SAN DIEGO 1975

Disc 1: Intro, Raving And Drooling, You Gotta Be Crazy, Shine On You Crazy Diamond Parts 1-5, Have A Cigar, Shine On You Crazy Diamond Parts 6-9

Disc 2: Dark Side Of The Moon - Speak To Me, Breathe, On The Run, Time, Breathe (Reprise), The Great Gig In The Sky, Money, Us And Them, Any Colour You Like, Brain Damage, Echoes

Pink Floyd's North American Tour 1975 ran from April 8th to June 28th. San Diego is the eighth stop on the tour and Sigma 51 presents the only known tape source on silver disc for the first time. San Diego 1975 features a very good audience recording that sounds a fair distance from the stage but the sound is clear with a fairly even mix between the instruments. Some of the taper comments are picked up but are not too much of a distraction.

The first half of the show would be dedicated to a set of newer material. Unknown to the audience, they seem more attentive which allows the music to shine through better. "Raving And Drooling" is a great opener as you feel the tension build before Roger's crashing vocal. "You Gotta Be Crazy" is played beautifully and has further progressed from the late 74 arrangement. "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" is now broken into two long segments with "Have A Cigar" in the middle. There is a cut at 7:56 in "Shine On Parts 6-9" that is barely noticeable due to some very smooth editing. Someone by the recorder says "far out" during Wright's closing melodies showing their approval of the newer track.

For the first half of the night comments are mostly kept to a minimum and between songs but from the start of the Dark Side Of The Moon the crowd are more vocal than during the first set and more comments around the recorder are picked up. During the taped intro "Speak To Me" it is obvious this is what they have been waiting to hear. The sound dulls during "Time" for a bit and is followed by some brief mic handling noise. More screams of approval during the vocal section in "The Great Gig In The Sky" are actually in tune with the music and Venetta Fields and Carlena Williams give a really nice performance of the piece. Dave Gilmour has some stellar moments in "Money" and "Any Colour You Like" that were no doubt worth the price of admission. Unfortunately "Brain Damage" cuts out at 2:36 omitting "Eclipse" from the recording. "This one's a few years old, it's called Echoes" Roger says before the 22 minute encore. The arrangement on this tour featured saxophone solos from Dick Parry bringing a different twist to the Floyd classic.

San Diego 1975 is packaged in a double slimline jewel case with a nice use of live photos. While there are definitely better sounding recordings from this tour, Sigma 51 is a decent sounding and well played show and is an excellent title worth investigating.