I’ve tipped my hat before to King Crimson’s label/media outlet DGM Live for providing high-quality, behind-the-scenes content related to the band. The band has now unearthed a half-hour-plus set from the European leg of the ConstruKction of Light tour in June 2000.
What’s incredible about this show is that a good deal of the band’s performance is improvised, including the 5-minute jam “Sapir” – and the crowd loves it! Although the band would go on over the course of the show to play more of their “hits,” to me these songs appear to be the really spectacular part of this set, and showcase the band at a very interesting time in their history.
Fripp said of the specialness of the crowd at this show,
This audience was, for me, the best audience of the tour: supportive, considerate, sophisticated, responsive, engaged, active; but not “we come to worship so do anything you like”. We had freedom, but not license (to quote Neill of Summerhill). Overall, this was of the kind of performance which I kinda take as a working norm: the people come to listen & watch. This is the beginning point from which something of value becomes possible. This was not a photo session. This was not a crowd assembled arbitrarily or accidentally in a town square. This was not a meeting of consumers with rights. It was an audience.
These songs were all featured on the now-deleted Heavy ConstruKction live box set, but the band has made audio from this show available at this link. Enjoy the set below:
