A distant ship's smoke on the horizon
May 13, 2011 9:15 AM   Subscribe

For only the second time since their breakup in 1985, the three surviving members of Pink Floyd shared a stage last night in London. Video, with the amazing reveal around 0:52. posted by jbickers (116 comments total) 15 users marked this as a favorite
 
"Mason joined the pair on tambourine"
posted by Nelson at 9:17 AM on May 13, 2011


Syd?
posted by vverse23 at 9:21 AM on May 13, 2011 [2 favorites]


Syd?

Sadly, no.
posted by Threeway Handshake at 9:21 AM on May 13, 2011


Styll dyd.
posted by Your Disapproving Father at 9:22 AM on May 13, 2011 [12 favorites]


I am starting to miss the old Cold War Pink Floyd which resulted in great lyrics like this from Gilmour:
So I open my door to my enemies
And I ask could we wipe the slate clean
But they tell me to please go fuck myself
You know you just can't win
posted by punkfloyd at 9:24 AM on May 13, 2011 [1 favorite]


I used to listen to so much Floyd in high school. Loved it.

Now, I listen to electronic dance music.
posted by gen at 9:25 AM on May 13, 2011 [4 favorites]


You know, if Waters and Gilmour can make up, there's hope for everybody.

And Comfortably Numb always reminds me of why I wanted to learn to play lead guitar.
posted by Grangousier at 9:31 AM on May 13, 2011 [5 favorites]


Have they finally buried the hatchet? I had hoped that they would have after Live 8, but in the interview Waters gave afterward, he seemed kind of bitter:

" What other band would you have liked to play bass in?

What's always great is playing the blues. Twelve-bar blues, straight up. Nothing better than that. When Eric[Clapton] was in my band, back in '85, we'd play the blues during soundcheck. In
Pink Floyd I was being savaged -- because Dave [Gilmour] and Rick [Wright] were
kind of insecure, they'd always try to attack me, saying I sang out of tune or I
couldn't really play. I said something about that to Eric, and he said, "Are you
fucking crazy? You're a great bass player." I went, "Oh, yeah, maybe I am." I
would be totally happy to be standing at the back of a stage playing the blues
hour after hour.... I enjoyed playing bass [at Live 8].
"
posted by Dr-Baa at 9:32 AM on May 13, 2011


I love Pink Floyd, but the cynic in me sees this as shrewd marketing. There's a massive reissue of the PF catalog coming soon.
posted by davebush at 9:33 AM on May 13, 2011 [7 favorites]


The second link in the FPP explains the whole backstory, which is most excellent.

I'm glad they did this, and sad that they only did it for one show.

Seeing The Wall last December in Tacoma was the fulfillment of a lifelong dream which I had resigned myself to never having come to pass when I didn't get to Berlin in 1991. The experience was transcendent and actually managed to live up to all my expectations.

It's not often something you've been hoping for for over 30 years actually manages to compete with the fantasy, but that show did, and more.

Thanks, Roger, for the brilliant update of your show. And thanks, David, for actually doing this one gig with Roger. (And thanks, Nick, for being there to make the reunion as complete as possible.)
posted by hippybear at 9:34 AM on May 13, 2011 [2 favorites]


I don't like that music
posted by gonna get a dog at 9:35 AM on May 13, 2011 [1 favorite]


the old Cold War Pink Floyd

Um... The Division Bell was released in 1994. Wasn't the Cold War over by then?
posted by hippybear at 9:36 AM on May 13, 2011 [1 favorite]


There's got to be professionally filmed versions of this. Right? I sure hope so. Likely to be put out on a DVD of the concert. Right? Please?
posted by ericb at 9:40 AM on May 13, 2011


So they didn't actually play on the same song?
posted by smackfu at 9:41 AM on May 13, 2011


While Comfortably Numb is an astounding track (admittedly only appreciated in retrospect), I find a on a whole that The Wall is an encapsulation of just about everything that was wrong with rock music in the late 70s. It still comes off to me as incredibly self important and actually very boring. I revisit it every couple years to see if I just didn't get it and it will finally click, but it never does.

Now if you want a good Pink Floyd album, put on Wish You Were Here. Musically mature and heartfelt lyrics put together by a band that actually liked collaborating with each other.

I thinking the performance was going to be a metaphor for their relationship. When he Gilmour appeared at the top of the wall, I was thinking that he would play the first solo at the top to emphasize their division, then when the second solo came I was expecting him to appear on stage to show that their has been a reconciliation between the two and they look at each other as equals -- literally at the same level. Apparently that's not the case and will still have to wonder who is the better rock star.
posted by bionic.junkie at 9:41 AM on May 13, 2011 [6 favorites]


Now, I listen to electronic dance music

Two great tastes that go great together:

Underworld vs Pink Floyd

Eric Prydz vs Pink Floyd
posted by empath at 9:41 AM on May 13, 2011 [7 favorites]


Waters v. Gilmour Cold War
posted by punkfloyd at 9:43 AM on May 13, 2011


Grangousier: "You know, if Waters and Gilmour can make up, there's hope for everybody. "

/me waits for the Robertson/Helm re-union...
posted by octothorpe at 9:44 AM on May 13, 2011 [9 favorites]


There's got to be professionally filmed versions of this. Right? I sure hope so. Likely to be put out on a DVD of the concert. Right? Please?

Waters is filming a show he's performing in Athens later this year for the DVD release. Not sure whether there will be a DVD Extra with this performance on it or not.

bionic.junkie: this is how this song has been staged since The Wall first was performed over 30 years ago. The staging for this new version of the show is VERY strongly based on the old staging, and it would have been very VERY unusual for them to change the way it was done for this single performance. Gilmour isn't playing at the top of the wall to symbolize their division. He's playing BEHIND the wall, as the band (Pink's mind) has shut itself inside at the end of Act One.

There has been no reconciliation. Mostly it's old collaborators who have been kind of bouncing off each other when needed to earn press. This was not a press-grabbing moment so much as it was turnabout by Waters for participating on one of Gilmour's projects.
posted by hippybear at 9:54 AM on May 13, 2011 [1 favorite]


True. We need to work up to it, reconciling Israel and Palestine and cats and dogs first.
posted by Grangousier at 9:55 AM on May 13, 2011 [2 favorites]


By the way, something I don't get to show off that often, so I might as well make the most of it: I saw one of the first performances of The Wall at Earls Court in 1980. So there. Nyaa nyaa.

(Yes, it was amazing, btw)
posted by Grangousier at 9:57 AM on May 13, 2011 [1 favorite]


Grangousier: "You know, if Waters and Gilmour can make up, there's hope for everybody.

And Comfortably Numb always reminds me of why I wanted to learn to play lead guitar.
"

Comfortably Numb always reminds me of why I like opiates.
posted by Splunge at 9:58 AM on May 13, 2011


Now if you want a good Pink Floyd album, put on Wish You Were Here

or Animals.
posted by rollbiz at 9:58 AM on May 13, 2011 [12 favorites]


I find a on a whole that The Wall is an encapsulation of just about everything that was wrong with rock music in the late 70s.

100% agree.

What is weird is that, to me, Animals encapsulated everything good about 70s rock. That album is amazing, even down to its cover. Sheep is a fucking great song, and I can still listen to it to this day.
posted by Threeway Handshake at 9:59 AM on May 13, 2011 [7 favorites]


Ok, so I'm a 24 year old girl and I should be listening to Britney or Beyonce or something, but Pink Floyd is my absolute favorite band and it warms my heart to see Waters and Gilmour together. Neither of their solo careers are as good as their collaboration.

That video gives me goosebumps.
posted by chatongriffes at 10:03 AM on May 13, 2011 [2 favorites]


Ok, so I'm a 24 year old girl and I should be listening to Britney or Beyonce or something, but Pink Floyd is my absolute favorite band and it warms my heart to see Waters and Gilmour together. Neither of their solo careers are as good as their collaboration.

That video gives me goosebumps.


you need to watch Live at Pompeii then. Like right now.
posted by spicynuts at 10:07 AM on May 13, 2011 [5 favorites]


me waits for the Robertson/Helm re-union...

I wish for it sometimes, but there's really, really, really no point without Danko and Manuel.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 10:09 AM on May 13, 2011 [7 favorites]


I don't like that music life

Fixed that for you.
posted by Ratio at 10:15 AM on May 13, 2011 [4 favorites]


'Live at Pompeii' clips at YouTube.
posted by ericb at 10:22 AM on May 13, 2011


I saw Rodger Waters live at Live Earth in 2007 and he was one of the best performers I have ever seen, I can't imagine seeing all 3 would be like, but I would love to see it happen.

At Live Earth the slogan of the concert was "SOS" so when Rodger Waters came on stage he had the giant inflatable pig flying around and written on the pig was "SOS" and underneath it was written "Save Our Sausages"

Now I really wish I hadn't forgotten my headphones and I could listen to Pink Floyd at work.
posted by lilkeith07 at 10:23 AM on May 13, 2011




I can see that Metafilter has officially deemed it No Work for Chatongriffes Day.

I've only watched the first two minutes of Live at Pompeii and I can hardly breathe. Oh my poor, poor PPS reports. They will never even be looked at.
posted by chatongriffes at 10:30 AM on May 13, 2011 [2 favorites]


I don't like that music

Thanks for the news alert.
posted by blucevalo at 10:36 AM on May 13, 2011 [1 favorite]


My current fave version of Comfortably Numb ...

Yeah, not that current at all, but certainly far fresher than the tired ole Pink take.
posted by philip-random at 10:36 AM on May 13, 2011 [1 favorite]


So all my life more or less I havent bothered with Live at Pompeii because (with a few exceptions) I don't really gel with concert flicks.

Looks like that was a mistake.

Gonna drink bourbon and watch the shit out of this tonite. Thanks!
posted by Senor Cardgage at 10:38 AM on May 13, 2011 [1 favorite]


I've only watched the first two minutes of Live at Pompeii and I can hardly breathe.

Yeah, that's the Pink Floyd I'll always cherish: still carrying enough of the deep and heavy weirdness that Syd Barrett left them with, but operating at an entirely world class level of power and assuredness. They really were the heart of "the underground" in 1971/72, the best damned band in the world that NEVER got played on AM radio.

Career-wise, the next step for them would be Dark Side Of The Moon, of which nothing more ever needs to be said ... except that in choosing to go in a more rigid, confined, song-oriented direction, they left much of their improvisatory and exploratory magic behind. And they never bothered to try to find it again. A pity.
posted by philip-random at 10:44 AM on May 13, 2011 [1 favorite]


(Pops on Animals)
posted by Senor Cardgage at 10:47 AM on May 13, 2011


gonna get a dog: "I don't like that music"

They didn't make it for you!

/Dr. Frank-N-Furter
posted by Splunge at 10:48 AM on May 13, 2011 [6 favorites]


Now if you want a good Pink Floyd album, put on Wish You Were Here

or Animals.


or Ummagumma
posted by swift at 10:48 AM on May 13, 2011


(Mr. Carlson walks into my office, says "Oooh, is that Pink Floyd? Do I hear dogs barking on that thing?")
posted by Senor Cardgage at 10:48 AM on May 13, 2011


me waits for the Robertson/Helm re-union...

I wish for it sometimes, but there's really, really, really no point without Danko and Manuel.


Damn, no love for Garth Hudson?
posted by dhens at 10:50 AM on May 13, 2011 [2 favorites]


They really were the heart of "the underground" in 1971/72, the best damned band in the world that NEVER got played on AM radio.

That's something I dont quite "get" in the PF timeline.
At what point did they become huge?
I would imagine to make a flick like Pompeii they would have had a substantial following already, and by the DSOTM tour they were playing Wembley (which is massive) and then by 77 football stadiums in places like Cleveland.

So when did they blow up? I just assumed they were obscure until after DSOTM.
posted by Senor Cardgage at 10:54 AM on May 13, 2011


If you have DTS surround capable sound systems and might want copies of the original quad mixes of Atom Heart Mother, DSOTM or WYWH, they're available if you know where to look for them. WYWH in quad is... eye opening.
posted by hippybear at 10:54 AM on May 13, 2011 [1 favorite]


...or Animals.
Ahhh...Memories of that long-ago summer with my very first (tape) Walkman. I spent that entire summer blowing my ears out, alternating between Animals and Talking Heads' Fear of Music. Animals is a highly underrated album. Highly underrated.
posted by Thorzdad at 10:59 AM on May 13, 2011 [1 favorite]


pink floyd, in any configuration, is best enjoyed in person, while high. really high.
posted by msconduct at 11:05 AM on May 13, 2011


Damn, no love for Garth Hudson?

Of course there is, it's just a lot harder to reunite a band when 2/5s are dead.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 11:06 AM on May 13, 2011


The Pink Floyd that makes me the happiest is the huge guitar-fanfare-thing at the end of Sheep. Fucking monumental.
posted by Devils Rancher at 11:09 AM on May 13, 2011 [1 favorite]


I know, I was just surprised that no one had mentioned him yet!
posted by dhens at 11:10 AM on May 13, 2011


i turned to look but it was gone
posted by flabdablet at 11:11 AM on May 13, 2011


(I am responding to Alvy Ampersand, d'oh)
posted by dhens at 11:12 AM on May 13, 2011


So when did they blow up? I just assumed they were obscure until after DSOTM.

The music biz was going through strange and revolutionary turns in those days (1968-74), aided and abetted by the new/improved technology of FM radio that allowed for stereo hi-fi (more or less) broadcast. But up until say, 1973, FM wasn't taken that seriously by advertisers or the biz in general, because not enough people had FM receivers ... so a lot of really weird shit was allowed to go on there (even on big deal commercial stations).

Pink Floyd were a big part of this, along with the likes of Yes, Jethro Tull, Allman Bros, even Led Zeppelin -- all bands that were too big, too heavy, too DEEP for AM's compressed signal. But of all these bands, Floyd were the only ones that never really had an AM presence (certainly not since Syd Barrett's departure) ... thus, they remained VERY underground, very cool, even though they had enough of a rep to sell out fairly big venues and sell records, hence money in the bank, which allowed for big deal ventures like Pompeii, which of course, only enhanced their rep as the cool, heavy, DEEP underground experience.

This all changed with Dark Side, not because they were suddenly an AM band, pandering to the teeny-boppers, but because FM had finally gone super-nova. Enough people had hi-fi receivers. Enough people wanted whole albums, not just 3.5 minute pop ditties.

And so on ...

As always in "pop", timing may not be everything, but it's definitely a big fat thing.
posted by philip-random at 11:19 AM on May 13, 2011 [3 favorites]


stone.... stone.... stone...

stone...
posted by hal9k at 11:19 AM on May 13, 2011 [2 favorites]


That new wall that's erected at the end of the song looks an awful lot like the Wall around Palestine. Just sayin'.
posted by scalefree at 11:24 AM on May 13, 2011


On a separate train of thought, I just freaked myself out by realizing that The Wall and London Calling were released within two weeks of each other. Like, I always kind of knew that abstractly, but it's a weird exercise to listen to them both and try to frame them as contemporaries.
posted by COBRA! at 11:28 AM on May 13, 2011 [2 favorites]


That new wall that's erected at the end of the song looks an awful lot like the Wall around Palestine.

Are you referring to the physical structure which the projections are happening on, or to the projections on the wall itself? There's a lot of playing with visuals used during this new version of The Wall, and if there's a projection which reminds you of that Palestine wall, then it's completely deliberate on Waters' part. He goes well into a lot of symbolism like that during the show, and works to make these new concerts a universal reflection on the damage done to children by loss due to war.

The basic premise of the new production is that, just as Waters lost his father during WWII, any and all children who are losing parents due to any of the wars currently being fought between any countries grow up with the potential to build their own Walls of anger and alienation. And the takeaway message is, if we want to have a populace which isn't working against itself, we should work against war at every possible chance.
posted by hippybear at 11:32 AM on May 13, 2011 [1 favorite]


Okay. So I saw Pink Floyd on American Bandstand. What can I say.

At the time it seemed to make sense despite being utterly outrageous. Still does. But check out Dick Clark calling them "...the Pink Floyd."
posted by Guy_Inamonkeysuit at 11:35 AM on May 13, 2011 [2 favorites]


Pink Floyd were a big part of this, along with the likes of Yes, Jethro Tull, Allman Bros, even Led Zeppelin -- all bands that were too big, too heavy, too DEEP for AM's compressed signal.

Not really... the first time I heard King Crimson, it was on WABC AM out of New York. 21st Cebntury Schizoid Man. I had to pull over and listen. It was fucking amazing. I went right out and bought that album.

*sigh* Good times...
posted by Guy_Inamonkeysuit at 11:37 AM on May 13, 2011


Wow, thank you so much for introducing me to Live from Pompeii. I don't think I can listen to anyone else today. I have album from Echoes, but I'd never seen it performed. There are some sounds in there that I didn't realize were made by humans.... And I always thought all the animal sounds were pre-recorded, but nope. There was that sweet dog, singing along.

Obviously I'm now listening to Animals, for more dog singing.
posted by chatongriffes at 11:38 AM on May 13, 2011 [1 favorite]


As always in "pop", timing may not be everything, but it's definitely a big fat thing.

Speaking of David Gilmour (snare hit/cymbal crash) there he was, in the flesh so to speak, playing the same-fookin-solo®, frightening the front rows as he teetered on the parapet.

Gee. A new CD set coming out shortly. Timing is everything.
posted by hal9k at 11:39 AM on May 13, 2011 [1 favorite]


But check out Dick Clark calling them "...the Pink Floyd."

Um... didn't they start out as The Pink Floyd Sound?
posted by hippybear at 11:40 AM on May 13, 2011


Are you referring to the physical structure which the projections are happening on, or to the projections on the wall itself?

I mean the projection on the wall. Tall concrete segments slotted into vertical I-beam structures. I'm sure it's deliberate. It's kind of hard to tell in this recording but playing through a few times it seems clear to me.
posted by scalefree at 11:40 AM on May 13, 2011


COBRA!: "On a separate train of thought, I just freaked myself out by realizing that The Wall and London Calling were released within two weeks of each other. Like, I always kind of knew that abstractly, but it's a weird exercise to listen to them both and try to frame them as contemporaries."

I ran out and bought both of them within a week of release and played them both to death. The difference is that I can still listen to London Calling and can't really listen to The Wall anymore. It's really the worst of the Waters/Gilmore era Floyd, overblown, self-absorbed and really misogynistic.
posted by octothorpe at 11:41 AM on May 13, 2011 [2 favorites]


I mean the projection on the wall. Tall concrete segments slotted into vertical I-beam structures. I'm sure it's deliberate. It's kind of hard to tell in this recording but playing through a few times it seems clear to me.

Yeah, there are a lot of those kinds of things going on in the projections. There are also clear references to the Berlin Wall, the Great Wall Of China, and a few other historical Walls in the projection stream.

It's really a show which could never have been done before the advent of modern concert lighting and projection technology. I know the tour is about over... but if you have a way to see it, I highly recommend it.
posted by hippybear at 11:43 AM on May 13, 2011


Theres always that odd British thing of prefacing everything with a "The"

The Pink Floyd, I saw some clips where they called Cream "The Cream"

I remember getting the import version of The Cult's Love and a lot of the song titles seemed to have extra "The"'s in them that were different from the American version.

And of course there is The The.
posted by Senor Cardgage at 11:45 AM on May 13, 2011


I wasn't going to do this but since this is turning into a Floyd love fest, what the fuck.

I've only seen "Pink Floyd" (meaning, it was Roger Waters) once and that was in 1990 at Brandenburg Gates performing the entirety of The Wall with Sinead O'Connor, The Band, The Scorpions, Thomas Dolby, Van Morrison, The Hooters (!!!???!?!?!?!?WHA??), Cyndi Lauper, etc.

Right, so..Berlin Wall had come down what, a year ago? East Berlin was still East Berlin but you could saunter over the bridge at will and suddenly you were on....Mars? No, too bright....Pluto? Large swaths of the wall were still up so you could pay a couple of DMs for a hammer and just bang on the fucker and stuff your pockets with it. I used to have piles of those little rocks.

Pretty much everyone in Europe was in Berlin that weekend so there wasn't a freakin hotel room available from Hamburg to Berlin. So, we slept on the floor of the Berlin train station. With about 6000 other people. Every morning one would wake to the pleasant sounds of a Berlin cop yelling down at you in German with an Uzi in his hand.

Concert day comes. We had decided we were going to basically sleep in line. When the gates opened we ended up about 12 to 15 rows back from the stage. AWESOME! Not awesome...show didn't start for another 6 hours. As 400k people started streaming in behind us it became progressively not awesome. The minute the opening act stepped on stage all 400, 000 people rose their feet at once and bum rushed forward. I was literally (I'm using the word in its actual meaning...LITERALLY) lifted off my feet and carried forward between bodies. It was an ocean and it was scary as fuck. I was completely without any means of controlling any part of my situation and I freaked. I'd been at festivals before, but I'd never been in the middle 400 thousand people. That will seriously mess with you.

I clawed my way to the edges to get out. It took about 30 minutes and I don't think I had more than one foot on the ground the entire time. I circled around the back of the mob and then pushed my way back in to where there was still space to stand, breath, move around a bit. Now the stage was tiny whereas before I could read the labels on the amps.

No matter...Roger Waters comes out, those first strains of the delay pedal kick in, it's dusk, the air is cool, there are half a million people in a place where history is ending, I haven't brushed my teeth in four days, and I know every word, every note, every melody of every song and so do the other 400 thousand people.

Epic. I still have the ticket pressed somewhere in a photo album, along with the shots of me hammering on the wall. I think there's also a shot of some chimp masturbating in the Berlin Zoo.
posted by spicynuts at 11:46 AM on May 13, 2011 [20 favorites]


I've always found The Final Cut to be the way more interesting and listenable manifestation of the overwrought-era-daddy-issues Pink Floyd, but for my money Meddle was the best. It kept that experimentation vibe from the early era while transitioning into PF becoming giants.

That said, I would love to see a Waters/Gilmour performance. I had the pleasure of seeing the Division Bell tour, which was definitely mindblowing for a 14 year old, but it felt like something (Waters, natch) was missing.
posted by ndfine at 11:53 AM on May 13, 2011


The Final Cut is not really Pink Floyd though. Basically it's a Roger Waters solo album.
posted by spicynuts at 11:54 AM on May 13, 2011


Obligatory "by the way, which one is Pink?"
posted by Joey Michaels at 11:58 AM on May 13, 2011


The Final Cut is not really Pink Floyd though. Basically it's a Roger Waters solo album.

You know, I was not aware of the lack of Gilmour/Mason on The Final Cut, though it makes sense as I always think of it as an extension of the sad Roger Waters and his piano parts of The Wall, with less of the overwhelming conceit.
posted by ndfine at 11:58 AM on May 13, 2011


Expanded deluxe and special edition versions of Pink Floyd masterwork The Dark Side Of The Moon, in a 6-disc 'Immersion' box set

I mean come on now. 6 discs!

Wish You Were Here 'Immersion' 5-disc will include bonus material from the band's 1974 Wembley dates, including a 20-minute tour de force live rendition of 'Shine On You Crazy Diamond', as well as a unique recording of 'Wish You Were Here' featuring the legendary jazz violinist, Stephane Grappelli.

okay, maybe I'm a little bit excited.
posted by the bricabrac man at 12:04 PM on May 13, 2011


The Final Cut is not really Pink Floyd though. Basically it's a Roger Waters solo album.

Exactly. In the same way, A Momentary Lapse of Reason is a David Gilmour solo album.
posted by Dr-Baa at 12:06 PM on May 13, 2011


the three surviving members

As Yoda said, there is another.
posted by snottydick at 12:07 PM on May 13, 2011


/queues up DSotM, WYWH, As, and The W.

/ticks away the moments that make up a dull day.
posted by Celsius1414 at 12:22 PM on May 13, 2011


Cameras have so much automatic gear on them these days, could they not flash up a "hoy, numbnuts, keep it a) still, b) pointed at the subject of interest" warning when people like mr unlock and recompose are in charge?
posted by bonaldi at 12:36 PM on May 13, 2011


Now if you want a good Pink Floyd album, put on Wish You Were Here


or Animals.


or Ummagumma



But if you want the very best Pink Floyd album listen to Piper at the Gates of Dawn
posted by Alles at 12:44 PM on May 13, 2011 [3 favorites]


I will always have a soft spot in my heart for Piper at the Gates of Dawn. Did you all know that when you listen to that album the music coming out of the right speaker is purple and the music coming out of the left speaker is green? At least it was this one time. Or so I was told.
posted by marxchivist at 12:51 PM on May 13, 2011 [1 favorite]


But check out Dick Clark calling them "...the Pink Floyd."

Their first three singles were issued as "The Pink Floyd", actually.
posted by mykescipark at 12:55 PM on May 13, 2011 [1 favorite]


Spicynuts -- you can read all the stickers on amps that you want with the concert video they made: http://www.amazon.com/Roger-Waters-Wall-Live-Berlin/dp/B00009VTYE

Incidentally, I bought that video back in 1991 because it included a performance by Thomas Dolby, whom I now follow on Twitter, and because of whom I learned about the O2 reunion yesterday because he tweeted about it: http://twitter.com/#!/ThomasDolby/status/68838288403865601

Small world.
posted by bpm140 at 1:03 PM on May 13, 2011


My current fave version of Comfortably Numb ...


That.......that is just wrong.
posted by St. Alia of the Bunnies at 1:05 PM on May 13, 2011


That.......that is just wrong.

I see what you did there.
posted by hippybear at 1:36 PM on May 13, 2011


That was good to hear. Thanks for that.
posted by clavdivs at 1:49 PM on May 13, 2011


Set the controls for the heart of the sun.
posted by clavdivs at 1:57 PM on May 13, 2011


More old-school Floyd awesomeness: San Francisco show from 1970, where they were unveiling material from Ummagumma and AHM.
posted by jbickers at 2:14 PM on May 13, 2011 [1 favorite]


I don't like that music.

Fixed that for you.
posted by secondhand pho at 2:24 PM on May 13, 2011


Animals Tour. July 4th 1977. Madison Square Garden, NYC. Blotter and Thai Sticks.

*HEAD ASPLODE*

That is all.
posted by Splunge at 2:29 PM on May 13, 2011 [1 favorite]


Lots of live Pink Floyd Youtubes for you.

Is there a word for self-linking to Metafilter?
posted by swift at 2:33 PM on May 13, 2011


If you like the soloing on Comfortably Numb, you'll love Fat Old Sun.
posted by The Card Cheat at 2:42 PM on May 13, 2011 [1 favorite]


The only good Pink Floyd album after Meddle was Animals. They sold out with Dark Side, Wish You Were Here was bland and safe, and everything after that was just dreary shite.

I have spoken.
posted by Decani at 2:52 PM on May 13, 2011 [2 favorites]


I have ignored.
posted by Splunge at 3:15 PM on May 13, 2011 [5 favorites]


Now if you want a good Pink Floyd album, put on Wish You Were Here.

Atom Heart Mother.

I was going to write UmmaGumma, but was beaten to it.

I saw PF on the Wish You Were Here tour, when I was 16, or something like that. A drunk guy vomited on my friend's shoes. It was, for me, underwhelming, but I don't blame the band for that: I had pot-related agoraphobia and was just twitchy through the whole thing. The drunk guy didn't help.
posted by jokeefe at 3:17 PM on May 13, 2011


If you like the soloing on Comfortably Numb, you'll love Fat Old Sun

Well, that's always been my grievance with David Gilmour (certainly post Meddle). He just keeps on playing the same f***ing solo. A damned fine solo, for sure, but c'mon.

The only good Pink Floyd album after Meddle was Animals. They sold out with Dark Side, Wish You Were Here was bland and safe, and everything after that was just dreary shite.

Over exposure to Dark Side finally made me allergic to it sometime in the late 70s. Animals in its uncompromising bleakness has never sounded out of place since its release. The sorry state of the world just keeps making it relevant. Wish You Were Here -- that's just a damned fine album that, in my world at least, may have lost traction for a while in the 80s, but come the 90s and all the happy drugs that were around at the time, came zooming back into my personal playlist and hasn't left since.

Shine on ...

As for the Wall, I've got allergies there, too.
posted by philip-random at 3:18 PM on May 13, 2011


Over exposure to Dark Side finally made me allergic to it sometime in the late 70s.

Oh god yes. When my son started working his way through the Canon of Rock, and got stuck in a heavy Floyd phase, I thought I might have to move out and leave him to his own devices.

I never liked the Wall, it was ponderous and self-important, and I hated the movie. So it goes.

Oh, and: BE CAREFUL WITH THAT AXE, EUGENE
posted by jokeefe at 3:20 PM on May 13, 2011


I am ordinarily a cynic about such things, especially being they have the big 5.1 reissue coming out in September, but there is an emotion in Outside the Wall that cannot be denied.
posted by Ber at 3:23 PM on May 13, 2011 [1 favorite]


No matter...Roger Waters comes out, those first strains of the delay pedal kick in, it's dusk, the air is cool, there are half a million people in a place where history is ending, I haven't brushed my teeth in four days, and I know every word, every note, every melody of every song and so do the other 400 thousand people.

That just took me right back not to Pink Floyd but to Coachella, 2004. 45 degrees, people passing out in the audience and being handed hand over hand to the front, security lobbing water bottles into the crowd and people taking one sip and sending them back, the setting sun burning our backs and the sweat and the crush and what the hell am I doing here I'm 45 years old for crissakes and then the Pixies walked onstage and suddenly it was dusk and the first notes of U Mass broke the sky apart and everyone just came to life. It's worth it all, in those moments.
posted by jokeefe at 3:31 PM on May 13, 2011 [2 favorites]


Soundtrack for the film More...
posted by foonly at 3:39 PM on May 13, 2011


I have to say, though, that one of the most absolute worst concerts I ever attended was when Pink Floyd played in Indy, in 1987. It should stand as the ur-definition of "phoned-in". I can't say I have ever witnessed a more bored and complacent band.
posted by Thorzdad at 4:01 PM on May 13, 2011


I still enjoy spending time with Several Species of Small Furry Animals Gathered Together in a Cave and Grooving with a Pict. It has a certain... I dunno, feeling about it.
posted by Splunge at 4:03 PM on May 13, 2011 [1 favorite]


Pompeii. Saucerful of Secrets. Oh my.
posted by parki at 4:09 PM on May 13, 2011


The Wall has always been my least favourite Floyd album. It was completely devoid of experimentation, improvisation, and spark.
I felt similarly about DSOTM until I saw the Classic Albums episode on the making of that album. It gave me a whole new appreciation of not just that album, but Rick Wright's enormous contribution to the Pink Floyd sound.
posted by rocket88 at 4:29 PM on May 13, 2011


Floyd fans who haven't seen Glimour's Live In Gdansk concert DVD really should do so. Richard Wright is the keyboardist, the band is stellar, the set list is wonderful, and the show is excellent. I highly recommend it for those who haven't seen it.

And yeah... at the end of the Waters shows for The Wall, Outside The Wall is truly a deeply emotional moment after the catharsis of The Trial and the (even though you know it's coming) shocking destruction of the wall they've built.

Damn, that was a great show.
posted by hippybear at 4:36 PM on May 13, 2011


I haven't been to a pink floyd, show, but I was once at a rave in west Virginia where a guy showed up with literally vials of liquid LSD and sold out of the entire batch. At about 2 am the entire party was peaking on LSD or ecstasy or both and the DJ played Wish You Were Here. Not a remix. Just pulled out a vinyl of dark side of the moon and played it.

1000 kids just stopped what they were doing and stood around the stage and held hands and sang along. It was one of the most profound moments of togetherness and spirituality I've ever felt. And oh man, the colors!.

I had liked pink Floyd before that night, but until then, I didn't get why people obsessed over them. They really are magic, and their music holds up a lot better than almost anything else from the same timeframe, IMO.
posted by empath at 5:03 PM on May 13, 2011 [1 favorite]


Every year is getting shorter, never seem to find the time
Plans that either come to naught or half a page of scribbled lines
Hanging on quiet desperation is the English way
The time is gone, the song is over, thought I'd something more to say
posted by bwg at 5:07 PM on May 13, 2011


the DJ played Wish You Were Here. Not a remix. Just pulled out a vinyl of dark side of the moon and played it.

Empath. I am disappoint.
posted by Senor Cardgage at 5:08 PM on May 13, 2011 [2 favorites]


I guess that part of being a Floyd fan is having very solid opinions on when the band started to suck (with people who remember the Syd Barrett years--or even who he was--fancying that they have the trump card). Me, I loved The Wall, rich rock star self-pity and all, and owned a copy years before I got my own of DSOTM. I was disappointed by The Final Cut... and seriously pissed off at Waters after I found out, via an interview, that he credited the album to Pink Floyd because, as far as he was concerned, he was the Floyd. I didn't really realize how much he had to do with the band's success at his height until I heard the rest of the band's follow-up albums.
posted by Halloween Jack at 5:12 PM on May 13, 2011


No love for The Wall the movie, eh? That's okay. I will love it that much more.
posted by Splunge at 5:16 PM on May 13, 2011


The Wall music is perfect. It makes so much sense as a portrayal of depression and alienation. The shift between live action and animation is so fluid.
I listened to The Wall so much as a kid I got depressed.
posted by Lovecraft In Brooklyn at 6:17 PM on May 13, 2011


Metafilter: Several species of small furry animals gathered together in a cave and grooving with a Pink.
posted by Lipstick Thespian at 6:29 PM on May 13, 2011


Tough crowd. The Wall helped me survive high school. We are all fighting our own, very hard battles, at all times.

(Metafilter: Thought I'd something more to say)
posted by jbickers at 6:53 PM on May 13, 2011 [1 favorite]


Metafilter: a million bright ambassadors of morning
posted by flabdablet at 7:41 PM on May 13, 2011 [1 favorite]


in defense of those who hate The Wall (the movie in particular), it really is the long and sordid tale of one man's journey up his own polluted asshole. That he finds, in the end, something half-way redeeming outside the wall offers us a glimmer of hope ... but man, what a deep, dark, dank, ultimately privileged excursion (incursion?) as only a big deal rock star's inner voyage could be.
posted by philip-random at 7:49 PM on May 13, 2011 [1 favorite]


> I still enjoy spending time with Several Species of Small Furry Animals Gathered Together in a Cave and Grooving with a Pict. It has a certain... I dunno, feeling about it.

When my former flatmate and I wanted to let the guys living above us know that they were being too loud, that was the track we blasted. It usually worked.
posted by The Card Cheat at 8:02 AM on May 14, 2011


bionic.junkie I was expecting him to appear on stage to show that their has been a reconciliation between the two and they look at each other as equals -- literally at the same level.

Oh, you mean like this?
posted by omegar at 12:40 PM on May 14, 2011 [1 favorite]


I find a on a whole that The Wall is an encapsulation of just about everything that was wrong with rock music in the late 70s.

People do great stuff and other people just bitch about it. I hate humans.
posted by Summer at 4:51 PM on May 14, 2011


Now, I listen to electronic dance music.

there's some really good tracks on this

Ok, now prepare to hate me. I think it was 1986-ish. They were preparing for a tour, and were staying in Toronto to organize all the effects and reherse and whatnot. Instead of staying at a hotel, they wanted a house, so they had someone scout for nice places in the area they wanted to live in for the months of preparation. Basically, someone knocked on the door of my best friend's house and says nice place want to rent it out for a few months? Her parents were pretty well off and it was a beautiful place right on lake Ontario. So, they clear out for a bit and some of the band members and their families live at their house. My friend's family didn't have many dealings with the band directly, but we did get invited to see the final dress rehersal before the show went on tour. It was the full concert, with lasers, crashing plane, flying pig, giant mirrorball that opened like a flkower behind the band at the end, the works. In a hangar at the airport. The audience was maybe 50 people, and there was food and drinks. I'm not a person that generally uses all caps but it was FUCKING AWESOME.

heh I just looked it up, and there's a bunch of it on youtube
posted by 5_13_23_42_69_666 at 10:24 PM on May 14, 2011


I'm certain I'm in the minority, but I actually prefer Roger's solo band to Floyd. So much talent all on one stage; it's miraculous.
posted by ambulocetus at 2:14 PM on May 15, 2011


Funny to hear RW giving Andrew Lloyd Webber a serve in that track, considering that his own music has been drifting inexorably in the direction of Big Show Tunes pretty much since Meddle.
posted by flabdablet at 4:56 PM on May 15, 2011


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