PINK FLOYD

 

       I don't like concerts.  It's too much of a hassle dealing with the crowds, and paying a lot for a ticket, and with all the noise that interrupts the music.  And the worse thing is sitting too far away to see the performers' faces.  I prefer watching a video with the music in its purity and with closeups of faces and expressions.  Nevertheless, Pink Floyd seemed untouchable and I had a lot of their albums, so I succumbed to going to their concert when they came to Seattle in 1975.

       My nephew Tom, ten years younger than I and a musician himself, came with me.  He wasn't familiar with Pink Floyd, but loved live concerts.  I was thrilled to find that we could go right up to the stage and watch the group from just a few yards away!  I could watch their faces!  And their music overpowered the audience noise behind us.  So, it was the best concert I've ever attended (out of about four).

       When they played "Careful with that Axe, Eugene," and a certain part of the song came, I yelled into Tom's ear, "This is where they scream!"  And suddenly there was an explosion and I was blinded!  I didn't even notice the scream because I was shocked and blind.  The auditorium was pretty dark except for the spotlights, and some huge pyrotechnics had been set up between us and the group.  A tremendous, bright flame had flashed up in front of us, and blinded me for several seconds.  It was great!

       My favorite Pink Floyd song is "Echoes," which takes up one side of their Meddle album, and I was terribly disappointed that the concert came to an end without them performing it.  The group waved their farewells and sauntered off the stage.

       But then, after a bunch of encore calls from the massive audience, out came the group again, and played all twenty minutes of "Echoes"!  So it was a perfect concert.

 

Someone taped the whole 1975 Seattle concert and you can hear it on YouTube, 

and at the beginning of the scream in "Careful with that Axe, Eugene,"

you can imagine you see me up there by the stage, groping in the dark.