Pink Floyd – Boston 1973 (Siréne-056)

Boston 1973 (Siréne-056)

Music Hall, Boston, MA – March 14, 1973

Disc 1 (66:10):  Careful With That Axe Eugene, Obscured By Clouds/When You’re In, Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun, Echoes

Disc 2 (66:23):  Speak To Me, Breathe, On The Run, Time, Breathe (reprise), The Great Gig In The Sky, Money, Us & Them, Any Colour You Like, Brain Damage, Eclipse, One Of These Days

The spring of 1973 was the most important in the history of Pink Floyd, all hinging upon the release of the Dark Side Of The Moon LP.  They went from, in the words of journalist, being cult act to being a cult themselves.  They had toured with the suite for over a year and the presentation in this time was the final, polished version that we all know. 

They brought with them the additional musicians necessary to perform the LP on tour and this show in Boston is stunning.  They open with “Careful With That Axe Eugene” which is unique to this show since “Echoes” was the usual opener. 

Basically they flipped those two numbers in the set list.  “Obscured By Clouds/When You’re In” has that unsettling drone at the beginning and great jamming by the band.  The second half of the show is the focal point, however, and this is a breathless delivery.  Glimour’s guitar sounds devastating in “Any Colour You Like”. 

“One Of These Days”, one of the favorites from Meddle, is an excellent encore leaving the audience drained.  It is important to note that the Boston crowd at this show were very quiet and attentive.  After hearing so many lively Boston audiences of late it certainly came as a surprise!

This tape was first shared on the internet last January from the now well known Joe Maloney cache.  It is an excellent audience recording taped close to the stage emphasizing the high end.  There is some minor distortion like at the beginning of “Echoes” and the louder portions of “Money” but that is the reality of cassette recorder technology in the early 70’s.  Maloney used an internal microphone on the recorder which simply couldn’t handle all of the sound coming from the stage.  Sirene likes to work on their tape sources to make them the best available on the market. 

It sounds like they downloaded the tape, beefed up the bass and brought in a more dynamic sonic range.  Their techniques, unlike many labels, are never really obvious nor are heavy handed.  One will never hear the crunchy metallic residue surrounding the music which makes this label very collectable. 

Boston 1973 thus has made an excellent tape sound much better and is highly recommended.  Just like with their previous Pink Floyd release Oaklands, Boston 1973 sold out within a month of release and tracking down a copy will be challenging.