King Crimson - 1973-09-20 Montreal, QC (2019)

This second date of the band’s last American tour of 1973 finds the quartet taking the material written during their August rehearsals for a spin in public. The concert platform was often a workshop in which King Crimson would test out new pieces as works-in-progress and, of course, instant compositions off the tops of their heads. As Robert makes clear in one of his on-stage announcements this concert is only the second time that Fracture, The Night Watch, and Lament have been publicly heard. There’s a degree of fluidity within David Cross’s parts for Fracture which itself has an extra expansive blowing section prior to the jagged chords that heralds the flight into the end section.

The Night Watch is of special interest here because of the ending; a two-mellotron reprise of the intro theme combined with a gentle backbeat gradually slowing to a halt after a few bars. This is the first time that these ears have heard this particular arrangement for the song and one that they subsequently revised into the standard coda pretty soon after this gig. Lament is given a forceful reading but the final verse is delivered over the descending/ascending patterns heard in the instrumental breakdown.

Also of special interest is the improvisation. Underpinned by a Tight Scrummy-style rhythm box albeit at a much slower tempo, there’s a degree of hesitancy in the embellishments from Wetton and Bruford. Fripp and Cross, however, dive in. The snaking, sinuous guitar has the same howling quality that modern-day listeners will be familiar with from Asbury Park, while Cross turns in some gothic Mellotron that adds grandeur and depth. When everything slows down and spaces open up, Fripp ushers in the introduction to LTIA Pt II, the band dispensing entirely with The Talking Drum that would usually set the track up in later gigs. A boomy but eminently listenable audience recording, along with a couple of laugh-out-loud moments courtesy of Robert’s announcements and dynamic, persuasive versions of the LTIA material this show is a must-have for fans of this incarnation.

Robert Fripp - Guitar, Mellotron
John Wetton - Bass, Vocals
David Cross - Violin, Mellotron, Keyboards
Bill Bruford - Acoustic Drums And Percussion