OCTOBER 12th
Reader Review by Ciaran McQuillan
The day was perfect. The
atmosphere right. The river flowing. The birds in full song and a
demented lawnmower reverberating around the Arena. The lights go down
(unknown to us, so does a stand) and Shine On beautifully drifts
through the Floyd's sound system to cheers of near hysteria, and
suddenly the lights are back on again. Rick Wright and Jon Carin
continue to play, albeit quietly, and a posse of St. Johns Ambulance
brigade charge from all directions (my mate actually thought they were
Earls Court security after a mugger).
Meanwhile back on stage Rick
scratches his head and holds his hands aloft in submission and both
Floyd keyboard players vacate the stage. It isn't long before the real
reason is unveiled. Sadly the show was cancelled, but luckily no one
was seriously hurt. I went home glum, but we live to fight another day.
Reader Review by Chris Job
It was only after a couple
of minutes that we became aware of a problem at the back of the arena.
You all know what happened, but there was no chaos or hysteria that we
noticed. It bore little resemblance to the hysterical tabloid headlines
of the following morning. Initially someone came on stage to say that
the concert would proceed a.s.a.p., but it was clearly a PR exercise. A
couple of minutes later Harvey Goldsmith appeared on stage to explain
the situation and that the concert would be re-scheduled, all ticket
stubs being valid or a full refund available. Inevitably lots of
punters were angry and frustrated, but I thought Harvey handled the
situation well, facing much abuse but not ducking it. There was nothing
he could do to prevent the anger of people who could not come back for
the re-scheduled date, but he tried to placate them as best he could.
Obviously the most important consideration was that luckily no one was
killed or seriously injured, but it was not an auspicious beginning to
the home leg of the tour.
OCTOBER 13th
Shine On Pts. 1-5, Learning To
Fly, What Do You Want From Me, On the Turning Away, Take It Back,
Coming Back To Life, Sorrow, Keep Talking, One of These Days,
[Intermission], Astronomy Domine, Breathe, Time, Breathe (Reprise),
High Hopes, Great Gig, Wish You Were Here, Us & Them, Money,
Another Brick Pt.2, Comfortably Numb, [Encore] Hey You, Run Like Hell.
Reader Review by Chris Job
Inevitably, the previous night's
events were uppermost in people's thoughts. As the arena filled,
comments such as "Will the boys bring the house down tonight?" were
heard, accompanied by somewhat nervous titters. Just before 8pm Harvey
appeared on stage to apologize again for the previous night and to
assure the crowd that all was safe. He then said that David wished to
speak, and the boy appeared to wish everyone well and also to apologize
again.
Without further ado, the strains
of Shine On were heard, and this time the show proceeded without undue
problems. Unfortunately I felt that it was certainly the worst show
that I have seen the Floyd play. They clearly were very tense and this
was immediately shown by David's initial fumbling of his first notes in
Shine On. I was particularly concerned by the appearance of my main man
Rick, who looked distinctly uncomfortable throughout the evening and
looked quite tired.
As evidenced by Chantilly, the
new Sorrow and One of These Days are far livelier than the previous
tour, but generally I felt that they were going through the motions,
especially in the second set. The sound system was also disappointing
with the guitars and bass so high in the mix to cause the backing
vocalists and keyboards to remain nearly inaudible. The lighting and
special effects were, of course, superb indoors and the mirror ball was
beyond description, but I came away very disappointed and with the hope
that this night was a "loosener".
OCTOBER 14th
Shine On Pts. 1-5, Learning To
Fly, High Hopes, Take It Back, Great Day For Freedom, Sorrow, Keep
Talking, Another Brick Pt. 2, One of These Days, [Intermission], Dark
Side in its entirety, [Encore] Wish You Were Here, Comfortably Numb,
Run Like Hell.
Reader Review by Matthew Isaacs
I was one of the many who spent
the majority of Thursday the 13th ringing the Earls Court box office to
confirm that Friday’s concert was going to happen. Even with all the
front page headlines and National TV coverage of the stand collapse on
Wednesday, there was not a single doubt in anyone’s mind when queueing
outside Earls Court. We all knew we were in for one hell of a show.
At around 7:45pm, the background
music faded and was replaced by the crunching, sizzling effects heard
at the beginning of Cluster One. Ten minutes later the lights went out.
Everyone cheered wildly, but remained seated, perhaps due to
Wednesday’s incident. The members of Pink Floyd appeared, as well as
the giant circular video screen as Shine On began to rapturous
applause. The concert went ahead and it was a stormer!
After Eclipse ended the Dark Side
set, Pink Floyd took their bows to a five minute standing ovation, as
Dave Gilmour gave a rather ironic acknowledgment: “Thanks to our dear
old friend Roger for writing those lyrics for us”. (Could a reunion
occur next year methinks?) And at the end of the encore the band bid
their final farewell to a bewildered and ecstatic following, promising
to see us again “One of these days”!
OCTOBER 15th
Astronomy Domine, Learning To
Fly, What Do You Want From Me, On the Turning Away, Take It Back,
Coming Back To Life, Sorrow, Keep Talking, One of These Days,
[Intermission], Shine On Pts. 1-5, Breathe, Time, Breathe (Reprise),
High Hopes, Great Gig, Wish You Were Here, Us & Them, Money,
Another Brick Pt.2, Comfortably Numb, [Encore] Hey You, Run Like Hell.
Reader Review by Chris Job
A terrific opener sets the
scene as things start to look up. Astronomy Domine is a wonderful
rendition, but of course is highly perfunctory compared to the late
60's version, symptomatic of this embodiment of the band. What really
comes home to all tonight is how awful Keep Talking is. They do not
appear to have worked out what to do with this track in the live
environment. Most of the vocals are totally inaudible and the end
instrumental section seems never-ending, not to say downright tedious
(it really never got much better either!).
Guy Pratt is now irritating me a
lot. He seems to think this is "The Guy Pratt Show", gesturing and
grinning at the stalls, running around, etc. He and Wallis pose
furiously, so totally at odds with the professional, no-nonsense
approach of David, Nick and Rick.
OCTOBER 16th
Shine On Pts. 1-5, Learning To
Fly, High Hopes, Take It Back, Coming Back To Life, Sorrow, Keep
Talking, Another Brick Pt.2, One of These Days, [Intermission], Dark
Side in its entirety, [Encore] Wish You Were Here, Comfortably Numb,
Run Like Hell.
Reader Review by Bruno MacDonald
As a somnabulant veteran of five
MLOR shows, it was a pleasure to stay awake throughout this
performance. How the band remain this side of consciousness while
plodding through Dark Side yet again remains a mystery. This
extraordinary conservatism is all the more disappointing given that The
Division Bell has, after several months of frosty courtship, proved
itself the best Floyd effort since The Final Cut. In particular, High
Hopes - on record and in the flesh - is a new classic.
Other highlights were laid-back
readings of Us and Them and Wish You Were Here, and a gutsy Great Gig
(Durga’s enthusiasm may be partly attributed to her natural talent, and
partly to the fact that it was her birthday).
On the down side, the visuals -
bar the highly amusing pigs and Brain Damage film - were no match for
Welcome to the Machine or any other whizzbangery on the previous tour.
More importantly, Shine On and several other key passages sounded as if
the band had been playing them for a million years. As indeed they have.
Finally, the ambiguous depictions
of Syd betray the band’s former and admirable policy of discouraging
Barrett disciples. If they feel the need to surround themselves with
ghosts, it shouldn’t be too tricky to put some satirical anti-Rog stuff
together.
OCTOBER 17th
Astronomy Domine, Learning to
Fly, What Do You Want From Me, On the Turning Away, Poles Apart, Take
It Back, Sorrow, Keep Talking, One of These Days, [Intermission], Shine
On Pts. 1-5, Breathe, Time, Breathe (Reprise), High Hopes, Great Gig,
Wish You Were Here, Us & Them, Money, Another Brick Pt.2,
Comfortably Numb, [Encore] Hey You, Run Like Hell. (Nick Mason wore his
famous cowboy hat for the show!)
Reader Review by Ciaran McQuillan
Like deja'vu we return a
few days later, and after a quick inspection of my seat (which is fixed
to concrete anyway), everything appears hunky dory. Once again the
sounds of the meadow return but tonight we are joined by three
ballerinas, but even from where I'm sitting they appear to have bigger
lunch-boxes than Linford Christie. There are not many empty spaces
around the Arena - not bad considering that a lot of people came from
afar. The faces around me are all familiar, and we are joined by the
rich aroma of ganja though Earls Court is a no smoking arena.
At this Monday night re-scheduled
show, my seat was hardly the best in the house as I was high up in the
rafters and almost level with the Floyd's formidable stage. So I
concentrated on the band and not the stunning visuals, and to be honest
they certainly do enjoy themselves! Although the sound on Astronomy was
muffled, the quality greatly improved as the night wore on. The mirror
ball was of course impressive, but nearly as much as was Gilmour's solo
for Comfortably Numb.
Reader Review by Alan Bainton
The Arena was full to capacity,
even the replaced stands. The ticket holders for those seats had free
T-Shirts and goodies given to them. In our seats (20 rows from front),
most of the show happened overhead allowing us to concentrate on the
musicians and their playing. Rick and Nick were surely enjoying
themselves, far more than on the last tour. It was good to hear Poles
Apart being played (as it is one of my favorites) and again fitted in
well with the older material. This was our fourth show in five days but
was still as enjoyable and satisfying to watch as the first.
OCTOBER 19th
Shine On Pts. 1-5, Learning To
Fly, High Hopes, Lost For Words, Great Day For Freedom, Keep Talking,
Coming Back to Life, Sorrow, Another Brick Pt.2, One of These Days,
[Intermission], Dark Side in its entirety, [Encore] Wish You Were Here,
Comfortably Numb, Run Like Hell.
Reader Comments by Chris Job
With MTV apparently
filming, the boys seem inspired and go on to play a superb show. An
unique version of Lost For Words suggests that this would benefit from
further inclusion. I am at this point becoming a devotee of Coming Back
To Life. It's a very moving song, and features some of David's best,
most heartfelt singing.
OCTOBER 20th
Shine On Pts. 1-5,
Learning To Fly, High Hopes, Take It Back, Coming Back To Life, Sorrow,
Keep Talking, Another Brick Pt.2, One of These Days, [Intermission],
Dark Side in its entirety, [Encore] Wish You Were Here, Comfortably
Numb, Run Like Hell.
Reader Review by Chris Job
Before the show, a roadie appears
on stage to announce that the show is going live to 60 million people
via satellite. Maybe that's why the searchlights outside were actually
moving for the first time.
This night's show provides
the best first set so far and DSOTM is immensely moving. Clearly the
satellite transmission has the boys going, although David is even
briefer than usual in his comments to the audience. He's obviously a
shy lad. The three were very jolly when taking their applause at the
end. Dave and Rick embraced, then Rick and Nick. Can there be that much
friction between them? I have my doubts.
OCTOBER 21st
Astronomy Domine, Learning To
Fly, What Do You Want From Me, On the Turning Away, Poles Apart, Take
It Back, Sorrow, Keep Talking, One of These Days, [Intermission], Shine
On Pts. 1-5, Breathe, Time, Breathe (Reprise), High Hopes, Great Gig,
Wish You Were Here, Us and Them, Money, Another Brick Pt.2, Comfortably
Numb, [Encore] Hey You, Run Like Hell.
Reader Review by Chris Job
I really enjoyed this
show, probably due a lot to my seat in the front row directly in front
of Dave. My proximity to the stage allowed me a fascinating view of the
onstage activities. It was obvious how much enjoyment was being had by
all the band members, with a great deal of joking and banter throughout
the show. The particularly interesting realization was of how precisely
Dave controls events - all the music cues, length of songs, etc. He was
dolling out lots of precise instructions through hand signals, not
obvious to people further back from the stage.
The downside of my close position
was realizing how very annoying Gary Wallis is. He was constantly
posing when not contributing musically (which was often), wandered out
of his percussion cage and either posed with other band members or
merely stood there and grinned at the crowd. Together with how he was
wandering around before the show wanting to be recognized, and with how
he always ensured that he was the last one off stage at the end of each
show, I was less than impressed by him.
OCTOBER 22nd
Astronomy Domine, Learning To
Fly, What Do You Want From Me, On the Turning Away, Take It Back, Great
Day For Freedom, Sorrow, Keep Talking, One of These Days,
[Intermission], Shine On Pts. 1-5, Breathe, Time, Breathe (Reprise),
High Hopes, Great Gig, Wish You Were Here, Us & Them, Money,
Another Brick Pt.2, Comfortably Numb, [Encore] Hey You, Run Like Hell.
OCTOBER 23rd
Shine On Pts. 1-5,
Learning To Fly, High Hopes, Take It Back, Coming Back To Life, Sorrow,
Keep Talking, Another Brick Pt. 2, One of These Days, [Intermission],
Dark Side in its entirety, [Encore] Wish You Were Here, Comfortably
Numb, Run Like Hell.
Reader Review by Griff Davies
After discovering that the
Floyd were doing Dark Side on roughly alternate nights at Earls Court,
the anticipation of my one visit centered on the increasingly desperate
realization that I HAD to see them do it! And so, armed with the
knowledge that things were OK so long as the ‘plane’ was lurking in
wait at the back of the arena, I hurried into the hall and - well,
thank goodness I was in luck!
The first half of the show passed
by in an agreeable blur; the playing was good; Gilmour’s guitar in best
heart-trembling form, though the keyboards were rather buried in the
mix. The newer songs were pretty strong, but the omission of Wearing
the Inside Out was unforgivable - is this Gilmour’s domination or
Wright’s stage fright? The three oldies (songs I mean, not band
members) were all present and correct, but, here we go again, haven’t
we seen it all before?! Still, the show as a whole was looking
phenomenally good, and One of These Days warmed us up... literally.
The heartbeat began almost
imperceptibly during the interval, slowly building up its layers of
voice and image, bringing the audience into the show and establishing
the themes of the piece. And of course Speak To Me turns Breathe into a
triumphant conclusion of the opening sequence, as well as the beginning
of the piece proper. Likewise, On the Run in context is light years
away from the meaningless, detached version on the last tour. The idea
of life as a mad dash destined to end in tragic failure was made
explicit by the plane crash, from the aftermath of which emerged Time
and its stunning new computer animation. (Animation has always been the
best way the band can visualize its songs, being sufficiently abstract
not to seem too literal, illustrative or pretentious.)
The Time to Us And Them sequence
was played with commitment. Wright looked reassuringly confident in his
all-too-brief vocal in Time and piano in Great Gig and Us and Them,
while Money featured the band donning Groucho Marx disguises during the
spacey instrumental section (Rick initially left out of the fun -
typical!)
Us and Them benefited hugely from
Dick Parry’s intimate knowledge of the song and correspondingly
sympathetic soloing. Any Colour You Like was disappointingly
perfunctory considering the treatment it used to get in ’73-’75. Still,
the highlight was to come as a resurrected Brain Damage overwhelmed the
audience. It was a superb tune to see live - the verses blended
perfectly with the “all politicians are scum” visuals. Eclipse topped
this with its unstoppable lyrical crescendo and increasingly agitated
images of the mind exploding under the pressure of life. All too soon
we were on our feet cheering a work that certainly didn’t deserve to be
buried as a live experience for 19 years.
The encores were predictable as
the Gilmour show reached full throttle. The final effects were
naturally breath-taking and by the end everyone was exhausted (except
maybe some of the band!).
I think that one reason Dark Side
is so successful as a part of the current shows is that it limits
Gilmour to three solos per hour, which is a perfectly healthy rate,
assuming he doesn’t want to become the Hank Marvin of contemporary
rock. (Also, Mason assumes sole drum duties, though the obnoxious Gary
Wallis finds plenty of unnecessary things to do.)
Therefore, the band coheres in a
way which, at times, approaches the kind of unit they once were. At
other times in the gig, Gilmour’s degree of prominence was simply
embarrassing.
But, that said, the show is still
unlike anything else available at present and the band’s unprecedented
popularity is no mystery at all. How many more shows we are ever likely
to see is up to Messrs. Wright, Mason and more importantly - Gilmour.
OCTOBER 26th
Astronomy Domine, Learning To
Fly, What Do You Want From Me, On the Turning Away, Take It Back, Great
Day For Freedom, Sorrow, Keep Talking, One of These Days,
[Intermission], Shine On Pts. 1-5, Breathe, Time, Breathe (Reprise),
High Hopes, Great Gig, Wish You Were Here, Us & Them, Money,
Another Brick Pt.2, Comfortably Numb, [Encore] Hey You, Run Like Hell.
OCTOBER 27th
Shine On Pts. 1-5, Learning To
Fly, What Do You Want From Me, On the Turning Away, Take It Back, Great
Day For Freedom, Sorrow, Keep Talking, One of These Days,
[Intermission], Astronomy Domine, Breathe, Time, Breathe (Reprise),
High Hopes, Great Gig, Wish You Were Here, Us & Them, Money,
Another Brick Pt.2, Comfortably Numb, [Encore] Hey You, Run Like Hell.
Reader Review by Chris Job
I spot Steve O'Rourke
about 7pm on the concourse and follow him to the main entrance where he
stands looking at the turnstiles. I ask him to sign my ticket, but my
request for a backstage pass is smilingly refused. He seems surprised
that anyone should go to all 14 nights. He comes across as a nice bloke.
I am once again in the front row,
this time in front of Tim Renwick, but even this vantage point does not
amend for the tedium of the "best of" second half. Keep Talking
received easily its best rendition tonight, with a punchy solo from
David, but the ending is still totally misjudged. Michael Kamen
appeared playing clarinet (I think) on Wish You Were Here and keyboards
on Comfortably Numb at the start.
OCTOBER 28th
Shine On Pts. 1-5, Learning To
Fly, High Hopes, Take It Back, Poles Apart, Sorrow, Keep Talking,
Another Brick Pt. 2, One of These Days, [Intermission], Dark Side in
its entirety, [Encore] Wish You Were Here, Comfortably Numb, Run Like
Hell.
Reader Review by Chris Job
Beetling to my seat in the
fourh row, I was relieved to see the spitfire high up in the Arena. I
really could not take another "best of" set! As expected Douglas Adams
joined the boys onstage towards the end of Any Colour You Like and
stayed until the end of Eclipse. He plucked occasionally at his guitar,
but I couldn't hear any noise coming from it! Dave intro'ed him at the
end of the set, saying his appearance was "a birthday present from me".
Dave again thanked "our pal Roger Waters, whose lyrics it is my
privilege to sing".
OCTOBER 29th
Shine On Pts. 1-5+7, Learning To
Fly, High Hopes, Take It Back, Coming Back To Life, Sorrow, Keep
Talking, Another Brick Pt.2, One of These Days, [Intermission], Dark
Side in its entirety, [Encore] Comfortably Numb, Wish You Were Here,
Run Like Hell.
Reader Review by David Chalk
Having been converted to
Pink Floyd a year after they last toured the world, it became a natural
ambition to see the phenomenon known as the 'live' show. The only ways
for me to experience the event in the past have been through the DSOT
video, through boots of varying quality, or by catching the Australian
Pink Floyd Show. However the above ways were no match for the real
article, both in sound and spectacle. Therefore, as soon as the dates
for the 1994 tour were released, tickets became a priority.
I had been holding onto my money
until after the Paris show just in case my expectations were not met.
Twenty four hours after returning, I was in my local record store
booking my place on the coach to London. Like Jeff Jensen before me, I
wanted to experience the Floyd in contrasting environments. The Paris
show was before a crowd of 70,000 in the middle of a race course on a
hot, sultry French evening, while Earls Court was before a crowd of
'only' 15,000 inside a hall on a typical English evening (cold and
wet). Both shows failed to disappoint, but the London show will be the
one that sticks in my mind for a long time to come. The main thing that
I was hoping for was a change from the usual setlist. I was not
disappointed.
Because we had ordered our
seats through an agent, we had no idea where they would be until we got
them on the coach. Therefore, we were quite pleased when we realized
they were front row off to the right! The view backstage was
unparalleled, although the thought at the front of our minds was what
was attached to the wire that ran opposite the hall. This question was
to be answered at the end of On the Run, when my life flashed before
me, as a plane exploded 10 feet to my right. Quite easily the most
memorable moment of the evening. After a complete rendition of Dark
Side followed by a ten minute lapse, the radio intro of Wish You Were
Here began and the crowd rose to their feet. The highlight of the song
was not that the crowd sang along, but rather that the girls - Claudia,
Sam and Durga - appeared on stage dressed as mop ladies complete with
dodgy lipstick, broom and a cigarette hanging out of the corner of
their mouths. This was obviously a complete surprise to those playing
on stage, as they all just looked at each other and burst into
laughter, Gilmour only just recovering to sing the chorus.
Comfortably Numb followed,
including mirror ball and solo that seemed to go on forever. Gilmour
and Pratt must have felt the same way because after the first couple of
minutes they just sat down in the middle of the stage and started to
chat. That Gilmour could just sit there without a care in the world,
and still play an unforgettable piece of music is beyond us mere
mortals. (Goes as to just how many times he's played it! - ed) As usual
Run Like Hell concluded the evening with its infamous theatricals,
including Guy Pratt's Pete Townshend impression. At the end of the
song, he proceeded to demolish his guitar against the stage! If only I
was a few rows closer to the center, I would have come home with the
perfect souvenir, from what would have to be described as the perfect
show.
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