UK John Wetton Edge Jobson Ah An Holdsworth/Ah, Usa 1978

This work records the Avondale performance from the middle to latter half of the first UK tour, which lasted from April to December 1978. The sound quality is ‘A’ because the pitch is a little high, but I dared to rate it ‘B’. The first UK has many excellent SB sound sources, and therefore there are a lot of malicious copy sound sources, but the Audience recording is fresh and shows a sound image that was not clear with SB. For example, Eddie’s fine keyboard phrases and Wetton’s bass are quite distorted, just like the three UK sound sources. The level of Wetton’s vocal volume is a little low throughout, probably due to the PA settings on the day. The first and second songs are the standard set list. Eddie’s violin solo in “Time To Kill” is a good finish that excites the venue from the beginning. The following “The Only Thing She Needs” has a little tape twist or sound shaking at the beginning. In the latter part of this song, there is a bass solo part by Wetton that is not often heard elsewhere. This is the highlight of this work. From Wetton’s bass solo to the twisting guitar at the ending, and the tempo increase with Bill’s drumming, it’s a goosebumps-inducing experience. By the time we get to “Carrying No Cross,” the pitch becomes even higher (is this a deliberate measure to compensate for the tape’s twist? If you listen carefully, even this pitch sounds seaweed). This song has a well-defined rhythm and unison between the keyboard and snare in both the intro and outro, and is quite good. In “Thirty Years,” Alan’s improvisational solo in the middle is an avant-garde fit, giving this song a different flavor from other performances, which is another highlight (although it’s not flashy at all). The momentum continues until the final song, “In The Dead Of Night,” where Alan’s solo is particularly outstanding, and unlike Bill’s usual jazz-rock approach, it is intertwined with aggressive drumming full of rock colors, bringing the live performance to a climax. During the encore, the pitch was much better and the work itself ended in a convincing way. This work will remind you of the goodness of the audience recordings that are not available on the soundboard sound source. 1. Alaska 2. Time To Kill 3. The Only Thing She Needs 4. Carrying No Cross 5. The Sahara Of Snow 6. Thirty Years 7. Presto Vivace 8. In The Dead Of Night 9. Caesar’s Palace Blues John Wetton (b, vo), Eddie Jobson (vn, key), Allan Holdsworth (g), Bill Bruford (dr)