“Live in Milan” is one of a trio of CD releases, previously only available from the DGM mail order centre, to go on general release on March 17th 2014. Live King Crimson shows are always popular with the band’s fan-base. This extract from the album’s sleeve-notes gives a sense of what to expect:
Widely regarded as their most cohesive release since Discipline in 1981, material from The Power To Believe had been wowing punters on over 30 dates in USA, Canada and Japan in March/April of 2003. In June it was Europe’s turn to join in the fun and after circumnavigating their way around the Baltic states and parts of the former Soviet Union on a tour bus (characterised by Fripp in his online diary as “Bump bump bump bump fucking bump”), the team entered Italy during one of the worst heat waves the country had ever experienced.
A capacity crowd turned out for the Crims. As one attendee noted “The Teatro Smeraldo was a magnificent setting for this concert – a very grand theatre. The soundscapes merged seamlessly into The Power To Believe/Level Five. The sound mix was fabulous and the band was punchy with Pat’s drums sounding like cannons! They played most of The Power To Believe album and the emphasis was on the music of the New Millennium. The new material had a blistering intensity and it has to be said that the older tunes also benefited from this passionate performance. The Construction of Light was a joy – particularly the interlocking guitar part that always reminds me of sunshine poking through clouds onto open meadows. I don’t think this show lets up for a moment! ”
During FaKcts of Life, where Fripp tears chunks out of the plasterwork of the venue with the ferocity of his solo. Equally brutal is the bulldozing version of LTIApt4 (including a freefalling Belew solo) which particularly impressed Kimber. “It was very heavy and deliberate. If the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse ever look for walk-on music then this is it!”
Yet for all the barrage of explosive percussion and incendiary guitar, Crimson’s softer side is also capable of supply its own thrills and spills. “I love the Gamelan-like interlude in The Power To Believe. It works superbly in a concert environment providing more light and shade to the Crimson palette. Deception of the Thrush allowed Trey to add a beautiful, serene quality to the evening. It was especially heartbreaking on this night with a gossamer-like fragility. I was completely lost in another time, another place. A wonderful moment.”
That is what makes this such a great show. The light and shade within the set, the dynamics within the numbers themselves and the thoughtful pacing of the different numbers. This isn’t a band going through the motions. This is a band with no passengers, actively listening to each other, taking risks and working with each other to push boundaries.