Pink Floyd – Video Anthology Vol. 3: 1972 – 1977 (Harvested HV-003DVD)

Venue : “Superstars In Concert”:
Careful with That Axe Eugene, Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun (Live in London 1972)
Setlist : Hollywood Bowl – September 22nd, 1972: Breathe, Money, Eclipse, One Of These Days, Careful That with Axe Eugene, Echoes
Dark Side Of The Moon promo: Time, Money, Us And Them, Brain Damage, Eclipse (animated Film by Ian Emes originally projected during 1973-1975 tour)
Welcome To The Machine promo (animated by Gerald Scarfe originally projected during 1977 tour)
LA Sports Arena – April 27th, 1975: Have A Cigar, Shine On You Crazy Diamond, Breathe, On The Run, Money, Echoes
Pigs On The Wing, Promotional Pig Launch Film for Animals LP – December, 1976
In concert film, 1977:
Stadthalle, Vienna, Austria – February 1st, 1977: Sheep, Dogs, Pigs, Shine On You Crazy Diamond, Have A Cigar, Money, Us And Them
Anaheim Stadium, Anaheim, CA – May 7th, 1977: Sheep, Pigs
Olympiahalle, Munich, Germany – March 1st, 1977: Sheep, Pigs on a Wing, Dogs, Pigs, Shine On You Crazy Diamond, Welcome To The Machine, Have A Cigar, Shine On You Crazy Diamond pt.2, Money
DJ plays Animals
Bonus tracks, live in Philadelphia, April 29th, 1972 on silent 8mm
Review :
Their first two volumes of this series were silver dvd copies of the first two discs of the fan Harvested label’s three disc Pink Floyd Video Anthology dvdr set. Video Anthology Vol. 3, the latest release by the Japanese Harvested label, uses the third disc of the fan production as a basis but insert the fan Harvested’s release 8mm into the proper chronological order making this flow together better. The disc begins with “Careful With That Axe, Eugene” from an obscure movie titled Sound Of The City — London 1964-1973 directed by Peter Clifton. This documentary, which also featured Jimi Hendrix and The Rolling Stones, was released on video tape as Superstars In Concert and is out of print and hard to find. The picture and sound on this track is excellent but is only the ten-minute version of the song. It is claimed the complete eighteen minute performance still exists on film. “Set The Controls” is from the same (unidentified) concert and is a curiosity but the timer running across the top of the screen makes it difficult to enjoy.
The Hollywood Bowl 23 minute long 8mm footage is identical to what was featured with Sirene’s Damn Braces: Bless Relaxes. It has a lot of wobble but has some good close-ups and captures the fireworks display at the end of the show. The sound is dubbed in from the excellent audience recording. The Dark Side Of The Moon promo footage, as well as the “Welcome To The Machine” film, is what the band projected onto the screens during their concerts in the mid 70’s. “Time”, “Money”, and “Us & Them” were recorded from “Top Of The Pops” on BBC television in 2003 and “Brain Damage”, “Eclipse” and “Welcome To The Machine” from MTV. The images are fascinating of course but it is surprising the quality is not as good as it could have been given how recent they were broadcast. The “Pigs On The Wing” promo is excellent quality and features the pig flying around Battersea Power Station. Roger Waters used this film on his 1984 and 1987 tours.
The 8mm films are interesting because they are the only live video documents from two of Pink Floyd’s biggest tours. The LA Sports Arena film from April 27th, 1975 is seventeen minutes long and has dubbed sound. The master film was used by Harvested and contains some good close-ups of the stage, but is otherwise very jumpy and unfocused. The Anaheim footage also appeared on Sirene’s California Stockyard but in a longer form. Here it is only about five minutes in duration whereas Sirene’s version is close to ten and has the more interesting close-ups of the stage and audience. The Vienna footage was for a long time the only extant video of the Animals tour. It was used by Sirene for their release Racial Violence and is the same length and quality here. The Munich film is the most recent find and wasn’t included on Sirene’s Wolfsschanze release from last December. This is very good film that lasts more than ten minutes with many gaps in the film that are plugged with photos from the tour and is probably the most enjoyable film of the lot.
The “DJ speaks” track is a short vignette from “WKRP In Cincinnati” where Dr. Johnny Fever is playing “Dogs” from Animals. Carlson walks in and asks about the name of the orchestra and what “Pigs On The Wing” sounds like. Fever responds by saying “I don’t take requests”. It’s funny in context and is an interesting inclusion of a Pink Floyd reference on network television. It is good nostalgia since the show’s run in syndication omits references to real songs for financial reasons. The b onus track is silent 8mm footage from the Spectrum in Philadelphia. It is listed as April 8th but is really from April 29th, 1972. The film lasts a dramatic ninety seconds with Mason hammering his drums furiously. Authorities say they are playing “Breathe” in this clip. No audio exists from this show which is probably why it wasn’t synced with music. It’s a nice bonus but nothing essential. Hopefully they will finish out the series with a fourth volume covering The Wall and The Final Cut videos and concert footage. (GS)