New Orleans

Because we know someone associated with Pink Floyd, we were fortunate enough to have all access passes, and, we were lucky to be able to sit anywhere we wished. For this show, we spent most of the time in the mixer. The mixer is a wonderland of electronics, computers(Macs & IBM's) soundboards, lighting controls, huge cables, etc. It is a totally amazing environment, a world of its own, the brain of any Pink Floyd show.

Four of us attended this show, one person had never seen a concert, any concert, in his entire life. The 2 people with us did not have passes, so we arrived early to find seats for them. For a good long time, we had the entire venue to ourselves, except for the PF crews of course. Our young friend was absolutely speechless and wide-eyed with wonder at all that he saw. I then gave him my pass, and my mate took him everywhere to show him the goodies...the mixer, backstage, under the stage, etc. When they returned after about an hour tour, he really WAS totally speechless. We enjoyed his reactions and pleasure so very much.

About a half hour after this, they opened the doors to the venue and people began flooding in. We found our 2 friends seats and then my mate and I proceeded to wander a little bit. As we were standing in a main aisle off the side of the venue and doing some "people watching", we noticed an elderly gentleman sitting by himself. He looked to be in his eighties....he smiled at me and we spoke to him. He was actually 92 years old! He told us he had been to 4 other shows that year. As in other PF shows, there is always a mix of ages present....Pink Floyd is surely a universal band in the truest sense of the word. We then took our time in making our way to the mixer, enjoying the sights and sounds of so many PF fans, when we noticed another man coming our way. He was dressed rather oddly, but I immediately recognized him as Mr. Gilmour. From what I understand, Mr. Gilmour frequently dressed incognito and would wander about the venues prior to the shows in order to get a feel for the crowd of the evening. We spoke to him, said hello, as we passed him on our way to the mixer....he raised his sunglasses, winked at us, and continued on with his stroll.

A short time later, the pre-show 'sounds' began, and you could actually feel the tension building from the people, the dome was beginning to come 'alive'. It was very exciting to feel the familiar emotion begin to rise. Pink Floyd fans are unique, in that they become joined in spirit, with each other and with the band...and it was starting to seep into every soul at this point, and began to flow thru all of us, an invisible but very perceptible energy flowing from one person to another and another. Lights began to dim, the show began and happiness was in every heart to be seeing, hearing, and feeling Pink Floyd.

The familiar strains of AD filled the air and the journey had begun. By the time the band got to WDYWFM, we noticed that Mr. Gilmour's performance was much more relaxed and he seemed happier this night than the previous show we had been to. Hence, when David plays well and is happy, the entire band follows suit, and they too were much more relaxed and were enjoying themselves very much. It was very interesting to watch the crew in the mixer and how they were able to time everything perfectly. Pink Floyd is known for their ability to give the fan in the very last row the same quality of sight and sound as the fan in the front row....and it's the wizardry of those great people of the mixer who make it possible. As usual, David was supreme with his solos of OTTA and Sorrow, and it seemed at that point that the Pink Floyd show was 'made' for the dome.....the sound system with over 300 speakers was truly superb, and the lights and lasers mesmerized everyone.

David announced a 15 minute break following the first set, and some flocked to the restrooms and refreshments. Many however, seemed to still be in a spell, and remained at their seats, they seemed to have this look on their faces that they were amazed at what they had been hearing and seeing, and were trying to comprehend it all. As I said....it is a journey. :)

We went down to the front where our friends were sitting to see how they were doing. The young man we had brought with us was totally in awe and he kept telling me how grateful he was, over and over. We were very happy and pleased for him. The lights once again began to dim, and, as soon as they had disappeared, great clouds of marijuana smoke appeared as a great fog bank billowing throughout the venue as it did at the beginning of the show. We decided to wander around a bit after the band began to play Time and then not long after that we could hear from backstage the beginning of WYWH and started back to the mixer. Along the way we passed the 92 year old gentleman who was on his feet and singing along with the rest of the house.

The mirror ball did it's thing without any glitches...the Gladiator spots reflecting off the ball made the dome seem like we were spinning in outer space. But the very best part of CN was Dave's solo. It was perfection. When he hit the high notes and held them, it cut through everyone like a knife. Even some of the crew were extremely moved by it. Later on, I discovered that this rendition of CN was Dave's favorite of the entire tour. As always, RLH was terrific but the sad signal of the show coming to its end..but we took comfort in the fact that we knew we would be seeing them again in a few days.

During this show there was an unpleasant incident when a man was shot by a police officer. It seems that his girlfriend was blatantly smoking pot in front of security with no attempt to be cool about it. She refused several times to dispose of it and security brought in the police. When the officer asked her to put it out or she would be removed, she refused, and he asked her to leave. When she said no, the officer started to escort her out and the man she was with pulled a gun on the officer. The officer shot him in the stomach. From what I understand, the man recovered okay. This was the only shadow upon an otherwise perfect show....even the people who were high or so drunk they couldn't walk, seemed to be mesmerized by Pink Floyd this night...they did not seem to prevail as they did at many other shows.

Even though I have seen Pink Floyd perform many, many times over the years, the New Orleans show made a lasting impression, and to this day remains extra special.

Sandy`