Winterland 1972 (Siréne-046)
Winterland Auditorium, San Francisco, CA – September 23rd & 24th, 1972
Disc 1 (65:23): September 23rd, 1972: Speak To Me, Breathe, The Travel Section (On The Run), Time, Breathe (reprise), The Mortality Sequence (The Great Gig In The Sky), Money, Us & Them (two slight cuts), Any Colour You Like, Brain Damage, Eclipse, One Of These Days, Careful With That Axe Eugene
Disc 2 (44:50): September 24th, 1972: Speak To Me, Breathe, The Travel Section (On The Run), Time, Breathe (reprise), The Mortality Sequence (The Great Gig In The Sky), Money, Us & Them, Any Colour You Like, Brain Damage, Eclipse
Disc 3 (46:10): One Of These Days, Careful With That Axe Eugene, Echoes
It never ceases to amaze me how these tapes come out of the hoarder’s vaults even some thirty-odd years after being taped. The focus of this latest release from Sirene is an hour of their September 23rd performance at the Winterland Auditorium in San Francisco, a day after their famous concert at the Hollywood Bowl. This is taken from the master reel-to-reel made that night by a Japanese collector. A picture of the tape box is included on the artwork.
One collector has suggested to me that this is in reality the Sapparo gig in Japan from March 13th, 1972. The sequence of the set-list is identical to this one. However Winterland 1972 isn’t from Japan in the spring but is definitely authentic. The Dark Side set is more devoloped and confident as it was in the autumn of 1972, and the people around the taper are clearly American (giggling before “Speak To Me”, shouts of “sit down!” before “Time”).
The September 23rd tape is good and clear but quite distant from the stage. It sounds like the taper was by the back of the auditorium, capturing all of the echoes bouncing off the walls. Once you start listening to the tape it is enjoyable and interesting, but is not for the casual collector. There are two small cuts in “Us & Them”: one at the very beginning and one in the second verse, and a very small almost very small cut in “Careful With That Axe Eugene”.
“Any Colour You Like” and “Brain Damage” contain some tape flutter. After Roger announces a break the band play a great version of “One Of These Days”. That is followed by a long tune-up (with lots of shouts and cat calls from the audience about the lights) leading into “Careful With That Axe Eugene” (another great performace of the piece). Unfortunately the tape fades out at the end of the last piece missing “Echoes” and the encore “Set The Controls” (as listed in Povey & Russell).
Discs 2 & 3 document the following evening at the same venue on September 24th. A DAT clone of the master cassette has been circulating in the ROIO trading community for some time and there is nothing to suggest this isn’t the same.
This is the show’s debute on a commercial bootleg, however. Sirene’s version clocks in at 91 minutes even editing out several seconds (in other words, no big deal). The sound quality for this tape is very good to almost excellent, being much more dynamic and detailed and very enjoyable. Again a flawless delivery of the Dark Side LP with a breathtaking solo in “Time”. The tape ends at the very end of “Echoes”.
Another great job by Sirene to unearth a previously unknown tape. The overall presentation is excellent and this is for interest to Pink Floyd collectors. I wonder what else they have up their sleeves?
