Not a Cloud in the Sky



Format: 2CD
Catalog: SIRA 185/186 Silver Rarities
Misc.: Very good+ audience
Produced: 1995, EC/Germany
Date: 730628 Matrix-No: Disc 1: GZ GC0807 SIRA 185 Disc 2: GZ GC0811 SIRA 186
Cover: INSERT: Single sheet; front has a blue field with diffuse yellow 'sun' in the upper right corner. At the lower edge are the CD title and 'PINK FLOYD'; reverse also has blue field, but with a purple diffuse sun in the upper right. Setlist and source info. are printed in overlay. TRAY LINER: Essentially a recapitulation of the insert.
Sources: 28 Jun 1973; Sportatorium, Hollywood, Florida.

Tracks:
Disc 1:
1. Obscured by Clouds/When You're In 12:21
2. Set the Controls For The Heart Of The Sun 12:51
3. Careful with that Axe Eugene 4:32
4. Echoes 21:49
Total: 51:15

Disc 2:
1. Speak To Me 1:59
2. Breathe 2:50
3. On The Run 5:42
4. Time 5:23
5. Breathe (Reprise) 1:02
6. The Great Gig In The Sky 6:39
7. Money 7:14
8. Us And Them 8:02
9. Any Colour You Like 8:23
10. Brain Damage 3:41
11. Eclipse 1:49
12. One Of These Days 9:22
Total: 62:11

Band:
  • Roger Waters
  • David Gilmour
  • Rick Wright
  • Nick Mason

    Comments: Very good but a bit distant audience recording, which I rate an 6-7 on a 1-10 scale.

    Bass is rather strong, with vocals seeming to sound about 25 rows back, slightly distorted.

    Can definitely hear an echo effect flowing out over the audience. I'd say no noise reduction is used here whatsoever; very true reproduction.

    Performance is motivating, and the crowd is active.

    Quite an annoying recording as the audience is very noisy and rude. Obsenities can easily be heard over the band's performance and it appears many fights will break out before the end of the concert.

    The band reacts to this unruley croud by giving a lackluster performance. For the real floyd fans only!

    Two things become evident by this disturbing audience recording. This is why Waters hated stadium/large hall tours...especially those in South Florida. Also, these crowds are directly responsible for the concept of "The Wall" and "The Slug"!

    VG+ Audience, some audience chatter and slight tape problems. It would rate a 7-8 in my Led Zeppelin roio guide. The band is clear, and the tapes in Dark Side are prominent.

    Overall an excellent show and a great recording. The audience starts out a little noisy, but soon calms down. There are cuts between the songs on the first disk, and the beginning of "Careful With That Axe, Eugene" is missing. The entire second disc has no cuts. Thank God, I thought it might be another "Boston Gardens".

    Rick goes a bit nuts on the pterodactyl noises in "Echoes", excellent version of the song.

    Dark Side is great; the tape effects during the extended "On The Run" are incredible. "Any Colour You Like" just goes on and on, and includes backup vocals, making it very similar to "Great Gig In The Sky".

    As a matter of fact, this may be the best RoIO 70s Dark Side that I've got.

    I may have been a bit generous. Once I played it on my home stereo, I noticed the crowd much more, and found the CD not quite as good as I had said. Still, it is an excellent recording, and I'd probably drop it a notch, down to 6-7, because of the crowd noise.

    I still like the release a lot, and still think that the darkside is one of the best I've heard. The Echoes is nice, too.

    The crowd certainly is in an evil mood, with a few determined to spoil the show for all around them. However, I'd say there's some nice freeform jamming during OBC/WYI, SCFHS, and OOTD (the recording of which cuts off quite abruptly at the end). Considering how many '73 shows are available on CD, I think this is worth having.

    I have seen version of this roio where the color is pink instead of blue, but I tend to see the one shown more often. i would assume the pink one was a limited run, but I don't know if there is any difference is sound quality between the two.