Rick Wright’s opening chords build,
Cymbals roll, synthesised fanfare,
Almost chaotic, entropic
Threads of form gathering, dispersing
Tempos shift, tension rises
A momentary lull,
Roger Water’s guitar & knee rise
Dropping aggressively, powerfully
Synchronising his bass booming.
Commanding control & direction.
Father’s Shout.* – the concert started,
A moment preserved, frozen.
Accessible always.
Note & Extra:
* Father’s Shout is the opening section of Pink Floyd’s Atom Heart Mother. This moment wakes and comes alive for me often.
Here is a part of the concert. A part we highly anticipated, the opening of Careful With That Axe, Eugene. This was filmed for GTK, the visuals are from the Randwick concert, the sound though is from the live version of the song on Ummagumma.
The camera pans around the racetrack and settles at 0:23 looking over a seated crowd at the stage. My memory of the view of the stage would have us a few rows down from that camera position – in fact, just to the left of that pole in the centre of the screen.
Your birth timed out with the best live shows of the history of mankind. I was born in ’71, so came late, but the people that influenced me, were of your kind. I grew up not too far from Randwick, but a generation later. Deep Purple and Pink Floyd were both Super Groups as you well know, and everything in their wake is a derivative.
I for one, read your post despite my ADHD as it means a lot to me. So thanks.
Thanks so much for having a read. I’m very pleased you enjoy the music that I was lucky enough to witness. We anticipated these concerts with great excitenent – in fact whenever I think about the Pink Floyd concert, in particular, I still have that sense. Thanks again for taking the time to have a read and make a comment.
cheers
max