We took our seats, humbly apologizing for the distraction to the other twelve people in the cinema.
On screen the band was easing into Obscured By Clouds then burst into When You’re In and we were away!
Without a word of exaggeration the next hour and a half was one of the most enjoyable musical treats I’ve ever experienced!
Song after song I just wanted to stand up and holler, and I knew that this was unnerving Dilbert in the seat beside me. He was used to being embarrassed by his old man, but it didn’t make it any easier preparing for the next embarrassment.
Admittedly I did still need to spit out a couple of pips, mainly Gary Kemp’s over-accentuated enunciations, but nothing was going to dampen the great vibe we were all getting watching this.
To go into detail about each song would take too ridiculously long, but here are just a couple of honourable mentions:
Probably the most unexpected song of the night was Vegetable Man. But the way the band played it was just so much fun. I remember thinking to myself, “Vegetable Man! I LOVE you guys for doing this!”
I was being transported back to a time I never thought I’d get to revisit again. Emotions I had once experienced in a far distant past were now coursing through me at a level even beyond what I’d felt back then.
But back to the highlights:
I loved the way they blended If and Atom Heart Mother. Just brilliant! And not only that, but AHM was elevated into the stratosphere for me personally by Nick’s drumming during Breast Milky.
I had always had trouble listening to live versions of AHM, and the main reason was Breast Milky. On the album it features some exquisite triplets on the tom toms from Nick; for me the highlight of the piece. But performing it live Nick wouldn’t use the toms at all, instead just faffing around meekly on the cymbals, or even the hi-hat. Baaaahh!
But here Nick was back on the toms, performing those beautiful triplets again like a master! THANK YOU, NICK!
The last one I’ll mention is The Nile Song. I am in the fortunate position of having a workspace in which I’m able to play my own music at work, just as long as it’s not too loud.
Some may find this surprising, but the Floyd album I play the most is More. But unfortunately, because The Nile Song is so raucous I always have to skip that track.
But here in the movie theatre, with the guys belting it out like it should be I just couldn’t keep the lid on anymore.
When it finished I stood up amid the silent audience, thrust both arms into the air and bellowed,“WooHOOOOO!”
I sure got some looks from the other patrons, and Dilbert had disappeared from the seat beside me.
But for all their unimpressed looks, I did sense that the other moviegoers were actually thinking, “I wish
I’d had the nerve to stand up and go ‘WooHOOOOO’ too.”
Oh, and I caught Dilbert’s re-emergence from underneath his seat (see what I did there?) half way through the next song.
The movie ended and we made our way the 54 blocks back to the car park, each taking turns piggy-backing poor Michelangelo. By the time we got there it was more “poor Albert, Darrell and Dilbert” than poor Michelangelo, I can tell you!
Despite the early stuff-ups and the late arrival we’d had the most fantastic time. And Nick Mason’s Saucerful of Secrets was gathering steam and touring the world. Thoughts of them coming to Australia filled us with a great sense of excitement and expectation.
Then COVID-19 hit, big time! Any hope of a tour Down Under was kicked right up the Khyber.