MAY 18th, 19th & 20th - BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS
Foxboro (Patriot's Stadium)
Reader Review by John Bachers
The scene around and
inside the New England Patriots' Stadium revealed Floyd fans of every
shape and style. Having seen shows in five prior Floyd tours beginning
with the Dark Side of the Moon Tour in 1973, we were glad to see the
youthful crowd was substantially dotted with graying loyalists.
The music? Sort of disappointing,
all in all. It was hard to avoid the impression of a monumental yet
routine production. Lots of tunes, hits that seemed to satisfy a lot of
enthusiastic people. But there was little of the old Floyd magic -
those intuitive instrumental space explorations that web from music
into physics, religion, and things without names, joining the audience
in a unified consciousness everyone recognizes as high and special. The
one time the concert appraoched it was in closing the first half with
One of These Days, and what seemed at the time like a touch of Careful
With That Axe Eugene.
You could tell it was the real
stuff - the continual yelling subsided to a quiet attentiveness.
Extravagant visuals, sure. The lasers, the inflatables, and an old
psychedelic favorite that always works... the slowly rotating mirror
ball. But the film seemed uninspired and the visuals didn't compensate
for what the music lacked.
I kept thinking of what someone
said about the Stones' last stadium tour, about watching Charlie Watts
take a break and lay down his drum sticks, while the drum track kept
rolling out of the sound system. Was this real Floyd? Not by
comparrison to past performances in my opinion. Listening to Great Gig
in the Sky was painful, recalling how Claire Torrey's Dark Side tour
version sounded as if she were successfully seducing God. And good
riddance to Roger Waters who made his early contribution, but then
convinced himself that the band was a session backup for his neurotic
rantings. Space is curved - we're left with relics. Pink Floyd, circa
1971, wish you were here.
Semi-apologies to those who
refuse to be deprived of their Floyd experience by an old geezer who
sounds lost in the past and too old to rock and roll.
Reader Review by Tammy McCrohan
I went to all three shows at
Foxboro - they were the most incredible nights of my life! The light
show was amazing and the videos they played were "out there"! There
were 22 songs played each time with the only change being a different
song from The Division Bell played each night (Poles Apart, Coming Back
to Life, and A Great Day For Freedom).
At the end of the final show on
the 20th there was a plane which flew over the stadium with huge lit
letters spelling "PINK FLOYD". It was phenomenal - definitely worth the
$50 each night. As a matter of fact, I loved it so much that I bought a
ticket to go to their last North American date in New Jersey on July
18th!
MAY 22nd - MONTREAL, CANADA
Olympic Stadium
The hot rumour was something
about Nostradamus and a prediction that at this point in history there
would be a significant three-day event, and many people would die as a
result. Well, unless you count the two inflatable pigs that fell to
their doom as Pink Floyd closed out the first half of Sunday Night's
Big O (Olympic Stadium) show, there were no fatalities in the
61,002-capacity crowd.
But Nostradamus had one thing right: predictable.
Which is not to say that the
first of three Floyd launchings from the Big O pad didn't achieve the
main thrust of its purpose: visuals worthy of Skylab, lasers to polish
120,000 corneas and a light show which put the aurora borealis at the
service of Silicon Valley. But David Gilmour made the ultimate comment
on his own show months ago, when he and the band limited interviews on
the tour to an absolute minimum. It was fitting because Pink Floyd
doesn't have much to say. But, oy, the way they say it!
(Taken in part from Montreal's The Gazette 24th May 1994 by Mark LePage from M-J Bourget.)
A Commentative Setlist by M-J Bourget
First half:
Astronomy Domine (great
visually, bad sound!), Learning to Fly (better sound), What Do You Want
From Me (Gilmour spoke to us in French during the whole show - he's
very good!), Poles Apart (very good musically and visually), Sorrow
(Gilmour's guitar work was just fantastic for this song), On the
Turning Away, Take It Back, Keep Talking, One of These Days (the best
moment of the first half as the crowd went wild!)
Second half:
Shine On You Crazy Diamond
(Wow, fantastic! The sound was great - one of the best moments of the
show), Breathe, Time (excellent film), Breathe Reprise, High Hopes
(this song is going to be a classic - everday we hear it on Quebec
radio), Great Gig in the Sky, Wish You Were Here & Us and Them
(these two songs were unbelievable! Everyone of 60,000 fans sang along
with Dave. THE best moment of the show!), Money (partytime!), Another
Brick in the Wall Pt.2 (partytime!), Comfortably Numb (I have witnessed
the best guitar solo of my life!)
Encore:
Hey You (it was a surprise that
they did this song, but I was still happy), Run Like Hell (again,
Gilmour just fantastic!) I simply loved it, visually unbelievable from
start to finish, and musically it was almost perfect!
MAY 26th & 27th - CLEVELAND, OHIO
Municipal Stadium
...Pink Floyd add a rainbow of
colours to their video package, with a light show that might be the
best ever created for a rock tour. The arched stage was lit up like the
mother ship from "Close Encounters of the Third Kind", while emerald
and gold lasers criss-crossed through the chilly night air, making the
stadium seem like a giant light-saber battle scene from "Star Wars".
The band members stand in front of eight, pyramid-shaped light columns
that give the stage the feel of a space-age Greek temple.
Gilmour and company are still
capable of cooking up that Pink Floyd groove in concert, but the new
songs lack the memorable hooks and lyrical muscle of the classic 70's
material. The band obviously misses the input of Roger Waters.
The band seemed like props in
their own production. But that's probably unavoidable in a production
of this scope. Gilmour played particularly well and Mason's drumming
was as precise and rhythmically infectious as ever.
The sound may have been the true
star of the show, however. No rock band can match Pink Floyd when it
comes to making a stadium show come off sounding like its being held in
your living room.
(Excerpted from Cleveland Plain Dealer 5/27/94 by Michael Norman from Dave Taylor)
JUNE 2nd - PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA
Veterans Stadium
Astronomy Domine,
Learning to Fly, what Do You want From Me, On the Turning Away, Take it
Back, Poles Apart, Sorrow, Keep Talking, One of These Days,
[Intermission], Shine On (1-5), Breathe, Time, Breathe reprise, High
Hopes, The Great Gig in the Sky, WIsh You Were Here, Us and Them,
Money, Another Brick in the Wall Pt.2, Comfortably Numb, [Encore] Hey
You, Run Like Hell.
JUNE 3rd - PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA
Veterans Stadium
Astronomy Domine,
Learning to Fly, What Do You Want From Me, On the Turning Away, Take it
Back, A Great Day For Freedom, Sorrow, Keep Talking, One of These Days,
[Intermission], Shine On (1-5), Breathe, Time, Breathe reprise, High
Hopes, Great Gig in the Sky, Wish You Were Here, Us and Them, Money,
Another Brick Pt.2, Comfortably Numb, [Encore] Hey You, Run Like Hell.
JUNE 4th - PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA
Veterans Stadium
Astronomy Domine,
Learning to Fly, What Do You Want From Me , On the Turning Away, Coming
Back to Life, Sorrow, Take it Back, Keep Talking, One of These Days,
[Intermission], Shine On (1-5), Breathe, Time, Breathe Reprise, High
Hopes, Great Gig in the Sky, Wish You Were Here, Us and Them, Money,
Another Brick Pt.2, Comfortably Numb, [Encore] Hey You, Run Like Hell.
Reader Review by Jay Lieberman
About seven years ago I saw my
first Pink Floyd show at the colossal JFK Stadium in Philadelphia. The
band opened up with Echoes (possibly for the last time), and from that
moment on I was a die-hard fan. That stadium has since been demolished,
but Floyd is still going, and it seemed only natural to catch all three
shows. So I braved stop and go traffic, ridiculous parking fees, and
mobs of wasted posers to witness the heroes' return. The massive stage
took up most of Veteran Stadium's outfield, and I felt a premonition
that the boys were going to outdo themselves this time. My suspicions
were confirmed...
The sci-fi fury of Barrett's
masterpiece, Astronomy Domine, kicked into the ecstatically received
Learning to Fly, as most of the awestruck crowd got their first glimpse
of Floyd's overpowering laser display. The music was equally strong as
well, a pattern that followed on the next two numbers What Do You Want
From Me and On the Turning Away, which were both preceded by Gilmour
greeting the audience.
The set varied from night to
night after that with the new single Take it Back and a lumbering
Sorrow (probably the low point of the show) mixed in with a different
selection from The Division Bell each night. The second set included
brand new Hipgnosis film, perhaps the best I've ever seen. High Hopes,
the one song if any, that can measure up to the older material was
situated accordingly within a DSOTM medley of Breathe, Time, and
Breathe reprise. It sounded progressively better each evening,
highlighted by Gilmour's pedal steel solo and another breath-taking
video. A feeble sounding Great Gig in the Sky was next as the two
rookie singers failed to measure up to their predecessors.
JUNE 10th - BRONX, NEW YORK
Yankee Stadium
Review by Jeff Jensen
Being my first time in New York
City, I (and a most excellent companion) cautiously headed underground
to brave the subway ride into the Bronx - an interesting experience -
one I will forego in the future. I must admit however, being a huge
baseball fan, I was more excited to see historic Yankee Stadium than
Pink Floyd.
The initial shock of the evening
came as we approached the stadium. I've been to countless heavy metal
concerts where it was necessary for security to hold a high profile,
but this was ridiculous overkill for a pop-rock concert. Police were
nearly shoulder-to-shoulder surrounding the venue. They were in
full-force throughout the subway system near the stadium. They mingled
within the masses. They were everywhere... except inside. And Yankee
security hardly ruled within - their presence failed to deter the
numerous fights that broke out all night.
Our seats were a few rows off the
field behind the First Base Dugout, while the stage rested comfortably
in center field. The show, as expected and as usual, started 45 minutes
late to allow the sun to fully set. Astronomy Domine opened the show,
after which the band plowed through their familiar North American
setlist. while not offering any surprises, the Floyd continue to
impress even through my most critical lens.
Whether it's because Yankee
Stadium was more compact and personal or that we sat more centered to
the stage, the sound quality was remarkably superior, clean and crisp -
not deafening. Each set rolled smoothly with few, relatively
unnoticeable technical glitches. One of These Days (1st half finale)
experienced some timing problems at the end as the song concluded
before the pigs fell from their perch, and then only one fell. I may
have been the only commoner in the crowd who noticed (or cared about)
the other minor occasional glitches of out-of-sync lasers and lights,
but that's just my feeling obligated to find at least something wrong.
Of all the shows I've caught this
tour, the fans in New York were BY FAR the loudest and rowdiest of the
lot. Personally, I love seeing people jumping around, screaming,
whistling, and letting it all go free, which no city did better than
New York, leading to this show being my favourite of the tour. The band
was tight (and seemingly in a great mood), the visuals were par
brilliance, and the crowd was at times more entertaining than the band!
A killer first night in the Big Apple, aside from a poor choice of
post-show dining. (I hate Chinese food Elliot!)
JULY 12th - CHICAGO, ILLINOIS
Soldier Field
Review by Jeff Jensen
With 19th row, dead center seats
provided us courtesy of the most noble Jim Monaco of CPI, this was to
be my closest vantage point this tour. Dragging along family members
this time, Steve and I just couldn't wait to see their expressions as
the show kicked in. Also joining our party were major BD contributor
Ron Fleischer and his beautiful wife Marsha. We marched around Soldier
Field for what seemed like hours trying to find our seats, with each
"usher" pointing us in a different direction. But, like a beacon placed
to guide us, we caught sight of a 40-something guy standing on his
chair, surrounded by major clamor, laughter and applause. From hand to
mouth, he antoagonized the eager crowd with what was surely a foot long
joint. Yes, that was row 19!
As 9pm rolled around, the Floyd
took the stage and ammered through yet another typical setlist. Of
course enjoyable for us fans, but how they maintain THEIR sanity
through this repetition is quite remarkable! As a side note, one of the
most frustrating things was the constant stream of people climbing over
us throughout the entire show, either trying to find (and re-find)
their seats or trying to locate "Mr. Popularity" for an inch drag.
Unlike at previous shows, there
was a major technical breakdown during Money, which caused the show to
break to a near halt. Gilmour was quite animated as he walked towards
Guy Pratt, threw his hands in the air, and then rested them at his
waist. While Pratt was more reserved in his response, Dave seemed a bit
angry about something. Meanwhile, a steady but slower drumbeat and
relaxed keyboard continued as the only audible instruments. The girls
stopped gyrating and the lights stopped dancing. After about two
minutes, Gilmour flew back to his perch, shuffled some cues to the
band, and the song rocked back into motion. What seemed like a great
opportunity for Mason and/or Wright to do some, ummm... improvisation,
the moment was lost and wasted.
By the end of the show, our group
was awe-struck and overflowing with praise for who has now become their
favourite band - Pink Floyd.
|