FraKctured - live performances - audient report

17/06/01 - 12th and Porter, Nashville

I attended the last two of the four King Crimson warm-ups at 12th and Porter on Saturday, June 16, and Sunday, June 17, 2001, in Nashville, Tennessee, USA.  During both shows I attended, FraKctured was part of the set list. Robert admits to having lost the grip on his pick on Saturday due to perspiration accumulation, and this due to the fact that the playroom at 12th and Porter is a quintessential sweaty small club (but quite a nice place just the same!)  He also notes (in his diary) that this is the first time in his recollection that he has lost the grip on his pick.  At any rate, there were a few flubs (in the moto perpetuo sections I believe) due to this, from which he recovered admirably.  On Sunday, the piece was performed from the "brutal" section forward only, with no apparent missteps that I could detect.  Why this was done is unknown; I initially surmised that, at least in part, Robert had perhaps decided to forego all but the last of the moto perpetuo sections due to his pick slippage from the night before.   But there was more than enough opportunity for that in many other pieces performed on Sunday that he may as well have not played at all if that was his goal!  However, performing the piece in such an excerpted fashion provides quite a jolt at the outset to an audience unprepared for it. 

An interesting development in both performances which I alluded to both in an on line review of the shows on the DGM site as well as in a personal email to Robert, and which he did not deny in response to either, is that Pat Mastelotto appears to be accompanying in straight 4/4 time throughout the "brutal" section.  Not possessing an infallible memory, I was not certain if Pat was actually doing this or if his playing was simply giving this impression.  But, as I said, Robert did not dispute my observation, so I guess I can still count beats (in 4/4 at least!).

What this adds to the piece, however, is a great deal of tension, not that there's a shortage of that in the original arrangement!

Mike Champagne
New Orleans, LA, USA

'FraKctured' broke out next. These guys were apparently not afraid to make a mistake or two and start a piece, or section, over again. At one point Adrian didn't even refer to anyone, he just counted three and everyone began the section over at the start of the previous bar. Pat and Trey never even stopped, they just cut back a few beats and kept flying. Truthfully, I'm not sure how I feel about a band writing music that's sometimes too difficult for them to play, but the recoveries were graceful for the most part, and comical at others. Everyone had their flub at some point, which sometimes sent the eyes of the rest of the band in a scurry 'round the stage to try to figure out what occurred.

Dave Steimling of the "Krimson ConneKctions" website