Deutschlandhalle Berlin! 1972 (Cape Music CM825)
Deutschlandhalle, Berlin, Germany – May 18th, 1972
Disc 1 (48:51): Speak To Me, Breathe, On The Run, Time, The Mortality Sequence, Money, Us & Them, Any Colour You Like, Brain Damage, Eclipse
Disc 2 (68:05): One Of These Days, Careful With That Axe Eugene, Echoes, Set The Controls To The Heart Of The Sun
After a tour of the US, Pink Floyd traveled to the continent for several appearances. The first was on May 18th in Berlin, followed by a set at the 2nd British Rock Meeting in Germersheim on May 21st, and the following day in Amsterdam for the Amsterdam Rock Circus.
Berlin 1972 (Siréne-106) was released several years ago as the first silver pressed edition of this concert. Cape Music follow a similar track as did Siréne. This is a two tape edit. The second very good to excellent stereo audience recording is used as a basis and the first, fair to good sounding tape is utilized to fill a fifteen second gap for the tape flip at 2:38 in “Us & Them,” the first five minutes of “One Of These Days”, and a four minute gap beginning at 5:18 in “Echoes.” There are also several dropouts during “Echoes” and “Set The Control For The Heart Of The Sun” but nothing major.
Berlin is the only show of the three where the Dark Side Of The Moon is played. Pink Floyd dropped it from the other dates since they were festivals and required a shorter set.
The beginning picks up the audience’s anticipation, hearing the sound effects before the band start with “Breathe.” David Gilmour sings as if he’s fighting a cold during “Breathe.” It segues nicely into “On The Run” dominated by Richard Wright’s lounge act jazzy keyboard melody.
“Time” sounds tired, limp and unenthusiastic caused by Gilour’s almost monotone delivery of the lyrics. Wright again becomes very creative in “The Mortality Sequence.” After the Muggeridge section, he plays a sublime, stately and surreal church organ that very subtly segues into the opening of “Money.”
“The Great Gig In The Sky” ends with a heavenly melody on the church organ that segues into the opening for “Money.” Gilmour is much more animated for this song and delivers one of this best vocal performances of the evening. The finale of “Any Colour You Like,” “Brain Damage” and “Eclipse” brings the suite to an effective close.
“One Of These Days” has always been one of their best live pieces and unfortunately didn’t last in the set too long. The band always sound as if they’re having great fun with it, and Berlin is no exception. Every ounce of spook is squeezed out of the middle schizophrenic “Dr. Who” segment. So much is poured into this piece that “Careful With That Axe, Eugene” is quite laid back by comparison.
There is a short delay as they sort out the sound system. Waters asks for more top end on Gimour’s monitor. “Echoes” closes the evening. The band emphasize the heavy rock section to produce a stunning contrast to the seabirds section in the middle. The show closes with one encore, “Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun.”
Like the other Berlin titles, Deutschlandhalle Berlin! 1972 is packaged in an attractive glossy digipack with good graphics on the artwork. The upgrade is enough to make this a more desirable document of the show than the old Siréne release from several years ago.
