Big Pink Floyd Survey - Pt2 - Concerts
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Big Pink Floyd Survey - Pt2 - Concerts
http://www.neptunepinkfloyd.co.uk/index ... 2-concerts
Given the age of Pink Floyd fans as shown by part one of the survey, not a great percentage have had the chance to see all the best bits live. Indeed, only 52% of Pink Floyd fans have actually seen the band on stage! As you can see from the chart below, a greater percentage of the younger people have only had the chance to see a Pink Floyd cover band. The excellent chaps from the Australian Pink Floyd have been doing a good job!
What They Could Have Seen
0-18 Year Olds
If you fall into this age band, which was born between 1991 and 2009, then you would at most have been 3 years old when The Division Bell was released in 1994 and toured around the world. As 8% of people this age have seen the band live, a lot of those must have been fortunate enough to watch them during Live 8 back on 2nd July 2005. Either that or daddy (more likely than mum as men account for 89% of fans!) must have taken the baby along to see Mr Gilmour and band on The Division Bell tour!
36.6% of the 0-18 age band has seen a Pink Floyd tribute band live. This seems very reasonable. The young ones were born in the wrong decade!
19-25 Year Olds
This age band was born between 1984 and 1990. A Momentary Lapse of Reason came out in 1987 after Roger Waters had left the band expecting the others to go their own separate ways. What a surprise old Rog had! Later on in the survey, we will see what fans think of this album in particular!
15% of this age band has seen Pink Floyd live compared to 45.1% for a Pink Floyd tribute band.
26-35 Year Olds
This age band was born between 1974 and 1983. During this time, Wish You Were Here (1975), Animals (1977), The Wall (1979) and The Final Cut (1983) were released. If you attended one of the Wall Concerts, then you would have been at most 5 years old!
34% of people in this age band have seen Pink Floyd live compared to 52.6% for Tribute Bands. The gap narrows.
36-45 Year Olds
Born between 1964 and 1973, these chaps saw the release of Piper at the Gates of Dawn (1967), Saucerful of Secrets (1968), More and Ummagumma (1969), Atom Heart Mother (1970), Meddle (1971), Obscured by Clouds (1973) and that big Dark Side of the Moon album (1973).
65% of these people have seen Pink Floyd live and only 51.2% a Pink Floyd tribute band. More have seen Pink Floyd! Being this old does have benefits after all!
46-55 Year Olds
Early Pink Floyd photoPeople in this age band were born between 1954 and 1963. One of the early incarnations of Pink Floyd, The Tea Set, were playing concerts in 1964 so people in this age band weren’t quite born when history was in the making. However, they were only just born when The Pink Floyd started playing in 1965.
71% have seen Pink Floyd in their lives compared with 52.2% for Tribute Bands. This age band has the highest proportion of people who have seen the band live, closely followed by the next age band.
56-65 Year Olds
Born between 1944 and 1953, these older chaps would have had the opportunity to witness the entire history of Pink Floyd from its beginning right up until then end in 2005 at Live 8. Indeed, Nick Mason, Richard Wright, David Gilmour and Syd Barrett are members of this age group!
70% have seen the band live compared to 52.9% for tribute bands.
66-75 Year Olds
Born between 1934 and 1943, these old chaps could have attended every single live show if they had the will, time and the cash! Alas, only 50% saw them live in the last 75 years! 40% have been to watch a tribute band, perhaps taking their sons and daughters along to watch whilst they recounted their memories of floating around the UFO club back in the 1960s, high as a kite, cool as a cucumber and freaking out to the Floyd!
76+ Year Olds
There were only 4 respondents to the survey who had reached 76+ and 100% said they had seen Pink Floyd live compared to 75% for tribute bands. As the group is statistically insignificant due to the small sample size, we cannot infer much about them – especially considering only 50% of the previous group had seen the Floyd live.
Conclusion
So, there you have it, the complete run down of all the age bands and what they could have seen played live when was released as an album and toured!
You can download a PDF of the results of the survey for this section here....
http://www.neptunepinkfloyd.co.uk/image ... ncerts.pdf
Part 3: Favourite Era of Pink Floyd
The next article in the Big Pink Floyd Survey results will be added shortly. It concerns people’s favourite era of Pink Floyd from the days of Syd Barrett, Roger Water’s Pink Floyd and then David Gilmour’s band!
Given the age of Pink Floyd fans as shown by part one of the survey, not a great percentage have had the chance to see all the best bits live. Indeed, only 52% of Pink Floyd fans have actually seen the band on stage! As you can see from the chart below, a greater percentage of the younger people have only had the chance to see a Pink Floyd cover band. The excellent chaps from the Australian Pink Floyd have been doing a good job!
What They Could Have Seen
0-18 Year Olds
If you fall into this age band, which was born between 1991 and 2009, then you would at most have been 3 years old when The Division Bell was released in 1994 and toured around the world. As 8% of people this age have seen the band live, a lot of those must have been fortunate enough to watch them during Live 8 back on 2nd July 2005. Either that or daddy (more likely than mum as men account for 89% of fans!) must have taken the baby along to see Mr Gilmour and band on The Division Bell tour!
36.6% of the 0-18 age band has seen a Pink Floyd tribute band live. This seems very reasonable. The young ones were born in the wrong decade!
19-25 Year Olds
This age band was born between 1984 and 1990. A Momentary Lapse of Reason came out in 1987 after Roger Waters had left the band expecting the others to go their own separate ways. What a surprise old Rog had! Later on in the survey, we will see what fans think of this album in particular!
15% of this age band has seen Pink Floyd live compared to 45.1% for a Pink Floyd tribute band.
26-35 Year Olds
This age band was born between 1974 and 1983. During this time, Wish You Were Here (1975), Animals (1977), The Wall (1979) and The Final Cut (1983) were released. If you attended one of the Wall Concerts, then you would have been at most 5 years old!
34% of people in this age band have seen Pink Floyd live compared to 52.6% for Tribute Bands. The gap narrows.
36-45 Year Olds
Born between 1964 and 1973, these chaps saw the release of Piper at the Gates of Dawn (1967), Saucerful of Secrets (1968), More and Ummagumma (1969), Atom Heart Mother (1970), Meddle (1971), Obscured by Clouds (1973) and that big Dark Side of the Moon album (1973).
65% of these people have seen Pink Floyd live and only 51.2% a Pink Floyd tribute band. More have seen Pink Floyd! Being this old does have benefits after all!
46-55 Year Olds
Early Pink Floyd photoPeople in this age band were born between 1954 and 1963. One of the early incarnations of Pink Floyd, The Tea Set, were playing concerts in 1964 so people in this age band weren’t quite born when history was in the making. However, they were only just born when The Pink Floyd started playing in 1965.
71% have seen Pink Floyd in their lives compared with 52.2% for Tribute Bands. This age band has the highest proportion of people who have seen the band live, closely followed by the next age band.
56-65 Year Olds
Born between 1944 and 1953, these older chaps would have had the opportunity to witness the entire history of Pink Floyd from its beginning right up until then end in 2005 at Live 8. Indeed, Nick Mason, Richard Wright, David Gilmour and Syd Barrett are members of this age group!
70% have seen the band live compared to 52.9% for tribute bands.
66-75 Year Olds
Born between 1934 and 1943, these old chaps could have attended every single live show if they had the will, time and the cash! Alas, only 50% saw them live in the last 75 years! 40% have been to watch a tribute band, perhaps taking their sons and daughters along to watch whilst they recounted their memories of floating around the UFO club back in the 1960s, high as a kite, cool as a cucumber and freaking out to the Floyd!
76+ Year Olds
There were only 4 respondents to the survey who had reached 76+ and 100% said they had seen Pink Floyd live compared to 75% for tribute bands. As the group is statistically insignificant due to the small sample size, we cannot infer much about them – especially considering only 50% of the previous group had seen the Floyd live.
Conclusion
So, there you have it, the complete run down of all the age bands and what they could have seen played live when was released as an album and toured!
You can download a PDF of the results of the survey for this section here....
http://www.neptunepinkfloyd.co.uk/image ... ncerts.pdf
Part 3: Favourite Era of Pink Floyd
The next article in the Big Pink Floyd Survey results will be added shortly. It concerns people’s favourite era of Pink Floyd from the days of Syd Barrett, Roger Water’s Pink Floyd and then David Gilmour’s band!
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Re: Big Pink Floyd Survey - Pt2 - Concerts
So... who has seen Pink Floyd performing live? Any memories to share? Photos? Thoughts?
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- Embryo
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Re: Big Pink Floyd Survey - Pt2 - Concerts
I was 13 when the Wall came out and listened to it almost every day. We had just moved from Long Island to Washington DC, and when they toured I begged my mom to take me back up to see them at the Nassau Coliseum. I never had a chance...
Fast forward to '87. They announced dates only in Toronto, LA and Phili (I believe - might be incorrect, but it was only a few cities). There was no way I was going to miss that (I had no problem with the Waterless Floyd actually - In fact I saw Gilmour during About Face tour from 3rd row - great show). Road trip up with friends to camp out overnight at JFK stadium to buy the tickets, road trip up to see the show. (Awesome, of course - Opened with Echoes! - Slight rain during Machine was really cool). Then they did a full tour, saw them at the Cap Center (7th row right side) and RFK stadium here in DC.
But the best was '94 (I believe that was the Division Bell tour). Playing RFK again. Went to a local place for a ticket lotterey. One of my firends got #1! We got row 15, dead center. It was set up with 14 rows, then a big gap (walkway), then us. So no one in front of us, just far enough back to take in the whole light show, close enough to see it all. Best seats in the house, beautiful night, great way to end my Floyd concerts, as there will never be another...
Of course I would have love to have seen them in their prime, especially the late '74-'75 tour with Raving and Drooling (my favorite song), most of Wish and Dark Side and Echoes... But I will take the great memories I have from the shows I got to go to.
- John
Fast forward to '87. They announced dates only in Toronto, LA and Phili (I believe - might be incorrect, but it was only a few cities). There was no way I was going to miss that (I had no problem with the Waterless Floyd actually - In fact I saw Gilmour during About Face tour from 3rd row - great show). Road trip up with friends to camp out overnight at JFK stadium to buy the tickets, road trip up to see the show. (Awesome, of course - Opened with Echoes! - Slight rain during Machine was really cool). Then they did a full tour, saw them at the Cap Center (7th row right side) and RFK stadium here in DC.
But the best was '94 (I believe that was the Division Bell tour). Playing RFK again. Went to a local place for a ticket lotterey. One of my firends got #1! We got row 15, dead center. It was set up with 14 rows, then a big gap (walkway), then us. So no one in front of us, just far enough back to take in the whole light show, close enough to see it all. Best seats in the house, beautiful night, great way to end my Floyd concerts, as there will never be another...
Of course I would have love to have seen them in their prime, especially the late '74-'75 tour with Raving and Drooling (my favorite song), most of Wish and Dark Side and Echoes... But I will take the great memories I have from the shows I got to go to.
- John
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Re: Big Pink Floyd Survey - Pt2 - Concerts
First off, welcome to the forum, John. Nice to have you here. Secondly, sounds like you have had some excellent concert experiences there. I never got to see Pink Floyd live so I am always interested in other people's stories about their own experiences. I have, however, seen Gilmour and Waters solo concerts which have been excellent!
Well... keep the memories coming in people!
Well... keep the memories coming in people!
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- Hammer
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Re: Big Pink Floyd Survey - Pt2 - Concerts
I am In that age bracket of 26-35, so i only have seen the Gilmour led Floyd. Saw them at Veterans Stadium in Philly, June 1994. I was 18. I begged my brother-in-law to get tickets because he was the only one I knew who liked the Floyd. So we ended up going on a bus trip down to Philly along with my sister (who is not a fan). She did enjoy it though!
I was just so overwhelmed by it all that I really don't remember much. I do remember thinking, "David Gilmour is in the same building I am!"
I was just so overwhelmed by it all that I really don't remember much. I do remember thinking, "David Gilmour is in the same building I am!"
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- Axe
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Re: Big Pink Floyd Survey - Pt2 - Concerts
Saw them once only, Feb 1988 in Adelaide, Australia. Amazing experience, blew my mind. The hospital bed exploding into the stage was a highlight along with the infamous pig, and of course the Comfortably Numb & Run Like Hell encores were fantastic. I remember David saying "hope to see you again" at the end. Ironically, those were famous last words, as such. That ended up being my one & only chance to see the Floyd, as I lived in Australia until '98, thereby missing the Pulse tour because they didn't make it Down Under, and of course, Rick Wright is no longer with us (RIP Rick). Also missed Live 8, as I'm sure most of us have. Nice that there's some high quality video out there. However, that night in '88 still remains one of the best nights of my life. Found some bootleg audio of the gig and listen occasionally to remind myself how great it was. I still have my ticket stub and I carry it around with me. Pathetic, isn't it (as Roger might say). Anyone know of a VOIO for Adelaide '88 ??
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- Blade
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Re: Big Pink Floyd Survey - Pt2 - Concerts
I attended these shows: June 28, 1975, Hamilton; July 6, 1977, Montreal; 1987 tour Toronto, opening night & closing night of the tour; once during the 1994 tour in Toronto. I also saw David Gilmour at Massey Hall and Australian Pink Floyd twice.
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- Embryo
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Re: Big Pink Floyd Survey - Pt2 - Concerts
I was lucky enough to see the Floyd 17 times between 1967 and 1972, and one further time when I saw one of the Wall shows at Earl's Court in 1980. The stand-out shows were:-
25 Nov 67 Blackpool Opera House on the Hendrix tour (early show)
The only time I saw them with Syd. He seemed in fine form at this show and they did a wonderful Interstellar Overdrive (all the lists have the early and late show setlists the wrong way round). They played for about 20 minutes and wore the clothes that they have on in the pictures where they're cutting a cake and drinking champagne (except Syd wore the hat that Nick has). Bumped into Rick later in Blackpool and had a brief chat.
14 Apr 69 Festival Hall London
Premiere of The Man and The Journey, the first time I'd seen them in London. Weird but excellent. I saw them do this show again in Liverpool in the summer
08 Mar 70 Mothers Club Birmingham
A tiny upstairs club which held maybe 2-300 people. Only 2 rows of seats, we sat on the 2nd row about 4 feet away from the band who were playing on a stage at most 2 feet high - it was like seeing them play in your living room. Atom Heart Mother without the band/choir
27 Jun 70 Bath Festival
Premiere of AHM with band/choir at about 3.00 in the morning. Couldn't wake my friend up who'd only gone there to see the Floyd. Wonderful line-up, wonderful festival.
Kind of went off them when Waters took over. Still listen to the old shows with affection.
25 Nov 67 Blackpool Opera House on the Hendrix tour (early show)
The only time I saw them with Syd. He seemed in fine form at this show and they did a wonderful Interstellar Overdrive (all the lists have the early and late show setlists the wrong way round). They played for about 20 minutes and wore the clothes that they have on in the pictures where they're cutting a cake and drinking champagne (except Syd wore the hat that Nick has). Bumped into Rick later in Blackpool and had a brief chat.
14 Apr 69 Festival Hall London
Premiere of The Man and The Journey, the first time I'd seen them in London. Weird but excellent. I saw them do this show again in Liverpool in the summer
08 Mar 70 Mothers Club Birmingham
A tiny upstairs club which held maybe 2-300 people. Only 2 rows of seats, we sat on the 2nd row about 4 feet away from the band who were playing on a stage at most 2 feet high - it was like seeing them play in your living room. Atom Heart Mother without the band/choir
27 Jun 70 Bath Festival
Premiere of AHM with band/choir at about 3.00 in the morning. Couldn't wake my friend up who'd only gone there to see the Floyd. Wonderful line-up, wonderful festival.
Kind of went off them when Waters took over. Still listen to the old shows with affection.
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Re: Big Pink Floyd Survey - Pt2 - Concerts
What I would give to have been at that show!! Lucky you.simond9x wrote:25 Nov 67 Blackpool Opera House on the Hendrix tour (early show)
The only time I saw them with Syd. He seemed in fine form at this show and they did a wonderful Interstellar Overdrive (all the lists have the early and late show setlists the wrong way round). They played for about 20 minutes and wore the clothes that they have on in the pictures where they're cutting a cake and drinking champagne (except Syd wore the hat that Nick has). Bumped into Rick later in Blackpool and had a brief chat.
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- Embryo
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Re: Big Pink Floyd Survey - Pt2 - Concerts
I became aware of the Floyd when my brother brought Ummagumma home from college and at 9 years old was really taken with parts of it. Didn’t follow them till “ Wish” came out in high school. In ‘77 I was into Animals and saw the show at Anaheim Stadium. My memory is hazy for reasons you may suspect but I clearly recall that bloody pig exploding like the Hindenburg over the stage. The sound was mushy, however, and I was too far away. In ‘79m I was kind of holed up in a dinky apartment in nowheresville nursing a badly broken heart and psyche experimenting with some things I maybe oughtn’t have when “The Wall” came out and seemed to be sort of describing my life. By the time the tour came around I was dating a really fascinating beautiful girl and took her to the show. I had suspected they might build a wall onstage and it proved very effective from our vantage point left of stage as we had to lean over the railing to try seeing the band and projections being rapidly obscured by the large blocks being stacked by the roadies. During “What shall we do” beautiful orange glowing leaves fluttered down to the stage from above. Very impressive. Of course it turned out to be burning pieces of an overhead curtain roll ignited by the fireworks at the start of the show. Roger stopped the band and admonished the crowd to be cool as it was dealt with but it was actually a pretty frightening moment as the audience on the floor started climbing over each other to get away. Soon the concert resumed and after intermission we were quite baffled as the band performed while behind the white, blank wall, completely obscured. Seemed they were driving the point too far, but of course they emerged from behind in various clever ways e.g Roger folding our of the wall in his Tropicana hotel room set and David delivering Comfortably numb from atop the wall. It is hard to describe in words how completely electrifying that moment was, I still get a chill. The culmination of the show with the animated hammers marching across the entire width of that giant wall was really quite overwhelming, probably the most powerful theatrical experience of my life. One thing I have always struggled to describe to people who never saw the Floyd is how snappy and punchy they sound live as opposed to their somewhat drony sound on record. They had two drum kits which provides an indescribable extra crunch and drive that penetrates your spine. As we stood to leave after the show a younger fellow lingered near us and when we asked him what he thought he said after a pause “ that was the most incredible fucking thing I have ever seen in my life!”
I’ve seen Gilmours’ Pink Floyd shows and Gilmour and Waters on their various solo tours and my local tribute band and that has all been great but none of it can compare to that experience at the L.A Sports Arena in 1980 with my friend Leslie and the kind of healing effect that whole project had on me.
I’ve seen Gilmours’ Pink Floyd shows and Gilmour and Waters on their various solo tours and my local tribute band and that has all been great but none of it can compare to that experience at the L.A Sports Arena in 1980 with my friend Leslie and the kind of healing effect that whole project had on me.
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- Axe
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Re: Big Pink Floyd Survey - Pt2 - Concerts
Another excellent survey report Keith. Fascinating. I am in the 46-55 year old age group-just. I saw Floyd on their 87-88 world tour in Melbourne. Was that in February- I think. I know the weather was stinking hot. I had moved down to Tasmania a couple of years before and travelled back to Melbourne and caught up with friends in advance of the concert. I remember a mate and myself just hanging around on concert day awaiting for the evening and I can still remember the excitement building. We drove to the concert venue which was a mistake when it came to trying to leave. Jam paked with Floyd fans i can clearly remember a mind-blowing show-those huge banks of lights along the front of the stage, the flying bed, and all those Floyd images brought to life. I've been to lots of concerts of various bands and singers but this concert was in realm of its own. OK Roger wasn't there but who could mistake this was the Floyd. In fact I've just pulled out a program I bought at the concert. If anyone got one it had the scene of the beach covered with huindreds of beds. Neat pics and background- nice souvenir. I ache to have been able to see The Wall cocert. My mate had seen that in 1980(?) in Melbourne. He was the one who introduced me to Floyd around 81 so I came in on Floyd with 'The Wall' and The Final Cut and then spent the next couple of years catching up with all Floyds early stuff. Back to concerts-second opportunity came 19 years later when I went I saw Roger waters at the Rod Laver Arena (1 Feb 2007). That was "The Dark Side of the Moon" tour- absolutely brilliant. The show, the sound, the visuals, and the atmosphere. Okay our seats at Rod Laver weren't brilliant but we got a great closeup of the flying pig (see my ID pic). Its weird being in the crush with thousands of people all sharing a common interest-sort of like family! Shine on all.
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Re: Big Pink Floyd Survey - Pt2 - Concerts
In 1972 a mate of mine played Meddle on his stereo player whilst we sat playing cards. I was about 14 at the time - he said I'd hate it, knowing I was not really into music at all, but he was soooo wrong! One of These Days and Echoes blew me away and I went out and purchased the album straight away. My first ever album.. and remains my favourite still. So, what's this to do with live shows?? Well, being young and poor meant I could not get to see any bands at that time, but in early 1973 I got tickets to the Earls Court show for May 19th - my first ever concert!
Come the day, we travelled up to London and I was rather overawed by the whole experience - the venue was huge and there was a haze of cigarette and wacky backy smoke hovering over the audience.
The set that was played started with Obscured By Clouds/When You're In/Set The Controls/Careful with that Axe, Eugene/Echoes. During "Eugene" I recall a large robot with searchlight eyes appearing over the stage, and the gong bursting into jets of flame during STCFTHOTS. There was also some heckling, I think before Echoes when some jerk yelled "what about 1967?" to which Roger replied "this is 1973 man!" and then got drowned out in whistles and cheers. It's difficult to appreciate now, but these guys were on stage in front of a massive crowd and were only in their mid to late 20's.
After the interval, we returned to our seats and once the lights had gone down DSOTM began. It was during the footsteps sequence that I really began to appreciate the sound system - the footsteps travelled around the auditorium and you could almost point to where the sound was coming from - wonderful and eerie too. The band seemed really on form and the encore was One Of These Days - and ended a fantastic night.
I also recall when leaving and wading through piles of discarded ticket stubs [how stupid of me not to grab handfuls...they'd fetch a fortune on eBay!!]. I still have my stub though and the programme.
Strangely the press reports the next week in Sounds or NME could not have been at the same gig as me - saying that it was lacklustre and the reporter seemed more interested in Gilmour's "long and greasy hair" than the music.
Years later I got the bootleg of the concert and it brought back all those memories - great!!
In 1974 I managed to get to Empire Pool, Wembley where they opened with the new numbers Raving & Drooling, Shine on you crazy Diamond and You Gotta Be Crazy. It was stange hearing unfamiliar numbers and part of me was crying out to hear Eugene etc, but now on reflection I realise how privileged I was. The 2nd half was DSOTM + Echoes.
Later on whilst browsing through a music paper I saw an ad for a new Floyd album "BRITISH WINTER TOUR 74". I'd not seen this in the shops and apprehensively sent off the few pounds to a PO Box number, never really expecting to see anything arrive. I was wrong, a week or so later a 12" package arrived and inside was a really nice vinyl album - quite clearly a bootleg - but what the heck I thought! It's now one of my treasured possessions... along with Tour 73 and Tour 72 which I also bought.
There then followed a very lean period - I was completely fundless and still at school so missed out on Knebworth in 75 and the WYWH tour...
The next opportunity was the Wall gigs, but at the time once again I simply could not afford the ticket price/travel etc and couldn't go - of course I'd now have given a kidney or a testicle to have seen it, but I'll just have to be content with the booties and dvd's of what I missed.
On to August 1988 and Wembley with the new Rogerless Floyd. The vast Wembley meant our seats were sideways on to the stage and the moment the band appeared everyone stood up, then onto their seats and we spent the whole show balancing on top of the seats trying to get a better view! The lighting was unbelievable and despite the size, the sound was terrific too. I remember in particular the flying bedstead that went from one end of the stadium to the stage where it exploded in a dazzling array of yellow and white light practically welding my contact lenses to my eyeballs!
My last opportunity was back at Earls Court in 1994 for the Division Bell tour - fantastic effects and great light show - the female backing singers and of course a few additional band members too all adding to the experience. I took a pair of binoculars this time - just in case! I needed them - we seemed to be miles away from the band, but the sound was just fine and the whole experience was unforgettable.
So that was it - 4 times only 1973-1994 and now I have to be content with seeing the tribute bands - in fact I was at THINK FLOYD just last night [the nearest anniversary to Ricks sad demise - where the band issued a free T Shirt to commemorate the occasion], as well as OZ Floyd of course. These tribute bands are great, but I hark back to the late 60's and early 70's days where few of the current fan base could have heard any of those great songs and long drawn out pieces - like Fat Old Sun and Green is the Colour, Cymbaline, Saucerful etc - these songs need an outlet from time to time - I hope the tribute bands take note!
I've seen Waters at Hyde Park and was lucky to get to Gilmour at the Albert Hall, the night that David Bowie guested on Arnold Layne.
No one can take away the memories and OK, 4 shows is not a lot; but there will never be any more, so I must be content and think of those great nights and then slide one of the 700 or so shows I now have on cd onto the player, turn up the volume, turn down the lights and pretend I'm there!
Come the day, we travelled up to London and I was rather overawed by the whole experience - the venue was huge and there was a haze of cigarette and wacky backy smoke hovering over the audience.
The set that was played started with Obscured By Clouds/When You're In/Set The Controls/Careful with that Axe, Eugene/Echoes. During "Eugene" I recall a large robot with searchlight eyes appearing over the stage, and the gong bursting into jets of flame during STCFTHOTS. There was also some heckling, I think before Echoes when some jerk yelled "what about 1967?" to which Roger replied "this is 1973 man!" and then got drowned out in whistles and cheers. It's difficult to appreciate now, but these guys were on stage in front of a massive crowd and were only in their mid to late 20's.
After the interval, we returned to our seats and once the lights had gone down DSOTM began. It was during the footsteps sequence that I really began to appreciate the sound system - the footsteps travelled around the auditorium and you could almost point to where the sound was coming from - wonderful and eerie too. The band seemed really on form and the encore was One Of These Days - and ended a fantastic night.
I also recall when leaving and wading through piles of discarded ticket stubs [how stupid of me not to grab handfuls...they'd fetch a fortune on eBay!!]. I still have my stub though and the programme.
Strangely the press reports the next week in Sounds or NME could not have been at the same gig as me - saying that it was lacklustre and the reporter seemed more interested in Gilmour's "long and greasy hair" than the music.
Years later I got the bootleg of the concert and it brought back all those memories - great!!
In 1974 I managed to get to Empire Pool, Wembley where they opened with the new numbers Raving & Drooling, Shine on you crazy Diamond and You Gotta Be Crazy. It was stange hearing unfamiliar numbers and part of me was crying out to hear Eugene etc, but now on reflection I realise how privileged I was. The 2nd half was DSOTM + Echoes.
Later on whilst browsing through a music paper I saw an ad for a new Floyd album "BRITISH WINTER TOUR 74". I'd not seen this in the shops and apprehensively sent off the few pounds to a PO Box number, never really expecting to see anything arrive. I was wrong, a week or so later a 12" package arrived and inside was a really nice vinyl album - quite clearly a bootleg - but what the heck I thought! It's now one of my treasured possessions... along with Tour 73 and Tour 72 which I also bought.
There then followed a very lean period - I was completely fundless and still at school so missed out on Knebworth in 75 and the WYWH tour...
The next opportunity was the Wall gigs, but at the time once again I simply could not afford the ticket price/travel etc and couldn't go - of course I'd now have given a kidney or a testicle to have seen it, but I'll just have to be content with the booties and dvd's of what I missed.
On to August 1988 and Wembley with the new Rogerless Floyd. The vast Wembley meant our seats were sideways on to the stage and the moment the band appeared everyone stood up, then onto their seats and we spent the whole show balancing on top of the seats trying to get a better view! The lighting was unbelievable and despite the size, the sound was terrific too. I remember in particular the flying bedstead that went from one end of the stadium to the stage where it exploded in a dazzling array of yellow and white light practically welding my contact lenses to my eyeballs!
My last opportunity was back at Earls Court in 1994 for the Division Bell tour - fantastic effects and great light show - the female backing singers and of course a few additional band members too all adding to the experience. I took a pair of binoculars this time - just in case! I needed them - we seemed to be miles away from the band, but the sound was just fine and the whole experience was unforgettable.
So that was it - 4 times only 1973-1994 and now I have to be content with seeing the tribute bands - in fact I was at THINK FLOYD just last night [the nearest anniversary to Ricks sad demise - where the band issued a free T Shirt to commemorate the occasion], as well as OZ Floyd of course. These tribute bands are great, but I hark back to the late 60's and early 70's days where few of the current fan base could have heard any of those great songs and long drawn out pieces - like Fat Old Sun and Green is the Colour, Cymbaline, Saucerful etc - these songs need an outlet from time to time - I hope the tribute bands take note!
I've seen Waters at Hyde Park and was lucky to get to Gilmour at the Albert Hall, the night that David Bowie guested on Arnold Layne.
No one can take away the memories and OK, 4 shows is not a lot; but there will never be any more, so I must be content and think of those great nights and then slide one of the 700 or so shows I now have on cd onto the player, turn up the volume, turn down the lights and pretend I'm there!
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- Embryo
- Posts: 5
- Joined: Sun Nov 23, 2008 8:07 pm
- Gender: Male
Re: Big Pink Floyd Survey - Pt2 - Concerts
As my username suggests I was at the famous Brighton Dome gig in January 1972 when they did the first ever live preview of DSOM.
I was but a young lad of 14 and it was the first live gig I had ever been to, what a start to my live show career!!
There was a real air of expectation and exitement, that same air had a strong whiff of something I had yet to experience too. Shouts of WALLY abounded to further add to the feeling that a special event was unfolding.
Roadies were making last minute checks and the transparent drumkit was centre stage....not long now..houselights went down.
I remember the start was really gripping as the heartbeat went round the auditorium from side to middle and to other side and I was seated upstairs not far in front of one of the speakers that had been placed around the rear of the theatre to create the effect....amazing to an impressionable youth!!
The light gantries on either side of the stage extended upwards at the start which was quite a sight back then, much to the amazement of the more experienced concert goers I was sitting with.
I was only familiar with ''Meddle at the time so ''Echoes'' and ''One of these days'' were the highlights for me although I still remember Roger banging the gong for all he was worth and Nik breaking sticks but not missing a beat at the end.
The set list is well known now thanks to this and other sites, so it was good to look back over the numbers I enjoyed that night and have since got to know and love very well.
I was very pleasantly surprised to find the CD ''Dark side rehersals'' advertised which is a bootleg of the show and film of it on youtube so I have been enjoying that night all over again thanks to the wonders of modern technology!!
I even shout out WALLY at certain moments!!
I was but a young lad of 14 and it was the first live gig I had ever been to, what a start to my live show career!!
There was a real air of expectation and exitement, that same air had a strong whiff of something I had yet to experience too. Shouts of WALLY abounded to further add to the feeling that a special event was unfolding.
Roadies were making last minute checks and the transparent drumkit was centre stage....not long now..houselights went down.
I remember the start was really gripping as the heartbeat went round the auditorium from side to middle and to other side and I was seated upstairs not far in front of one of the speakers that had been placed around the rear of the theatre to create the effect....amazing to an impressionable youth!!
The light gantries on either side of the stage extended upwards at the start which was quite a sight back then, much to the amazement of the more experienced concert goers I was sitting with.
I was only familiar with ''Meddle at the time so ''Echoes'' and ''One of these days'' were the highlights for me although I still remember Roger banging the gong for all he was worth and Nik breaking sticks but not missing a beat at the end.
The set list is well known now thanks to this and other sites, so it was good to look back over the numbers I enjoyed that night and have since got to know and love very well.
I was very pleasantly surprised to find the CD ''Dark side rehersals'' advertised which is a bootleg of the show and film of it on youtube so I have been enjoying that night all over again thanks to the wonders of modern technology!!
I even shout out WALLY at certain moments!!
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- Embryo
- Posts: 2
- Joined: Mon Sep 14, 2009 2:16 pm
Re: Big Pink Floyd Survey - Pt2 - Concerts
Hello:
I saw the 'Floyd' in 1977 in Cleavland, N.Y., it was a great concert. They played both sides of "Wish you were Here' and 'Animals' in it's entirety and offered 'Us and Them' & 'Money' as an encore. For a breif moment, it started to rain and the stage explode forth 'pink umbrellas' that shielded the band from the rain then slowly retracted into the stage when they were no longer needed ! They also fired off 'sheep' with little parachutes out of the 'compressed air sheep cannon' ! Cool !
Of course during the show the inflateable pig came out disappeared and then re-appeared only to explode with a thundering sound. They had the inflateable nuclear family with a fridge, cadillac, and T.V., replete with 2 and a half kids and a mummy and daddy ! The show concluded with cascading fireworks display that was better than a cities fireworks display for the 4th of July. There was also a helicopter checking the attendance as the 'Floyd' were ripped off almost to the tune of 300.000 dollars in a previous show. The attendance was estimated to be around 90.000 plus at the municipal stadium.
A night to remember. Or, as David Gilmour asked in his latest solo album, "Remember that Night?' Does anyone?
I saw the 'Floyd' in 1977 in Cleavland, N.Y., it was a great concert. They played both sides of "Wish you were Here' and 'Animals' in it's entirety and offered 'Us and Them' & 'Money' as an encore. For a breif moment, it started to rain and the stage explode forth 'pink umbrellas' that shielded the band from the rain then slowly retracted into the stage when they were no longer needed ! They also fired off 'sheep' with little parachutes out of the 'compressed air sheep cannon' ! Cool !
Of course during the show the inflateable pig came out disappeared and then re-appeared only to explode with a thundering sound. They had the inflateable nuclear family with a fridge, cadillac, and T.V., replete with 2 and a half kids and a mummy and daddy ! The show concluded with cascading fireworks display that was better than a cities fireworks display for the 4th of July. There was also a helicopter checking the attendance as the 'Floyd' were ripped off almost to the tune of 300.000 dollars in a previous show. The attendance was estimated to be around 90.000 plus at the municipal stadium.
A night to remember. Or, as David Gilmour asked in his latest solo album, "Remember that Night?' Does anyone?
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- Supreme Lord!
- Posts: 8370
- Joined: Thu Oct 28, 2004 9:55 pm
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Re: Big Pink Floyd Survey - Pt2 - Concerts
It would be great if anyone of you oldies (lol) could share some pictures from these events... if you have some.