Radio City Music Hall - December 1973

[datsunmike]

Does anyone have a CD of the concert in which Dark Side of the Moon made its USA debut?

Not the first time I saw the Floyd, but one of the best shows - ever. The April 1970 Fillmore East Atom Heart Mother show was quite enlightening as it was the first time I heard quad sound. I also saw them at Hunter College in NYC after that but the concert hall didn't have great acoustics.

I liked the Floyd before they got so popular that they played stadiums. The Wall was the last concert tour I saw and after that they played mainly outdoors and the sound quality was lost. Actually after the Dark Side tour the sound quality was lost.

Anyone agree?

Thanks for the help!

[Botley]

You may be surprised to learn that Dark Side was played in its entirety in America as early as April 1972 at the Hollywood Sportatorium... they also played Carnegie Hall the following month.

And there is a recording of the Radio City Music Hall show (which was actually on March 17, 1973) floating around, but it's incomplete and only contains fragments of four songs: Obscured By Clouds, When You're In, Money and Echoes. There is, however, a fantastic account of the show's introduction in Nick's book Inside Out, on page 185:

"One of Arthur [Max, a lighting designer]'s greatest shows for us was at Radio City Music Hall in March 1973. This auditorium was a wonder of technology when it was first built and for many years the technical details of the stage riser was classified information, since the technology had been taken direct from the fighter plane lifts on American aircraft carriers.

"The stage itself contained six sections, each of which could rise twenty feet and then roll forward. There was also a steam curtain in front of it; this was a tube drilled with holes that sent out a sheet of steam to obscure the stage. This enabled us to start the show with the audience filing into the auditorium, faced by a completely bare stage. When the show began, the steam evaporated, and behind it our set slowly rose with us and all our equipment in place, with flashing police lights attached to the Genie lighting towers..."

Wish I had been there!!

[Dr Cheese]

Originally posted by datsunmike
Actually after the Dark Side tour the sound quality was lost.

Anyone agree?

I first saw them when they performed The Wall at Earl's Court in 1980 and the sound quality was absolutely pristine.

[Botley]

Yeah, and from what I've heard they had bass cabinets that shook the entire arena as the wall came down!

[Dr Cheese]

I saw The Wall again in 1981 and was back there for The Div Bell tour and for a barn the size of Earl's Court the sound was exceptional everytime. Even outdoors at Maine Rd in Manchester it was superb, I can't believe that it was better in the early seventies!

[Botley]

Apparently the hammer-logo flags in Earl's Court were actually sound-absorbing baffles! "A giant lavatory, acoustically speaking" is how I've heard that hall described.

Anyway, I couldn't find recordings of the Filmore East show you attended, datsunmike, but there is a very good ROIO of the 5 November 1971 Hunter College gig called "Closes Meet," take a look:

source: audience / recorder 1 / cass(low+low) > CDR[?] >>> SHN
tot length: 149:09
overall: VG

CD1
01. The Embryo [18:28]
02. intermission [1:07]
03. Fat Old Sun [14:07]
04. Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun [13:39]
05. Atom Heart Mother [18:05]
06. One Of These Days [10:50]
CD2
01. Careful With That Axe, Eugene [15:11]
02. intermission [1:12]
03. Cymbaline [11:24]
04. Echoes [26:09]
05. A Saucerful Of Secrets [18:51]

notes:
long version including almost all tune-ups.
several different copies of this recording exist, the complete ones (including all the songs) can last from 143 to 152 minutes; many have edited tuneups, many have a wrong speed.
this version was originally missing: the very first seconds of FOS, the intro to AHM, the last seconds of Cymbalyne, filled here from another tape. All was re-equalized; no NR or dehissing applied / speed is correct.

-littlesheep

You may be able to find it at The Hub. Good hunting!

[Dr Cheese]

Originally posted by Botley
Apparently the hammer-logo flags in Earl's Court were actually sound-absorbing baffles!

Bloodyhell, everyday's a school day.

[datsunmike]

I thank everyone for their comments and enlightening me that Radio City was not the debut of Dark Side. I also didn't remember the date but I do remember it was cold as hell and it was general addmission and my buddy Whitey and I waited for an awfully long time on line.

I do remember their stage 'entrance' as one minute there was nothing and then they were there.

Fortunately or unfortunately I always left my cameras home for a Floyd extravaganza as I was always high on some psychedelics to truly appreciate the show

[Not Now John]

Bot, you are a freak.

A lovable freak and we'd be lost without you, but still, a freak.

[Botley]

i know... help...

[SpiralEyes]

how old were you when you atteneded the show? Sounds like you have a blast