February 2001 The Psychedelic News

Pink Floyd At The Rainbow

Continued...

As the theatre lights went down the band took to the stage in darkness, finding their spots as the thundering heartbeat introduction to "Speak To Me" began thumping ever louder, an overpowering electronic parroting of the three thousand mortal hearts beating throughout the auditorium. Shattering cymbal work from Nick Mason and a blinding eruption of multicolored light signaled the start to "Breathe In The Air". As the final notes of "Breathe" slid into "On The Run", Rick Wright's keyboards become sandwiched between a layer of resonant guitar feedback from David Gilmour and a bed of intricate VCS3 synthesizer sequencing (this live jam would run a full three minutes longer than the version that appeared on the album). A downpour of color bathes the musicians in alternating shades of red, blue and yellow as intermittent blasts of dry ice billow slowly upward, blanketing the standing performers to midriff while Mason and his imposing drum kit disappear completely behind a massive cloud that engulfs the entire rear of the stage. The mood was set to introduce the next song, which in subsequent years would become one of the album's signature pieces.

While the official introduction to David Gilmour's ferocious soloing during "Time" took place upon the album's release in March '73, the extended live versions of the song at the Rainbow gigs show that the rough groundwork for that epic piece of guitar wizardry was in place a year prior. Gilmour extracts one ear splitting chord after another, bending strings, holding notes and elongating for the utmost effect, slowly taking the audience to a whispering high, leaving everyone dangling in breathless anticipation for the next magical note, before driving the hammer down, bringing the solo to a crashing finale.

Other live numbers that were notably different from what made it to vinyl are "The Great Gig In The Sky" and "Any Colour You Like". As the shortened version of "Eclipse" brought this historic evening to its conclusion, all in attendance knew they had been spectators to something unique. In fact, weeks after the concert a bootleg of the first show began popping up all over London in quantities that were never sufficient to satisfy the insatiable demand. One estimate had the contraband recordings selling an astonishing 120,000 copies throughout England before the official release of the album. Unfortunately, this put an end to the Floyd's practice of working out new material in concert.

Remarkably, thirty-one million copies sold in the span of twenty-seven years, "The Dark Side Of The Moon" continues to sell roughly one million units per year as re-mastered editions find their way into the "gotta have" sections of private CD collections all over the world. Pink Floyd (along with Genesis, David Bowie, etc) helped to elevate the rock concert to an event, dare we say an art form, while creating a timeless masterpiece. And for four nights in February 1972, a packed theatre full of fans enjoyed a sneak preview of an album that would forever change the history of rock music.

One of Britain's most successful and long-lived rock bands, Pink Floyd emerged relatively unsullied from the mire of mid-Sixties British psychedelic music as early experimenters with outer space concepts. Although that phase of the band's development was of short duration, Pink Floyd have from that time been the pop scene's preeminent techno-rockers: four musicians with a command of electronic instruments who wield an arsenal of sound effects with authority and finesse. While Pink Floyd's albums were hardly hot tickets in the shops, they began to attract an enormous following through their US tours. They have more recently developed a musical style capable of sustaining their dazzling and potentially overwhelming sonic wizardry.

The Dark Side of the Moon is Pink Floyd's ninth album and is a single extended piece rather than a collection of songs. It seems to deal primarily with the fleetingness and depravity of human life, hardly the commonplace subject matter of rock. "Time" ("The time is gone the song is over"), "Money" ("Share it fairly but don't take a slice of my pie"), and "Us And Them" ("Forward he cried from the rear") might be viewed as keys to understanding the meaning (if indeed there is any definite meaning) of The Dark Side of the Moon.

Even though this is a concept album, a number of the cuts can stand on their own. "Time" is a fine country-tinged rocker with a powerful guitar solo by David Gilmour and "Money" is broadly and satirically played with appropriately raunchy sax playing by Dick Parry, who also contributes a wonderfully-sated, breathy solo to "Us And Them." The non-vocal "On The Run" is a standout with footsteps racing from side to side successfully eluding any number of odd malevolent rumbles and explosions only to be killed off by the clock's ticking that leads into "Time." Throughout the album the band lays down a solid framework which they embellish with synthesizers, sound effects and spoken voice tapes. The sound is lush and multi-layered while remaining clear and well structured.

There are a few weak spots. David Gilmour's vocals are sometimes weak and lackluster and "The Great Gig in the Sky" (which closes the first side) probably could have been shortened or dispensed with, but these are really minor quibbles. The Dark Side of the Moon is a fine album with a textural and conceptual richness that not only invites, but demands involvement. There is a certain grandeur here that exceeds mere musical melodramatics and is rarely attempted in rock. The Dark Side of the Moon has flash the true flash that comes from the excellence of a superb performance.

- Rolling Stone Magazine, May 24,1973 by Lloyd Grossman

This Month in Classic Rock History
1964
	The High Numbers change their name to The Who.
1968
9^th	Jeff Beck's latest single, "Love Is Blue" is released.
12^th	Jimi Hendrix returns to Seattle and plays his former high school, Garfield High. The mayor of Seattle also awards him the key to the city.
23^rd	The Kinks, The Move, Traffic, Plastic Penny, Eyes Of Blue and The Bonzo Dog Doo Wah Band are among the performers at The Rag Rave at the Leicester's Granby Halls in England.
1969
1^st	Joni Mitchell plays New York's Carnegie Hall for the first time.
4^th	Johnny Winter is signed by Columbia Records to a five-year contract that nets him $300,000.
1972
17^th	Pink Floyd play four sold-out shows at London's Rainbow Theatre and premiere music from their forthcoming "Dark Side Of The Moon" album.
1974
8^th	Yes' double-album "Tales From Topographic Oceans" achieves Gold Record Status. Shortly thereafter, Rick Wakeman announces his departure from the group.

	The Trip Continues . . . Expand Your Mind visit classicrockpage.com	Feb. 2001 - Issue 17 Cover Page