“Today is a very special day. It is the 38th birthday of our violinist David Cross,” says Robert Fripp with a smile to the loudly enthusiastic audience in Boston who proceed to cheer even more loudly than they were doing some moments before. Lots of smiles and grins were exchanged between the band at this point, as Cross was in fact celebrating his 25th birthday that night. It’s such a pity the distortion of this audience recording renders the rest of Robert’s announcement largely inaudible as it sounds like he’s in very good humour indeed with a certain ‘Leg Quigley’ getting a mention. After belting through The Great Deceiver and Lament they slip into Exiles opening with Bruford being clapped along by the punters in which Robert’s pianet is especially prominent on the introduction.

Fracture’s extreme dynamics means that you get a lot of unwelcome whoops and hollering but as the wave picks up, that’s all swept away in a committed performance. With three tracks from the previous year’s LTIA and three from the recently released Starless And Bible Black in the set tonight, the band offer the newly composed Starless, complete with some brown-noting ‘tron from Fripp at the beginning and Wetton voicing lyrics that were still then in a state of flux.

The following improv though short contains some typical Crimso atmospherics which slowly evolve into a stately theme Mellotron flute and doubled on pianet. Though fleeting, and most likely spontaneous, it’s an example of where the boundaries between formal composition and improvisation become blurred. The final run of Talking Drum and LTIA Pt 2 is delivered with amazing ferocity and spirit the performances completely transcend the limitations of this venerable source recording. Absolutely phenomenal.