“Sorry, we like to play in tune” says Belew after a barn-storming Discipline and Thela. “This is our first night in the great North West. How are we doing so far?” Pretty good going by the reaction of the punters at El Mocambo. It’s the first night of the tour that would deliver a radically re-tooled KC around 29 cities in Canada and America. “Easy Money”, “Peoria”, “Asbury Park”, “Sailor’s Tale” are just some of the numbers from KC’s back pages which the eager crowd shout-out for in this lively but eminently listenable audience recording. They don’t get any of those tracks of course but they do get some rip-roaring renditions of the then-newly released Discipline album and a foretaste of the future with work-in-progress versions of Sartori in Tangiers and Neal, Jack & Me, the latter featuring some vamps at the end of the song from Fripp that come as close to blues as you’re likely to hear. Crimson feel and sound like they’re in command here and clearly eager to get going, with Levin especially on fine form from start to finish. Frame By Frame scorches, The Sheltering Sky opens up the roof on the place and LTIA 2 blows the doors out. The Mocambo didn’t really stand a chance!
TRACK
TIME
01
Discipline
05:52
02
Thela Hun Ginjeet
07:11
03
Tune Up And Announcement
01:15
04
Red
06:45
05
Tune Up And Announcement
00:38
06
Frame By Frame
05:51
07
Matte Kudasai
03:58
08
The Sheltering Sky
09:34
01
Tune Up And Announcement
01:07
02
Neal And Jack And Me
07:50
03
Sartori In Tangier
07:36
04
Elephant Talk
05:04
05
Indiscipline
07:16
06
Larks Tongues In Aspic Pt II
06:37
07
Thela Hun Ginjeet
06:30
Written by Steven Nathan
Not Bad but Not Great
A bit rough with he audience talk and a bit muddy sound due to the source. Great historical piece from the tour, though.
Written by Geoffrey Stewart
A Searing Brand.
Addendum re: theredskull re: submitted review
Written by Geoffrey Stewart
This concert certainly WAS at the old El Mocambo as I was there (re: previous reviewer). The intimacy afforded by the small club (while sitting comfortably at a little table a scant 25 feet from the 2 ft. high stage) combined with the stunning performance I can only liken to a searing cow’s brand on my brain. I am pleased to see this recording is finally available to this Torontonian at last. Cheers.
Written by Scott Northey
Toronto 1981
I was at a concert by the gang at the time of Discipline’s paradigm-shifting release and I am pretty sure that the venue in Toronto was a place called the Masonic Temple and NOT the El Mocambo (saw the English Beat at the same venue twice with similar post-concert feelings of elation..!). No real issue since the concert was a mind-blowing stomper, but thought I would wade in anyway.
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