Not having played its namesake for 33 years, UK threw back the decades in glorious style, keyboardist/ violinist extraordinaire Eddie Jobson (emotional, as his 90-year old dad was watching) and singer/bassist supreme John Wetton, joined by new recruits, guitarist Alex Machecek, and able Terry Bozzio stand-in drummer, Gary Husband. Upon his powerhouse foundation, the quartet constructed a sometimes breathtaking sonic edifice, crafted from their choicest catalogue building blocks, tempered by bridging pieces such as Wetton’s solo acoustic take on King Crimson’s Book Of Saturday.
Among other highlights in the 13-song, 110-minute set were the monumental synth blocks and thwacking percussion slabs of opener Alaska, the proto-90125 In The Dead Of Night, and the skittering synths and stellar drift of Jobson’s strings on By The Light Of Day. The reverse-flow sonic cascade of Crimson’s mesmeric Starless was followed by the aerobatic interplay of the none more prog Carrying No Cross, while the encores were rounded off with the dramatic flourish of a duo Rendezvous 6:02. Festival-headlining beckons.
