Killesberg Halle 1970 (Sigma 81)
Killesberg Halle 14, Stuttgart, Germany – November 26th, 1970
(52:40): Fat Old Sun, Cymbaline, Atom Heart Mother, The Embryo, Green Is The Colour
Germany received some of the best Pink Floyd performances in the Atom Heart Mother era. Early 1971 saw several classic performances of the epic with brass orchestra and choir, most of which were captured on tape. But in late 1970, after played two nights in Montreux, they toured around Germany and other countries playing some of their most aggressive concerts.
On November 26th the band played a gig in the Killesberg Halle in Stuttgart. An older tape source exists with the complete show, but the only commercial pressing is on the CDR Killesburg Halle 14 (Ayanami 189).
Killesberg Halle 1970 is a newer source, surfacing several years ago, with only about fifty-three minutes of the show. It is missing “Careful With That Axe, Eugune” and “A Saucerful Of Secrets,” and “The Embryo” is out of proper order.
The sound is good and clear but slightly distant with a bit of hiss on the top. The label claim to have remastered the recording by correcting the speed and centering the stereo.
“Fat Old Sun” opens the show (and the tape). One of the new songs, Pink Floyd play this song as both a light and airy piece emphasized by Dave Gilmour’s soaring baritone and Richard Wright’s melodic keyboard melodies and as a heavy stage thumper. In Stuttgart the latter at times dominates when Gilmour spits out nasty sounding tones from the guitar. It reaches a climax when Wright is coming out of his little solo in the middle.
“Cymbaline” is a bit shorter than in other performances because of the “ghost-walk” section. “Atom Heart Mother” is played in the fifteen minute rock arrangement, a far cry from the half hour orchestral arrangement the band would play in Germany the following year.
The stand-out performance on the disc is definitely “The Embryo.” By this time it was at the mid-point of its on-stage development. After the opening verses the middle section contains a bit of the cooing children, but continues with Gimour’s seabird screeches, Waters’ “Pict” vocalizations, and a jazzy step-rhythm by Nick Mason all underscored by a strangely jolly keyboard melody.
“Green Is The Colour” is the final track and cuts out right before the segue into “Careful With That Axe, Eugene.”
Killesberg Halle 1970 has a good performance in very good sound quality, but its incompleteness really precludes this being an essential title for the collection. It’s a nice addition for the obsessive Pink Floyd collector who has to have everything, but otherwise not that important.
3 Comments
The bonus tracks on the Pig Strikes Back label attributes the source as 4/21/70 Chicago, but Floyd only played in Chicago on April 10 & 12, 1970; they did not perform anywhere on April 21, 1970.
There are no known tapes to exist for the 10th or 12th, so the source for these 2 bonus tracks is unknown.
Thanks for the review, G, and Roberto for the additional info.
this concert was released on silver, in a great trifold digipack , in Italy with the title ” AM KILLESBERG ” around a couple of years ago too, same source as the AYANAMI title but this also adds two bonus tracks from CHICAGO 70 ( ” astronomy..” & ” interstellar..”), another thing to note is that the songs are in the wrong order. The catalgue no. of this release is PSB-06 ( “THE PIG STRIKES BACK” LABEL), this cd sold out fast ( the packaging is very attractive!!) at the time of the release but however it pops up on ebay at a high price sometimes, so if someone wants to add this concert to his collection may have another chance!!