Jun 21, 1997 - Holmdel - PAC Art Centre

Fresh from his remarkable four-day residency at Salisbury Cathedral, Robert is sharing the stage with Joe Satriani, Steve Vai and Kenny Wayne Shepherd as part of G4. It’s the fourth date on the tour, and RF’s strategy for bringing the somewhat introspective soundscapes to a wider public includes starting playing nearly 40 minutes before the advertised time. This has the advantage of bedding down any equipment issues but more importantly, enables the guitarist to tune the air, slowly easing the performance space into the mood and direction of the piece. Dreamscape and Dreamspace are apt title though sometimes the dreams here are occasionally austere and somewhat forbidding in character.

Such music wouldn’t be for everyone attending the G3 roadshow as Joe Satriani acknowledged at the time. “The audiences were not ready for a situation where they were being played to whilst entering the venues, and they took some time adjusting to the theatrical element of Robert sitting up there on stage in the daylight, playing through his bank of pedals and effects. But, the effect was awesome as Robert let his aural soundscapes build with the mood of the environment.”

Although Robert’s diary notes that on several occasions people were trying to talk to him whilst he was playing, one fan at least (Glen Cianciulli) attending the gig was able to connect with the music: “Many did not even realize that Fripp was playing because it sounded nothing like a traditional guitar. I thought it created a cool aura with the haunted house tones, rhythmic delays and multitude of harmonies and sound samples.”

More than anything this soundscape possesses an impressive stillness as it explores harmonic themes at a truly glacial pace. It’s not until the very last section, when the majority of the G3 punters would’ve been assembled, that Fripp shifts focus. With reverberating droplets of piano notes, swelling chords and ascendant strings, Robert gracefully steers his bleeping and droning to a transcendent conclusion.