Pink Floyd – Damn Braces: Bless Relaxes (Siréne-060)

Damn Braces:  Bless Relaxes (Siréne-060)

Hollywood Bowl, Los Angeles, CA – September 22nd, 1972

Disc 1 (42:57):  Breathe, On The Run, Time, Breathe (reprise), The Mortality Sequence, Money, Us & Them, Any Colour You Like, Brain Damage, Eclipse

Disc 2 (74:57):  One Of These Days, Careful With That Axe Eugene, Echoes, A Saucerful Of Secrets, Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun

Disc 3 (65:41):  Breathe, On The Run, Time, Breathe (reprise), The Mortality Sequence, Money, Us & Them, Any Colour You Like, Brain Damage, Eclipse, One Of These Days, Careful With That Axe Eugene

Disc 4 (60:22):  Echoes, A Saucerful Of Secrets, Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun 

DVD:  Speak To Me, Breathe, On The Run, Money, Us & Them, Any Colour You Like, Brain Damage, Eclipse, Echoes, A Saucerful Of Secrets, Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun

Sirene have released another very popular and well-circulated recording.  Pink Floyd’s September 22nd, 1972 concert at the Hollywood Bowl has become legend.  Most probably because it was bootlegged almost immediately afterwards and received much wider distribution than most of their shows.  But the legend is also dependent upon the energy of the performance and the often-mentioned fireworks display at the end.

The label’s press release claims that this release is for serious Pink Floyd fans only.  The reason why is that the duplication of the show on four discs and a DVD is not a vain way to grab more money from the collector.  There are two audio recordings and one video of the event and Damn Braces:  Bless Relaxes collects, remasters and presents every available piece of tape associated with this show into one convenient package.  The goal is to please the obsessive collector and they have not disappointed.

Discs one and two utilize the second recording.  This is a complete, excellent, dynamic tape from the audience.  It most recently appeared on Crackers on the Zeus label.  The only weakness with the Zeus release is the bass which had a lot of rumble and distortion present.  The worst is in “One Of These Days” where the bass overloaded the rest of the music and made the track almost unlistenable.  Sirene, by comparison, have tackled this issue by smoothing the bass line and diminishing its volume.  “One Of These Days” on this new release doesn’t have the problems on the Zeus and sounds phenomenal.  It’s clear and powerful and one of the most effective versions captured on tape.

Discs three and four contain the first tape, the one that surfaced many years ago and is the source for the famous three LP set Crackers on The Amazing Kornyfone Record Label.  It differs from the first tape source by emphasizing the top end, not having any significant dropouts or cuts, and by not being complete.  This taper missed the opening of the show and “Breathe” was edited from a soundboard from the February 20th Rainbow show.  Sirene were able to find a virgin copy of the LP since there really is no evidence of its origin.

The bonus DVD presents fragments of the concert filmed from the audience.  It is dark, fuzzy and out of sync with the music.  None of the songs are presented complete.  The people by the camera talk too much at the beginning of the show, making the observation that the stage looks like a spaceship.  But given the scarcity of such material it’s good enough and captures some very dramatic images like the dark and smoky stage during “Echoes” and the above mentioned fireworks display.