801
Live

Shortly before Brian Eno decided to definitively abandon any live performances and gently but firmly refused every invitation to take the stage, something wonderful happened.

It was 1976 and the Roxy Music adventure was already over for Eno for a few years. Phil Manzanera found the "song" dimension towards which the group had flowed, now almost entirely under the elegant directives of Brian Ferry, to be frustrating, so he tended to "exercise his compositional-executive mastery" in parallel projects. He moved effortlessly from the Canterbury and avant-garde psychedelia of Quiet Sun to the more direct Rock of his first solo album "Diamond Head", and collaborated with artists spanning various genres, including South Americans.

As we said, 1976, when Manzanera and Eno, around a table, decided to embark on a brief tour, bringing to the stage some tracks from both of their solo careers and some famous covers revisited and corrected with new stylistic elements. They also decided that the arrangements would be rock, but not immediate rock, as both preferred harmonizations that could also highlight their performance abilities. Part of the band was already seasoned and taken from studio albums, especially that of Quiet Sun, thus confirming the great Bill MacCormick on bass (Matching Mole). Then the two side men who were to support the keyboard and guitar parts, respectively Francis Monkman, who would later join Sky, and Lloyd Watson. The happiest choice was to complete the rhythm section with the young and promising Simon Phillips, a monster of technique, speed, and rhythmic intelligence.

The tour began and was so successful that the group found themselves forced to extend it, adding numerous new dates and eventually releasing a live album. This one.

The concert opens electrically, and the darkness is gradually saturated by the notes of Manzanera’s guitar, which alone introduces the evening with the riff of "Lagrima", a few minutes in and the Beatles-like "Tomorrow Never Now" comes in a psychedelic and intense version, enriched by a rocking rhythm and made distinctive by Brian Eno's voice, very different from Lennon’s. The exhilarating finale leads to the standout track of the album: an impressive "East of Asteroid" where the rhythm section showcases extraordinary technical prowess and quality in marking the time for Manzanera's extended solo. Next comes "Rongwrong" by Quiet Sun, also markedly different from the original due to Eno’s voice compared to Hayward, but also for the different approach given by the band during the performance. Then, two tracks from Eno's discography: "Sombre Reptiles", a kind of jazz-psychedelic fusion, and "Baby’s On Fire", strong and dreamy. Manzanera’s "Diamond Head" is very faithful to the original, maintaining the studio track's electric-nocturnal atmosphere. Eno’s "Miss Shapiro" becomes an engaging rock song interspersed with well-crafted instrumental sections amidst the vocals. Towards the end, the second cover performed is "You Really Got Me" by the Kinks, a song covered by dozens and dozens of artists, but, I would say, never as intelligently as here. To close is another Eno track "Third Uncle" for a dynamic concert finale with an impressive sound wall.

A classic not only of prog, a genre it is closely tied to by many affinities, but also of Rock in general, an album that should not be missing from any discography. A reissue with a couple more tracks has recently been released, but it doesn't change the outcome much.