| Tour byPink Floyd | |
 Poster to the concert in Portland, USA | |
| Location |
|
|---|---|
| Associated album | The Dark Side of the Moon |
| Start date | 20 January 1972 |
| End date | 4 November 1973 |
| No. of shows | 128 (135 scheduled) |
| Pink Floyd concert chronology | |
| |
TheDark Side of the Moon Tour was aconcert tour by Englishrock bandPink Floyd in 1972 and 1973 in support of their albumThe Dark Side of the Moon, covering the UK, US, Europe and Japan. There were two separate legs promoting the album, one in 1972 before the album's release and another in 1973 afterwards, together covering 128 shows.
Pink Floyd had worked out a basic structure ofDark Side of the Moon in late 1971, and played it at almost every gig the following year, alongside a set of earlier live favourites. Various changes to the structure were made throughout this time, as songs were tightened up and arrangements changed. By 1973, the album was finished and the live performance resembled the completed work. To re-create it in concert, the group added saxophonistDick Parry and female backing singers to the show. The stage performance was enhanced with extra visual effects and an improvedquadrophonic sound system. The success ofDark Side of the Moon and the US top 20 hit "Money" increased Pink Floyd's profile and they began to play sell-out stadium shows, though the audience changed from being one that would quietly listen to one that just wanted to dance and hear hit songs.
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Pink Floyd planned their first UK wide tour since 1969 for the start of 1972.[1] They were worried that their stage show was becoming stale, and decided they needed a new piece of music for the upcoming tour.[2] Shortly after the release of the albumMeddle, the group bookedDecca Studios,Hampstead from 29 November – 10 December 1971 to write new material that would form part of a stage show.[3] The group booked a warehouse owned by theRolling Stones inBermondsey to rehearse the new suite of music, followed by a dress rehearsal at theRainbow Theatre, London, where they tested a newWatkins Electric MusicPA system designed by Bill Kelsey, which had a completequadrophonic sound system. The group hired lighting engineerArthur Max, who they had met two years earlier playing at theFillmore West,San Francisco, to design a new rig for the tour.[4]
Playing 89 shows in 1972, the most until 1994, Pink Floyd debuted the new suite live on 20 January at theBrighton Dome. Partway through, when playing "Money", a lack of power led to the backing tape slowing down and going out of time, causing the group to stop. After a break, they came back and played "Atom Heart Mother" instead.[5] The first complete performance was the following day at thePortsmouth Guildhall.[6] At theFree Trade Hall,Manchester, the power failed 25 minutes into the show, and the rest of the concert was abandoned.[6] Two extra shows were booked on 29 and 30 March to make up for this.[7]
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The title of the suite was originallyDark Side of the Moon – A Piece for Assorted Lunatics, the name under which it made its press debut in February 1972.[8] The title was changed toEclipse after it was discovered thatMedicine Head had released an album with the same name.[1] The title changed for the first part of the US tour toEclipse (A Piece for Assorted Lunatics) during April and May before reverting toDark Side of the Moon – A Piece for Assorted Lunatics at the end of September for the second part of the US tour, and finally released in 1973 asThe Dark Side of the Moon.[9]
Dark Side of the Moon was performed differently to the finished album, and evolved over the year. Although Pink Floyd had previously rehearsed material before recording it, taking it on tour first allowed the piece to be improved and strengthened.[10] They also knew that their audience were happy to sit patiently and listen to the group, which gave them the confidence to play over 40 minutes of new material they had not heard.[11] "On the Run", whose working title was "The Travel Sequence", was at first a guitar and keyboard jam and would remain so for the rest of the year's performances.[10][12] "Time" was played at a slower speed, and the line "Lying supine in the sunshine" was sung instead of "Tired of lying in the sunshine".[13][14] "The Great Gig in the Sky", whose working title was "Religion" or "The Mortality Sequence", originally consisted of an organ solo and various tapes of "preachers" either preaching or reading from such passages as from Chapter 5, Verse 13 ofEphesians, a book of theBible, or reciting theLord's Prayer, including soundbites from broadcasterMalcolm Muggeridge.[10] Initially, the suite ended with "Brain Damage".Roger Waters felt there needed to be a suitable ending, and wrote "Eclipse" as a finale.[10] It made its debut at a gig atDe Montfort Hall,Leicester on 10 February.[10]
The first London performance, and the first to the press was on 17 February 1972 at the Rainbow Theatre,[15] where the band played for four consecutive nights, following which the group took a break from touring to work on the soundtrack albumObscured by Clouds.[16] Abootleg recording of the concerts was released and sold 100,000 copies, annoying the band as it was still a work in progress.[11] The tour then moved to Japan for five shows,[7] and then to the US and Europe. The group headlined the British Rock Meeting festival atGermersheim,West Germany on 21 May and theAmsterdam Rock Circus at theOlympic Stadium, playing "Atom Heart Mother" instead ofDark Side of the Moon.[17]
Following the European shows, recording began onThe Dark Side of the Moon on 24 May, beginning with basic backing tracks derived from the live versions.[18] As a replacement for the first Brighton Dome show which was abandoned duringDark Side of the Moon, Pink Floyd gave two concerts at the venue on 28 and 29 June. The latter show was filmed byPeter Clifton for inclusion on his filmSounds of the City. Clips of these were occasionally aired on television and the performance of "Careful with That Axe, Eugene" was on the various artists videoSuperstars in Concert.[19]
The tour moved to the US in September. EngineerAlan Parsons was asked to run the front of house sound, setting a trend for Pink Floyd inviting studio personnel out on tour.[20]Richard Wright had now written the piano music to "The Great Gig in the Sky", replacing the earlier "Mortality Suite" piece, and it was performed in the arrangement per the finished album, without vocals.[19][21] On 22 September, the group played theHollywood Bowl, which featured eight powered searchlights beaming rays from behind the Bowl's amphitheatre.[10] They then played two dates at theWinterland Ballroom,San Francisco on 23 and 24 September.[22] The group returned to the UK to play a sell-out charity show at theEmpire Pool, Wembley on 21 October, supportingWar on Want andSave the Children.[23] This was followed by shows in Europe to the end of the year, with the final date at thePalais de Sports,Lyon on 10 December.[24] By then,Dark Side of the Moon sounded close to the final album, except without any female vocals or saxophone, which would follow the next year.[15]
First set –Dark Side of the Moon – A Piece for Assorted Lunatics or sometimesEclipse – A Piece for Assorted Lunatics(except 21–22 May)[18]
Second set[27]
Encore (when played):
In November 1972, during the middle of the tour's European leg, and again in January 1973, Pink Floyd performed with theRoland Petit Ballet. The set list for which their portion of the ballet was choreographed to was "One of These Days", "Careful with That Axe, Eugene", "Obscured by Clouds", "When You're In" and "Echoes".[34] Some of the 1973 shows only featured the ballet playing to pre-recorded tracks, as the group were trying to finish recordingThe Dark Side of the Moon at this time.[33] One of the last pieces to be recorded wasClare Torry's lead vocal on "Great Gig in the Sky" on 21 January during this run.[35]
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Following the Roland Petit shows and the completion of the album, Pink Floyd booked further rehearsal time at the Rainbow Theatre from 19 to 21 February 1973 for an enhanced stage show based on the final recordings.Dark Side of the Moon was moved from the start of the show to the end of the main set. For the first time, the group took additional musicians with them; saxophonistDick Parry (an old childhood friend ofDavid Gilmour) and three female backing vocalists who had been touring withLeon Russell. The tour began inMadison, Wisconsin on 4 March.[36][37] On 17 March, they performed atRadio City Music Hall,New York City at 1am, being transported onto stage from one of the elevators surrounded bydry ice, which drew strong press reviews. The show made use of a 20-speaker quadrophonic sound system.[38][39]
Following the US tour, the band played two nights atEarl's Court on 18 and 19 May. In "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun", agong played by Waters was lit up with flames. DuringDark Side of the Moon, a 7-foot (2.1 m) plane crashed into the stage at the end of "On the Run".[40]
The group returned to the US in June.Dark Side of the Moon had now topped theBillboard charts, and the single "Money" had become a top 20 hit. Having previously played halls and theatres, the tour now covered stadiums for the first time.[41][42] Although all the shows sold out, the audience now included people who wanted to hear the hit singles and "boogie", in sharp contrast to earlier audiences who were happy to listen to whatever music Pink Floyd were playing.[41] The tour closed with two European shows in October.[43]
On 4 November 1973, Pink Floyd played two charity shows at London'sRainbow Theatre as a benefit forRobert Wyatt, formerly the drummer ofUFO Club contemporariesSoft Machine, who had become paralysed after falling out of a window. The concerts raised a reported £10,000 for Wyatt.[44][43]Clare Torry sang her vocal on "The Great Gig in the Sky" as it had appeared on the album.[43] The shows were shortened to just "Dark Side of the Moon" and "Obscured By Clouds/When You're In" as encore. Pink Floyd then took a lengthy break from touring and did not play any further shows until June 1974.[45]
First set[46]
Second set –The Dark Side of the Moon
| Date | City | Country | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|
6 February 1972 | Plymouth | England | ABC Theatre |
11 March 1972 | Yokohama | Japan | Kemin Hall |
23 June 1972 | Bièvres | France | Bièvres Festival |
26 August 1972 | Verona | Italy | Verona Arena |
25 March 1973 | St. Petersburg, Florida | United States | Bayfront Center |
16 June 1973 | Saratoga Springs, New York | United States | Saratoga Performing Arts Center |
23 September 1973 | Altrip | West Germany | Sandrennbahn Altrip |
Source : Povey 2006 pp. 164–179
Pink Floyd
Additional musicians
Additional personnel
1972[28]
1973[33]
Sources
