released. By the time of this concert the band had been on the road for seven out of the previous eleven months. Percussionist Jamie Muir left the touring band in February, but with two European tours and a US tour during the year the quartet line-up was in the midst of building a lasting legacy as one of the key live acts of the era. The material performed represented the bulk of the April 1973 issued 'Larks' Tongues in Aspic' & a number of pieces that would become the recorded basis for the 1974 album 'Starless and Bible Black'.
Drawn from a single concert at the Amsterdam Concertgebouw in November 1973, The Night Watch is one of the most celebrated King Crimson live recordings.
A recording was originally broadcast by the BBC, as a result of which the concert was available in parts for many years under a number of bootleg titles all, as Robert Fripp noted, sharing the...
Perhaps someday in the not too far-flung future, we humbled, forever-patient KC enthusiasts will be graced with the original unedited version of the now-classic "Improv: S&BB".
A personal Holy Grail, one might say....along with the LA, California Shrine Auditorium June 19th, 1974 show, which I will take this moment to re-assert with vigour & desire..
It's a surprise that no one in Amsterdam that night recorded the complete concert discreetly. Or also not kept the tape for all these years...
Perhaps someday in the not too far-flung future, we humbled, forever-patient KC enthusiasts will be graced with the original unedited version of the now-classic "Improv: S&BB".
A personal Holy Grail, one might say....along with the LA, California Shrine Auditorium June 19th, 1974 show, which I will take this moment to re-assert with vigour & desire..
It's a surprise that no one in Amsterdam that night recorded the complete concert discreetly. Or also not kept the tape for all these years I suppose. If so, one could conceivably pull a "Zurich"...as in... blending the audience recording seamlessly with the multi-track to create an act of sorcery, & finally have our eager ears blasted w/the missing "build-up" section which I'm pretty sure preceded the final climactic ending for what was probably an ~12-14 min improv (similar to adjacent Fall 1973 dates) cleverly edited to ~9'11".
Otherwise, the concert was fantastic. And the official release as well.
Written by Phoenix Wright Guy
100/10 Greatest Crimson Concert Ever!
This is probably King Crimson at its peak, and the fact that the this is on REAL MULTI-TRACK TAPES is probably the best thing that's ever happened to King Crimson. Though, I do wonder, was studio mixed onto these tapes. Guess I'll never know, not that I want to. The recording quality is probably better than King Crimson in 2014-2021, along with the classic songs, with the classic members, such as John Wetton, Bill Burford, and David Cross.
