Jan 1994 and my pal Andre who is a huge Floyd fan says there playing good ol Winnipeg on July 1 1994 (Canada Day) and would I be in!? I told him myself and Tbone would be in but that he would have to get the tix! In other words he would have to call and get tickets(there was no computers or pre sales in 1994)and than we would be in!
This may sound like I’m being a dick but too be honest I liked Floyd (not hardcore)but I had my eye on when the Stones would be launching there tour in 1994 as well as that was the stadium gig I wanted to see! Told Andre if he scored Floyd seats I’m in! My Floyd collection consisted of back in 94 Dark Side Of The Moon,The Wall,Delicate Sound Of Thunder and the album the Pinks were plugging on this tour The Division Bell.
Andre scored 4 tickets so it was me,Tbone and Andrés pal Budge and come Canada Day 94 we left Tbay at 8am and Tbone punched the gas in his 91 Mustang and we arrived in Winnipeg 6 hrs later!(normally it takes 9 hrs to drive to the Peg and Yep there’s a story to be told but Ummm lets just leave it at that! )
For outside stadium shows this was the second one me and Tbone had seen in Winnipeg as in May of 1993 we caught Beatle Pauls great live show and just like that show the weather was sunny!
Winnipeg I think I can vouch for Tbone as well is a great place to see live concerts and all the shows that we saw there over the years the crowds have been behaved in other words no idiots not around us and that’s always a good thing! The closet thing to a rowdy crowd was the Motley Crüe concert in 1990 at the Winnipeg Arena the crowd was boisterous but behaved. Haha….
Allright so the 4 us take our seats which is on the left side of the stage and well besides is there are 49,996 other people getting ready for the show and just like McCartneys show the year before there is no opening act. Who the hell could open for Floyd? Skid Row? Hahaha….
Seriously though this show and I love outdoor gigs as the productions are huge! Pink Floyd is no exception and they spare no expense! The projection screen at the back of the stage is huge(watch the live video posted) and throughout the stadium are speaker towers so we are getting in 1994 surround sound! No expense is spared! Massive is what comes to my mind!
Just as the sun goes down up comes Floyd and they launch into Astronomy Domine( the version I heard before was not Floyds but Voi Voids cover of it that i seen as a video on Muchmusic) lights are swirling, sounds are coming at ya from all directions and the smell of reefer is everywhere and this is only song 1!
Learning To Fly one of there newer tracks from 1987 is played and than What Do You Want From Me from the current release(Division Bell) is played and Floyd has female backing singers and it’s clear that the David Gilmour led Floyd are meaning business!
The show continues and man what a big band of course besides Gilmour are his two sidekicks Nick Mason (drums)and Richard Wright(RIP)Keyboards and a second drummer,the backing vocalists and Guy Pratt on bass. No slouches of talent up on that stage that’s for sure!
Poles Apart,Take It Back,Sorrow,Keep Talking and One Of These Days are played! Shine On You Crazy Diamond is up next followed by Breathe and Time. I still can hear all the clocks going off in the stadium with the speakers all around us ringing chiming off bells and clocks during Time. Holy shit …..I’m offically Trippin!
High Hopes(reefers are still going strong in case you were asking!) and some real cool guitaring from Gilmour in Wish You Were Here! Come to think of it me and Tbone have been lucky to see some amazing musicians at the top of there game and I’m talking only guitar players like Gilmour,Perry and Whitford from Aerosmith,Eddie Van Halen,Alex Lifeson(Rush),Richards And Wood from The Stones…man I could go on but dudes who know the deal with there craft!
Us And Them is progged thru followed by everyone’s fav Money! Love that song! Going back to 1979 and I still remember buying the 45 single of Another Brick In The Wall (Part2) and here it is played with all 50,000 higher than kites Floyd fans bellowing “HEY TEACHER LEAVE US KIDS ALONE!” love the outro solo Gilmour lays down on this song! That my friends is a riff when you listen to it you know it’s Gilmour!
Comfortably Numb which is my fav of Floyds is played and man this is Floyds tour de force in my mind anyways Davey G,Mason and Wright hammer down and school us in trippy Floyd Prog and we’re all the better for it! Just love Gilmours guitaring in this tune…set aside 10 minutes and chill to the vid above! You will know what I’m talking about especially at the 3 minute 20 second mark! What lights!
Floyd splits and boom for the encore its Hey You and Run Like Hell! Huge white lights blind us at the end of this show the band bids adieu and I look up and say Excuse Me While I Kiss The Sky!
I tell Ya that I’m not a huge Floyd fan but boy did they ever deliver a live show and thanks to Andre who did make the push and got tickets as far as Floyd rolls they have not toured at all since 1994! So glad in retrospect that I caught this act!
In case you are wondering Yep there was a huge inflatable pig floating above the stage! Love those stadium huge sized props!
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