Dark Side of the Moon Tour

Dark Side of the Moon Tour

Tour by Pink Floyd
Associated album	The Dark Side of the Moon
Start date	17 January 1972
End date	29 June 1973
Legs	10
No. of shows	132 (137 scheduled)
Pink Floyd concert chronology

The Dark Side of the Moon Tour was a concert tour by British rock band Pink Floyd in 1972 and 1973 in support of their album The Dark Side of the Moon. There were two separate legs promoting Dark Side of the Moon, one in 1972 before the album's release and another in 1973 after its release.

History

1972 Dark Side of the Moon Tour

Playing 93 shows in 1972, the most until 1994, Pink Floyd debuted the live performance before its release not of a song but a whole album. The original title was Eclipse, then Dark Side of the Moon – A Piece for Assorted Lunatics, the name under which it made its press debut in February 1972 at London's Rainbow Theatre. The title changed for the first part of the US tour to Eclipse (A Piece for Assorted Lunatics) during April and May before reverting to Dark Side of the Moon – A Piece for Assorted Lunatics in September for the second part of the US tour and finally released in 1973 under the title of The Dark Side of the Moon.

Remarkably, at its first full live performance at Guildhall, Portsmouth, England on 21 January 1972, most of the album was in the form it would be when released 14 months later. The significant differences include:

"On the Run", whose working title was "The Travel Sequence", was a guitar and drum jam and would remain so for the rest of the year's performances.

"Time" was played at a slower speed and the first half of the verses were sung by Gilmour and Wright together. The line "Lying supine in the sunshine" was sung instead of "Tired of lying in the sunshine", even in shows after the album's release (as evidenced on the live companion they released with the album in 2011).

"The Great Gig in the Sky", whose working title was "Religion" or "The Mortality Sequence", consisted at the debut in January of synthesized organ and various tapes of "preachers" either preaching or reading from such passages as from Chapter 5, Verse 13 of Ephesians, a book of the Bible, or reciting The Lord's Prayer. Starting in September, the music of the song as per the album was performed, without vocals. A portion of the song contained the aforementioned "preacher" tape recording of Ephesians, at much lower volume, and it was performed this way for the rest of the year.

"Money" began with a longer introduction on the bass, and the saxophone solo was instead played on the electric piano.

"Us and Them" during 1972 lacked the saxophone solos as found on the album and featured an organ solo instead.

At the debut, the song "Eclipse" was nothing more than lyricless extension of "Brain Damage" that devolved into various odd sounds. The version with lyrics and music as found on the album debuted at Bristol on 5 February.

Finally, none of the spoken word pieces as found on the album were done during 1972.

The show at the Brighton Dome on 29 June was filmed by Peter Clifton for inclusion on his film Sounds of the City. Clips of these appear occasionally on television and the performance of "Careful with That Axe, Eugene" is on the various artists video Superstars in Concert.

The visuals for the tour were created by the Timeless Films company run by Independent British animator Ian Ernes, who produced the 1973 short film French Windows, using backing music by the band as well as an animated film, featuring animated ballet dancers, for the song "One Of These Days".

1972 & 1973 Roland Petit Ballet shows

In November 1972, during the middle of the European leg of their 1972 world tour and again in January 1973, Pink Floyd performed with the Roland 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", "Childhood's End" and "Echoes".

1973 Dark Side of the Moon Tour

Pink Floyd performing Dark Side of the Moon at Earl's Court Arena in 1973

1973 saw Pink Floyd go on two relatively short tours of the US, one in March to coincide with the release of Dark Side of the Moon and a later one in June. Sandwiched between them were two nights at London's Earl's Court on 18 May and 19 May where they debuted the special effect of a plane crashing into the stage at the end of the song "On the Run". This was also the first year that the band took additional musicians on tour with them, unlike the earlier performances of "Atom Heart Mother" where the band would often hire local musicians. Dick Parry would join Pink Floyd during Money and Us and Them and a backing chorus of three or four women. Clare Torry sung backing vocals during the Robert Wyatt benefit concerts, she wouldn't do this again until 1990 at the Knebworth Festival.

Due to the overwhelming chart success of both Dark Side of the Moon, which reached #1 in the US in late April, #2 in the UK, and the US-released single "Money", the nature of Pink Floyd's audiences changed in June 1973. They used to play at theaters and auditoriums but in this tour they played at Stadiums and large arenas.

On 4 November 1973, Pink Floyd played two shows at London's Rainbow Theatre to benefit musician Robert Wyatt formerly the drummer of Soft Machine, a band they'd played with in their UFO Club days. While at a birthday party for Gilli Smyth of Gong and Lady June on 1 June, Wyatt fell from a fourth story bathroom window, breaking his back and leaving him paraplegic. The concerts raised a reported £10,000 for Wyatt.

On 22 June 1973, in Buffalo, New York, USA, during the performance, a spectator fell off the upper level deck seating killing the person that they landed on.

Tour dates

Date	City	Country	Venue
Europe
17 January 1972	London	England	Rainbow Theatre, Finsbury Park – Rehearsals
18 January 1972
19 January 1972
20 January 1972	Brighton		Brighton Dome (first "Dark Side of the Moon" live performance interrupted at 'Money' due to technical problems)
21 January 1972	Portsmouth		Portsmouth Guildhall (first complete live performance of "Dark Side Of The Moon")
22 January 1972	Bournemouth		Bournemouth Winter Gardens
23 January 1972	Southampton		Southampton Guildhall
27 January 1972	Newcastle upon Tyne		Newcastle City Hall
28 January 1972	Leeds		Leeds City Varieties
3 February 1972	Coventry		Lanchester Polytechnic College Arts Festival – Locarno Ballroom
5 February 1972	Bristol		Colston Hall
6 February 1972	Plymouth		ABC Cinema
10 February 1972	Leicester		De Montfort Hall
11 February 1972	Manchester		Free Trade Hall
12 February 1972	Sheffield		Sheffield City Hall
13 February 1972	Liverpool		Liverpool Empire Theatre
17 February 1972	London		Rainbow Theatre
18 February 1972
19 February 1972
20 February 1972
Asia
6 March 1972	Tokyo	Japan	Taiikukan
7 March 1972
8 March 1972	Osaka		Festival Hall
9 March 1972
10 March 1972	Kyoto		Dai-Sho-Gun Furitsu Taiikukan
11 March 1972	Yokohama		Kemin Hall
13 March 1972	Sapporo		Nakajima Sports Center
Europe
29 March 1972	Manchester	England	Free Trade Hall
30 March 1972
North America
14 April 1972	Tampa	United States	Fort Homer W. Hesterly Armory
15 April 1972	Pembroke Pines		Hollywood Sportatorium
16 April 1972	Columbia		Township Auditorium
18 April 1972	Atlanta		Atlanta Symphony Hall
20 April 1972	Pittsburgh		Syria Mosque
21 April 1972	Baltimore		Lyric Opera House
22 April 1972	Akron		Akron Civic Theatre
23 April 1972	Cincinnati		Music Hall
24 April 1972	Toledo		Toledo Sports Arena
25 April 1972	Cleveland		Allen Theatre
26 April 1972	Detroit		Ford Auditorium
27 April 1972
28 April 1972	Chicago		Auditorium Theatre
29 April 1972	Philadelphia		Spectrum
30 April 1972	Toronto		Massey Hall
1 May 1972	New York City		Carnegie Hall
2 May 1972
3 May 1972	Washington, D.C.		John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
4 May 1972	Boston		Music Hall
6 May 1972	Lancaster		Franklin-Marshall College
Europe
18 May 1972	Berlin	West Germany	Deutschlandhalle
21 May 1972	Germersheim		Second British Rock Meeting
22 May 1972	Amsterdam	Netherlands	Olympic Stadium
28 May 1972	Brighton	England	Brighton Dome
29 May 1972
North America
8 September 1972	Austin	United States	Austin Municipal Auditorium
9 September 1972	Houston		Houston Music Hall
10 September 1972	Dallas		McFarlin Memorial Auditorium
11 September 1972	Kansas City		Memorial Hall
12 September 1972	Oklahoma City		Civic Center Music Hall
13 September 1972	Wichita		Levitt Arena
15 September 1972	Tucson		Tucson Community Center
16 September 1972	San Diego		San Diego Sports Arena
17 September 1972	Tempe		Big Surf
19 September 1972	Denver		University of Denver Arena
22 September 1972	Los Angeles		Hollywood Bowl
23 September 1972	San Francisco		Winterland Ballroom
24 September 1972
27 September 1972	Vancouver	Canada	Vancouver Gardens
28 September 1972	Portland	United States	Memorial Coliseum
29 September 1972	Seattle		Hec Edmundson Pavilion
30 September 1972	Vancouver	Canada	Vancouver Gardens
Europe
21 October 1972	London	England	Empire Pool
10 November 1972	Copenhagen	Denmark	K.B. Hallen
11 November 1972
12 November 1972	Hamburg	West Germany	Ernst-Merck-Halle
14 November 1972	Düsseldorf		Philips Halle
15 November 1972	Böblingen		Sporthalle
16 November 1972	Frankfurt		Festhalle Frankfurt
17 November 1972
22 November 1972	Marseille	France	Salle Valliers, Roland Petit Ballet
23 November 1972
24 November 1972
25 November 1972
26 November 1972
28 November 1972	Toulouse		Palais des Sports
29 November 1972	Poitiers		Parc des Expositions Les Arènes
1 December 1972	Saint-Ouen		Centre sportif de l'Île de Vannes
2 December 1972
3 December 1972	Caen		Palais des Expositions
5 December 1972	Brussels	Belgium	Forest National
7 December 1972	Lille	France	Palais des Sports
8 December 1972	Nancy		Parc de Expositions
9 December 1972	Zürich	Switzerland	Hallenstadion
10 December 1972	Lyon	France	Palais des Sports de Gerland
13 January 1973	Paris	France	Palais des Sports, Roland Petit Ballet
14 January 1973
3 February 1973
4 February 1973
North America
4 March 1973	Madison	United States	Dane County Coliseum
5 March 1973	Detroit		Cobo Hall
6 March 1973	St. Louis		Kiel Auditorium
7 March 1973	Chicago		International Amphitheatre
8 March 1973	Cincinnati		Armory Fieldhouse
10 March 1973	Kent		Memorial Gym
11 March 1973	Toronto	Canada	Maple Leaf Gardens
12 March 1973	Montreal		Montreal Forum
14 March 1973	Boston	United States	Music Hall
15 March 1973	Philadelphia		Spectrum
17 March 1973	New York City		Radio City Music Hall
18 March 1973	Waterbury		Palace Theater
19 March 1973	Providence		Providence Civic Center
21 March 1973	Sharpsburg		Antietam Battlefield
22 March 1973	Hampton		Hampton Coliseum
23 March 1973	Charlotte		Charlotte Park Center
24 March 1973	Atlanta		Municipal Auditorium
25 March 1973	St. Petersburg		Bayfront Center
Europe
18 May 1973	London	England	Earls Court
19 May 1973
North America
17 June 1973	Saratoga Springs	United States	Saratoga Performing Arts Center
18 June 1973	Jersey City		Roosevelt Stadium
19 June 1973	Pittsburgh		Civic Arena
20 June 1973	Columbia		Merriweather Post Pavilion
21 June 1973
22 June 1973	Buffalo		Buffalo Memorial Auditorium
23 June 1973	Detroit		Olympia Stadium
24 June 1973	Cuyahoga Falls		Blossom Music Center
25 June 1973	Louisville		Louisville Gardens
26 June 1973	Jonesboro		Lake Spivey Park
27 June 1973	Jacksonville		Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Coliseum
28 June 1973	Pembroke Pines		Hollywood Sportatorium
29 June 1973	Tampa		Tampa Stadium

Setlist

A typical 1972 set list for the tour

Set One: The Dark Side of the Moon

• "Speak to Me"
• "Breathe"
• "On the Run"
• "Time"
• "The Great Gig in the Sky"
• "Money"
• "Us and Them"
• "Any Colour You Like"
• "Brain Damage"
• "Eclipse"

Set Two:

• "One of These Days"
• "Careful with That Axe, Eugene"
• "Echoes"
• "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun"
• "A Saucerful of Secrets" (occasional, until 22 September 1972)
• "Blues" (occasional)
• "Atom Heart Mother" (on very few occasions until 22 May 1972)
• "Childhood's End" (occasional, starting 1 December 1972)

A typical set list for the 1972 & 1973 Roland Petit Ballet shows

• "One of These Days"
• "Careful with That Axe, Eugene"
• "Obscured by Clouds"
• "When You're In"
• "Echoes"

A typical 1973 set list for the tour

Set One:

• "Obscured By Clouds"
• "When You're In"
• "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun" (replaced with "Childhood's End" until 10 March 1973)
• "Careful with That Axe, Eugene"
• "Echoes" (served as the opening number during the first few weeks in March)

Set Two:

• "Speak to Me"
• "Breathe"
• "On the Run"
• "Time"
• "The Great Gig in the Sky"
• "Money"
• "Us and Them"
• "Any Colour You Like"
• "Brain Damage"
• "Eclipse"

Encore:

• "Seamus" (probably false, on 23 March 1973 only)
• "One of These Days"

Personnel

• David Gilmour – vocals, guitar
• Roger Waters – bass, vocals
• Richard Wright – keyboards, vocals
• Nick Mason – drums

Additional musicians

• Dick Parry – saxophone (joined for the second part of the 1973 tour, from 18 May 1973 onward)
• Black Grass (Nawasa Crowder, Mary Ann Lindsey, Phyllis Lindsey) – backing vocals (during the March and May gigs)
• Blackberries (Billy Barnum, Venetta Fields, Clydie King) – backing vocals (during the October gigs)
• Vicki Brown, Liza Strike, and Clare Torry – backing vocals (during the two shows «A Benefit For Robert Wyatt» on 4 November 1973)

References

Works cited

• "Echoes: The Complete History of Pink Floyd" (MInd Head Publishing – March 2007 – 368 p.) by Glenn Povey

External links

• Brain-Damage.co.uk
• Pink Floyd Archives