King Crimson - 1981-12-10 Kakodo Nagoya Japan (1981)

Taken from bootleg sources but sounding great (if occasionally a little boomy), there’s lots of interesting details tucked away in the high drama of the gig. On Thela, as Adrian blows up a note-bending storm Fripp introduces a descending run that has a curious happy-sad dimension to it that we don't normally hear him play. Similarly, on a particularly blistering Frame by Frame, Fripp introduces a variation on the interlocking part immediately prior to the second verse that momentarily takes the song into a slightly different, less forceful direction, before returning to the usual part.

There are some numbers where the bootleg acoustic really adds some atmosphere. The Sheltering Sky, complete with drifting eerie Roland organ notes, sounds as though its main theme is part of some majestic fanfare ushering in some distant procession.

Although Neil And Jack Me had been in the set since October ’81 it’s still notably different to the rendition which would eventually appear on Beat the next year. If that solo at the end doesn’t send you into raptures then maybe you should be listening to KC & The Sunshine Band instead.

Never mind anything else played tonight. The last two numbers - a frankly astonishing Sartori In Tangiers and the ferocious LTIA - make this gig an essential purchase.