LIVE SIDE OF THE MOON

"We were in acute danger of dying of boredom"

So said Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason, reflecting on how stale the band’s set list had become during the tours of 1971 and 1972. The answer was to write new material, something that did not come easily to the band. At a gathering in Mason’s kitchen in late 1971, Roger Waters announced to his bandmates that he believed he had the answer. Never having been a fan of Syd Barrett’s whimsical flights of fancy, Waters proposed writing material about the day-to-day concerns of real people living real lives. He encouraged his bandmates to brainstorm themes and issues they thought were important in everyday life. What they came up with included anxiety, loneliness, aging, money, and—haunted by the ever present shadow of Syd—insanity. Such was the genesis of the lyrical ideas permeating Pink Floyd’s most famous work, Dark Side Of The Moon.

Far from closeting themselves away in the studio (though they did do that too) the band maintained their active concert schedule, adding new songs as they were written. Their performances, then, provide an archeological history of the music that became familiar to millions after the release of the LP in March 1973. Floyd fanatics usually have a collection of bootleg recordings that map the development of the music, making a fascinating chronology. Early performances were plagued by technical difficulties, partly due to the use of pre-recorded tapes of various sound effects. Several attempts at presenting the nascent work were abandoned due to equipment failures. Slowly the songs moved towards their final shapes, the technical gremlins were caged, and the flow of the forty-one minute opus emerged. One of this writer’s favourite 'early' performances is the concert in Sapporo, Japan, in March 1972. Several familiar melodies are not yet quite settled, the taped effects are rudimentary, and the transitions clunky… yet the complete work is there in essence, rough edges and all.

After Dark Side of the Moon was released the band undertook a substantial tour to perform and promote their new product. The entire album was typically performed in the LP sequence, delighting fans. Although many unofficial recordings exist, the band did not authorise an official release of their magnum opus 'in concert’ until the 50th Anniversary re-issue of The Dark Side Of The Moon* in 2023.

The Dark Side Of The Moon Live At Wembley, London, 1974 is housed in a suitably work-in-progress cover that pays homage to the iconic Hipgnosis design. Of course by late 1974 there was nothing remotely in-progress about DSOTM. It had been performed so many times that the band knew every possible twist and turn. Were they perhaps more excited by the new pieces they had introduced into the set list, songs from the forthcoming Wish You Were Here album and a couple that would later emerge on Animals? There’s no way of knowing, but certainly there is no sense of "going through the motions" on this spirited Dark Side performance. Anyway, that’s the creative cycle, isn’t it? The itch for new stimuli, creative gestation, rough drafts honed on the road, record, tour, move on. 

What this welcome addition to the Pink Floyd catalogue offers is a beautifully remastered concert recording of DSOTM that is true to the studio album but with just enough variation to engage long-time fans. The clarity is excellent, the sound stage wide and deep, and the performance as energised and focussed as you would hope. "Great Gig" wails, "Us and Them" laments, "Any Colour" cooks, and "Money" rocks its ever-loving arse off. As a bonus there are two fine posters tucked inside the gatefold sleeve, echoing those included with the 1973 original. Something to pin on your wall as you dim the lights and thrill to the roar of applause as that heartbeat fades in…

* The addition of the definite article at the beginning of the album title first appeared with the 2003 re-issue.

* Floyd fans may enjoy Mark Blake’s excellent band biography Pigs Might Fly: The Inside Story Of Pink Floyd (Aurum Books, 2007), a reference for this article.

© Bruce Jenkins—October 2024