King Crimson - 2003-10-29 House of Blues, Los Angeles, California (2003)

Honestly, you’d have to be dead from the ankles up not to be affected by this version of FaKcts Of Life which, quite simply, ticks each box marked: head, heart and hips. The degree to which Crimson hit the mark here is quite remarkable. Of course, they’d had a pretty good run-up to it with the preceding numbers, including a visceral Level 5 providing an early indicator that they meant business. If the intricacies of EleKctriK occasionally slip out from under the fingers, the spirit is nevertheless willing to give it a shot. “Whoo! We get paid by the notes,” quips Belew acknowledging the tightrope-walking required when traversing the complexity of this dextrous finger exercise posing as a song in full view of the paying public. And speaking of fingers, Frame By Frame, the first of two encores, is a breathtaking example of how to maintain a sharp focus at the centre of a swirling hurricane of music. Listen closely - it’s rather special.

Robert Fripp - Guitar
Adrian Belew - Guitar, Vocals
Pat Mastelotto - Acoustic And Electronic Percussion
Trey Gunn - Warr Guitar