I remember when the revitalised Pink Floyd was originally touring to support “A Momentary Lapse of Reason” and I didn’t have enough cash to buy tickets. Several years later nothing had changed and I still couldn’t afford to see them at Earls Court as part of “The Division Bell” tour. Part of me isn’t that bothered because when you see a modern Pink Floyd gig, you know what you are going to get. Strong visuals, music that’s almost identical to the record and a very corporate live experience. You are worshipping at the shrine of Pink Floyd Ltd – now buy a T-shirt, if you know what I mean. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing (afterall U2 have refined the experience to an art form now) but it’s not for me.
When the original P.U.L.S.E. album and VHS came out, I skipped it. I’d already got the “Delicate Sound of Thunder” album and didn’t need yet another turgid live Floyd experience. I know this sounds harse, but while I love PF on record, their later live performances always leave me a little cold compared to their hey-day in the 1970s – even “The Wall” can grate after a while. So when the P.U.L.S.E. DVD was announced I was a little non-plussed and not exactly clamouring for a copy. I wasn’t even planning on buying it, but it came my way via a treat from the Missus – unbeknownst to her, she got it for me the same day it was announced founder member Syd Barrett had died, so there was a little uneasy synchronicity going on.
The performance is spread over two discs and I must admit, I did enjoy the proceedings. It brought back memories of the PF Venice concert I’ve got on tape, but this time around the band were more relaxed and there seemed to be a little more charisma coming across, which is difficult because David Gilmour doesn’t always come across as a great frontman. Consummate guitarist – yes, front man – no.
The first disc opens with “Shine On You Crazy Diamond”, which made for tough viewing after hearing of Syd’s demise – before it was a raise-your-glass-in-fond-memory kind of song, but now it had turned into an elegy. The rest of the disc plods along with a lot of post-Waters material, which is OK – but I only have time for “Learning to Fly” and “Take It Back” – the rest just washes over me in a laser light enhanced fug. It’s only when you get to the second disc when I began to enjoy the performance as the band plays the entire “Dark Side of the Moon” album and it works surprisingly well, despite the lack of Roger Waters. The visuals and stage effects enhance the music and I really began to get into it – even though it still is a rather plodding affair. Even “The Great Gig in the Sky” was a much better executed affair compared to that Venice gig I caught on TV. The last three songs on disc two are “Wish You Were Here” – again turned into a elegy now after the sad news about Syd – “Comfortably Numb” which features some great stage craft towards the end which really caught my attention and “Run Like Hell” which is the standard closer during the Gilmour-era.
OK – so I wasn’t totally impressed by the twelve-year-old concert – it’s a little bit anonymous, a little lacking in spontaneity and just a little bit “so what?” in my books, but where P.U.L.S.E. comes into its own is the quality and quantity of material included in the set. Not only has the picture been enhanced so it looks as if the gig was shot yesterday, but the sound is crystal clear – there’s not much in the way of 5.1 Surround Sound juiciness but you do get a lot of the sound effects panned to the rear speakers. All the extra material is split over the two discs, so each one needs to be explored fully. You get all the mini-films that are projected on the screen on the main stage for your perusal (including live sound track), tour material including maps and itinerary, music videos for “Learning to Fly” and “Take It Back” (but not one for High Hopes, funnily enough), album cover art, a performance of “Wish You Were Here” with Billy Corgan from the Smashing Pumpkins and a little tour film made by one of the road crew. In all, for your money, you get four hours of material in the package. For the fan it is a treasure trove to explore, even if like me you don’t like the main feature a great deal. However, I must admit I was a little underwhelmed by the packaging as it is just a standard digipak – I was expecting some kind of pulsing light or laser show as I opened the box to retreive the DVDs!
It’s a no-brainer if you are a Pink Floyd fan – buy this set because it represents great value and is a last chance to see this era of the band in action and maybe float away in a nostalgic haze. I’m just a little bit weary of this type of performance, preferring Gilmour’s recent stripped down, acoustic solo outings and compared to last year’s fifteen minute Pink Floyd performance at Live8, you’ll realise why this DVD isn’t really Pink Floyd at all, but a surrogate band.
Latest Entries »
Oh deep joy. The taxman sent is second yearly bill to be paid ASAP. Oh well, dig deep into the coffers to come with the readies. Good job I sold all those CDs and T-shirts, eh?
My current musical obsession is swinging between Daniel Lanois and the Go! Team. I’ve seen the Go! Team on a number of festival shows on the TV and they always grab with me their energy and feeling of impending chaos. I also like their upbeat tunes too. So I was delighted to discover that eMusic had the “Bottle Rocket” single for download. I got it and then I ordered the album. Here’s the vid for all you passing travellers:
And this is the video to Ladyflash:
My other musical obsession is with Daniel Lanois. Well I absolutely loved last year’s “Belladonna” album and again eMusic provided me with the ability to download his 2003 “Shine” album. It is sublime and I really like it. I like it so much, that I waited for my monthly credits to be renewed so I could download his “Rockets” album too. Very chilled.
So yesterday afternoon, The Missus gives me a call to tell me she’s heading home. She’s been at some business meeting in Soho and has stopped by Virgin Megastore to by yours truly a treat.
“Syd Barrett’s died,” I tell her solemnly.
“The parrot’s died?” she replies confused, the rush hour noise in the background making our conversation almost impossible, “What do you mean the parrot’s died?”
I raised my voice a decibel and tried again and this time she understood. In an act of synchronicity, she was phoning to tell me that she’d just bought me the new Pink Floyd DVD “Pulse”. We watched it last night and somehow it wasn’t the same – songs like “Wish You Were Here” and “Shine On” have taken a new meaning. Before they were a raise your glass, wish you well type of ballad, now they’ve turned into elegies. I listed to those early Floyd albums yesterday afternoon and felt very nostalgic. They were the records I listened to quite early on – at about 14/15 – and remind me of a time when things weren’t so troublesome – or at least the troubles weren’t so adult, if you know what I mean.
Well this is upsetting. News has just broken on the BBC website that founder of Pink Floyd and troubled genius, Syd Barrett, has died from complications arising from his diabetes. This is a very sad day. I love that first album. “Piper at the Gates of Dawn” is just an exercise in whimsy that there’s nothing else quite like it out there. And his credentials as a guitarist are underlined by the blistering “Interstellar Overdrive”.
Here are some viddies, courtesy of YouTube, featuring the guy:
For me, listening to the Floyd is a remnant of my early teenage years and Barrett is a happy memory. I’m off to dig out those old records and give them another listen. Shine on, you crazy diamond, wherever you are.
I got Soundscape Fever and it’s catching. But seriously, so inspired and altered by Robert Fripp’s recent UK mini-tour that I’ve thrown my self at my pedals with abandon. I even dug out my old webcam so I could film myself in the act…of making music, you mucky minded pups. I’ve been uploading a couple to YouTube because they don’t take up so much bandwidth and I plan to add the MP3 audio versions of the improvisations to my podcast – details on the left column of the screen. Anyway, here are the videos for your delectation:
Despite the fact that Alex the Wonderdog was attacked a few good months ago, the repercussions of the event still ripple around like a pebble tossed with mindless abandon into a still lily pond. My mother reported to me that Mrs G, the missus of MG, the owner of the mastiff that attacked Alex, had visited her shop again. She was prepared for the worst and Mrs G gave her both barrels – sounding off and complaining about the fact that my mother has been warning every dog owner in the area about them and their beast of a dog.
“How would you like it if your dog had attacked another dog and was being spoken about?” she asked my mother.
This provided us with light relief because my mother’s dog is a tiny Yorkshire Terrier called Cappy and the idea of him taking on the mighty Dwarf the Mastiff (for that is the attacking dog’s name) is both ridiculous and quite surreal. The mastiff is the largest dog I’ve ever seen and its back easily comes up above my waist. Meanwhile, Cappy the dog is short than the length of my forearm. Hardly an equal fight is it? And besides, we aren’t that daft as to let our dogs off the lead in a public place and let them attack other dogs, but that’s by the by.
My mother told Mrs G that she wasn’t going to discuss the matter in her place of work and retreated to the stock room, allowing her manager to take over. He saw the horrific damage done to Alex the Wonderdog and asked the lady to leave peacefully. The funny thing is that my mother keeps hearing stories of how this dog has attacked various other canines in the area. One lady told of how her son had been playing with their Doberman in the driveway of the house when Dwarf the mastiff ploughed in and ripped its face. Her son was in shock and the dog clearly in a state, but the lady got in her car and tore after him. When approached, Mr G flipped the blame back her way, accusing her of not having her dog on a lead. Clever bloke, eh? Wonder where he got that gem from?
But the fact of the matter is that Mr G is still letting his dog attack other animals. He won’t muzzle his animal and has bugger all control over it. They certainly don’t like my mother warning all and sundry about what’s happened. And so, I write this entry in the hope that someone whose dog might have been attacked in the area might come this way courtesy of Google – or any other fine search engine.
If you live in the Loughton or Debden area, specifically in the Rectory Lane/Willingale Road/Colebrook Lane area and have had your dog attacked by a large Mastiff – easy to identify because it is probably the biggest dog you’ll ever see – drop me a line because I have the name, address and contact details of the owner. If you have been affected by this moron who can’t control his dog, you must report him to the local dog warden and RSPCA, because if we keep on doing it, Mr G might just listen and muzzle his dog. While I am not particuarly pleased with him or his animal, I wouldn’t want the dog put down because of the owner’s stupidity and macho posturing. Now the following words are for the search engines so don’t freak out:
large big dog attack attacked debden loughton mastiff fight muzzle kill bite bitten tear torn ear
Recently, I’ve been cutting and pasting the various reviews I’ve done at “The Site That Cannot Be Named” and included them on this site. You could see this as a sign of the divorce coming through. I’ve packed my things and left, moving on to a new home. I’m not going back and I shall not waste any more of my time on it. Cast pearls before swine, etc etc etc. And so I am here now. To help people find the things, I’ve upgraded my filing system so that when you enter the archives you can see the various titles of postings. Clever, eh?
Yesterday was a good day. After much fruitless noodling, I realised that “Sweaty Betty” was good enough for inclusion into Disc 2 of my 4-CD boxset. It acts as a bridge into “Miranda Inspired” and it works very well, even if I do say so myself. Disc 2 is a 41 minute experience of 18 interconnected instrumental tracks. I like it – it has been a labour of love…a horrid laborious labour of love, with love turning to hate and then cold indifference. Of course, I jest.
Look…a shiny disc of wonderment and joy – guaranteed to send you to sleep in 20 minutes – or your money back!
My guinea pig came home from work and so I decided to give The Missus the premiere of the CD. She’d heard bits of it but not the whole thing. Unfortunately, she fell asleep 20 minutes in. I’ll take it as a compliment. Oh well, what’s the point, eh? So today, I sit down and work out what to call the eighteen songs. That’s a challenge, innit?
And so we move onto the endgame. Get yer pen and paper out to scribble some lyrics, fool.