Every human has an avid interest and unspeakable dreams that propels him or her without any push. Now I remember that multiplier effect which magnifies dreams without any exhaustion. Likewise, I had such a dream of seeing a live performance of a band which changed the way I look at life. The band influenced my childhood, academic life and mostly myself. Though my work life and family life coincided, I kind of forgot how much the music, notes and rhythm meant to me. Me and one of my childhood friends, Sadat, used to point out the coolest sections of all the songs of Floyd’s. After 7 or more years, I can reminisce what I had experienced in the concert “Rattle that Lock” by David Gilmour of Pink Floyd who has been the key member and known as voice and guitar since the formation of the band in 1967.
Living in the third world and experiencing Pink Floyd in USA is a miracle as I didn’t have a clue the band would be performing in California after 23 years and here I was in 2016 for the first time. I had to fly 13000+ miles to attend the concert. As an alien in LA, I asked at least 10 or 15 people to find Hollywood Bowl and, albeit it was a complicated one. Believe it or not I walked all the way from Hollywood through the steep slopes and underground alleys. The show was supposed to start at 8 pm but I was in the venue at 2.30 pm. Why is that? Cause, I didn’t have a ticket as the tickets were sold out 6 months ago and all my earlier attempts to buy tickets online ended in vain. I was looking at the blank concert premises. I was just clinging on a single hope that if someone wants something badly he or she gets it. It was 3 pm, 5 hours to go. I waited and waited, and to add to the misery, there was no cafeteria inside to have any food. Here I was sitting on a big tree log under the California sun with High Hopes of attending the concert of my dreams.
It was 4 pm. I observed all the officials and support staff being briefed on how to manage the audience with ticket checking drills. There was LAPD with at least 10 officers chatting with each other. Audiences started showing up. In no time, official merchandise stands were set up.
My heart began to sink. I went back and leaned against a tree. Fifty feet away, I saw a man standing, wearing a cowboy hat; with an inquisitive look, he asked a billion dollar question. “I have a spare ticket to sell. Do you want it”? I said to my lord “What”. I thought about Money. How much is it? The mystery guy replied, “Man, I bought it for $156. I would give ya’ at $125. I started to Breathe fast, not believing what I just heard. I was wondering why he would sell at a lower price than the price he bought and asked him that. The man replied with an urban Texan accent, “Look man, my wife was supposed to come here. But she ain’t comin’. Now I’ll sell the last ticket and gonna’ see my gal’ friend. You can check with others that the ticket is genuine.” I was perplexed. I asked for some ID. As I didn’t know what a genuine ticket like; it seemed like Saucerful of Secrets. The man even showed his business card which matched the ticket particulars. I bargained but bought it finally at $125. It didn’t matter as my budget was $200 (thanks to my little sister and my cousin).
Half of the Lock had been Rattled but I was not sure whether I would be able to Lose the Chain. I was now looking to and fro- at the audiences, specially. I found interesting couples, friends who had been listening to floyds for ages, groups with dark side of the moon t-shirts aged 45-60. In the meantime, I went to the Hollywood Bowl store and purchased the Rattle that Lock album. It was 5.30 pm and I was still wandering without food. At 6.30, audiences stood in lines. And then the series of confusion started. I noticed tickets and those were not the same as mine. Mine was regular rectangle ones and theirs was a piece of paper. A security staff checked a ticket at random with a barcode scanner on only a page unlike my regular rectangular one. Again I searched for any ticket that looked like mine.
The Evergreen Dark Side of the Moon Couple
(of course I asked their permission to take their and they were such a sport)
The staff approached the queued lines. Barcode machines were placed on the queue locks. It was almost 6.30pm. Only four or five people were in front of me. The fourth person went ahead of the locked hatch. I looked at the staff and smiled at her and gave the ticket and thought she could Take it Back. She smiled at me and didn’t know what happened, “I got inside”. It was a sigh of relief after 6 hours. I showed the support staff my ticket and just Ran Like Hell all the way up to my seat. I am all set for the “dream concert” of my life.
I ran to my seat and my heart began pounding. I couldn’t believe my eyes even when I sat on my own seat. The venue was like a spaceship loaded with instruments that would ignite the soul of every person in the stadium. My seat was very much perpendicular to the stage and I couldn’t miss a single inch of the stage; though my seat was almost at the top of the stadium. The good thing was it was an amphitheater, so, the sound should be crisp and clear.
The clock approached 7 pm and a lovely middle aged lady approached to her seat. Her seat was beside mine. Her husband was with her as well. I started conversing my first ever experience in USA and of this concert venue, “how amazing it is”. We got introduced. Her name was Janice Grainger. She was a very warm, down to earth and lovely lady. She started speaking about the concerts she attended. The concert of 1974, 1977, 1994 of floyds; it all baffled my mind regarding how much memory she has of the band. I also shared my music listening experience of the band.Meddle, Dark Side of the Moon, Wish you Were Here etc. Her husband Bill who is an accountant is also amazing. He saw the Delicate Sound of Thunder and Pulse. He saw amazing rock concerts of Zepplin, Rainbow too. Interestingly, he plays guitar and has his own version of Wish You Were Here on You Tube. I took email and contact information from Bill. It was really eye opening for in how they bonded, loved with similar music interest between couples. I developed respect and love for this beautiful couple. They showed me the picture of their beautiful cat. They are blessed with a son and a daughter, a grandson and a granddaughter.
Time approached almost 7 pm. Sounds of helicopters, tunes of different albums such as Echoes, The Wall, Dark Side of the Moon etc.could be heard from the stage. Anticipation was growing high for the man with the masters of pentatonic and blues scale and a voice to perform as high as A great Gig in the Sky. The light at the stage dropped and the stadium was dark at 8 pm.
Suddenly keyboard notes filled the stadium. There it started, a concert that changed my life. The song was from Rattle that Lock album’s first track 5 am which is an instrumental track with sweet notes and bending that is signature guitar playing from Gilmour. The stadium raptured with claps. Then a sound was like ,”pop pop pop pop”. It was the astounding start of the Rattle That Lock album’s title track. The stadium erupted. It was kind of an unheard, unrecognizable sound with an upbeat version. The track is powerfully melodic with the background sound ,”pop pop pop pop”. Everyone was chanting, “Rattle that Lock-Lose those Chains”. Whatever it takes, we’re gonna do it.’
RATTLE THAT LOCK ALBUM COVER
Just after Rattle that Lock, another song from the same album was performed titled Faces of Stone. The song was set in a kind of moody state. The song is about two new lovers who share their past, former love couples and their future aspirations and shared dreams. The harmonica, guitar solo and stoned voice made it one of a kind of track.
One of the epic songs of Pink Floyd regardless of any genre is Wish You were Here. Just as the bass, melodic rhythm began, the audience stood on their feet. The lyrical bonding between the lines and the melody has made it one of the best known songs and the audience chanted as the song progressed.” How can you tell a green field from a cold steel rail? The best known part and moments are “How I wish, how I wish you were here? We are just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl year after year. It was a magical experience that I never encountered. At the end of the song the guitar tunes and vocal notes took the song to another level. The song ended with Gilmour’s exotic harmonized melody “para para pa para para para para para pa para para para……”
You can’t imagine the abstract meaning of “A Boat Lies Waiting”. David Gilmour makes it clear through this song. The relationship between your life’s sorrow, expectations, unfulfilled desire and the knocking of after life, then the boat is one who carries all your past and will take you to your future. Some songs are epic and the start of the tune ignites flames in your heart. Another track of On an Island album followed with a more soft melody titled Blue. This song’s lyrics is about the sea, tide, moon, waves. You have got to be there to realize how such a soft song enlightens the souls. I particularly liked this line from the song, “Save our Souls, We will be forever blue.”
Let’s talk about a funky bass and you have to think about Money. The whole stage’s lighting turned into images of money. David Gilmour took the audience to the memories of Dark Side of the Moon. It’s the reality that was spelled out throughout the song. Good jobs, cash, dreaming about cars, lavish lifestyle The song inherently explores how greedy in reality we are about money. As the lyrics implies, “Money it’s a crime, Share it fairly but don’t share a piece of my pie.” The song had jazzy sections with interesting saxophone, background vocals, Gilmour’s added jazzy but odd chords. When this section ended, Gilmour’s powerful guitar playing started increasing the scale to a very high note. The song ended with signature jazzy and vocal rhythmic sections with all the glitters of money and the audience felt like the show was worth the money.
Just after the song slowed down, another song from Dark Side of the Moon reminded the audience that ,”Us and Them, After all We are only Ordinary Man”. The song progresses slowly and keeps on asking questions such as are we alike ,”,Black and blue, Who knows Which is Which, Who is Who” Also ,”Up and down, In the end we are only round and round”. The song also wanders about war and the ordinary people dying in the war. Saxophone, specifically the keyboard, makes it a special song. I love the message of the song that we care about our ordinary chores too much whereas people are dying in war, wanting food and scarce resources.
The next song was another track from Rattle that Lock. It is titled In Any Tongue. It’s a slow rock song with tongue twisting lyrics. It’s a song about the futility and uncontrolled conditions of war. The video in the background was amazing. It was just released before the concert. It showed a soldier’s contradiction while taking a shot at children, innocent passersby. The void of the song was filled by David Gilmour’s screeching guitar tunes and the song ends with guitar subsiding slowly. The song was written by Gimour and his lovely wife Poly Samson.
The stadium was completely stark dark and the church bell started ringing. The stadium erupted with the tune of High Hopes. Just as the church bell continues, a series of heart pounding keyboard notes fills the stadium. With a very heavy voice the song starts. The lyrics is one of the heavy and finest writings of the album and of all Pink Floyd albums. The church bell has been termed as ,”The Division Bell”. The song depicts our greed, selfishness, narrow minded attitude along with our slow decay. However, the song says, ” At higher altitude the flag unfurled, we reached the dizzy heights to that dreamed of world” Just after these lines, ” A classic but heart pounding notes being played. Just after one stanza which reminds us that we were better while we were young with friends surrounded however the river is endless and it’s forever and ever. In my opinion, the ending is one of the best lap steel guitar solos of all times. I couldn’t ask for more from one of my favorite floyd’s song.
The next song shifted the audiences to the initial psychedelic era of pink floyd when Syd Barrett was in the band. The song starts with incredible drumming, strong strobe lighting, The lyrics is completely an action film between planets , ” Jupiter, and Saturn, Oberon, Miranda and Titania,Neptune, Titan stars can frighten” Then again the war of the stars was expressed in music,” Flicker, Flicker, Flicker, Blam, Pow, Pow” The song ended with the mystery of planet wars, if any.
Since childhood whenever I listened to the prologue of the song, I thought of a sound track. A sound track that took me to a mysterious land. The song is none other than Shine on You Crazy Diamond. One of the best keyboard pieces of Richard Wright who was a keyboardist of Pink Floyd till the second last album The Division Bell. Once the keyboard subsided, Gilmour played one of the beautifully written pentatonic and blues tones. In this section only keyboard and guitar were amusing the audience. After this section, a psychedelic or mysterious chord was being played and the audience started to applaud. The drums followed the chords and Gilmour’s guitar solo continued. After this section, keyboard set in and when it ended the song started, “Remember when you were young, you shone like the song, Shine on You Crazy Diamond.” The song is about reminiscing Syd Barrett’s rebel character and his childhood, youth and aspirations. It signifies what Barrett was , “Come on you stranger, you legend, you martyr and Shine”. In this section, saxophone followed and gave the song a new dimension. The song is a great tribute to the character of Syd Barrett. The band termed him with other attributes as ,”Seer of Vision” . I like it that way and wish he shines always.
The next song is a laid back song from the album Atom Heart Mother. Slow rhythm and lyrics related to nature is a perfect pastoral song with river, birds, grass, birds. I liked the part, ” If you sit, don’t make a sound, pick your feet off the ground.’ The song’s special part may be, “Sing to me, Sing to me”. Two lovers relate with summer evenings bestowed on them. The song ends with,” When the fat old sun in the sky is falling, Summer evening birds are calling, children’s laughter in my ears and the evening sunlight disappears.” The song ends with a short lead from Gilmour. From the Atom Heart Mother, Gilmour went straight to The Division Bell’s Coming Back to Life. The song starts with melodic lead guitar playing, and the song’s title is an exact manifesto of the title Coming Back to Life. The lyrics is about two lovers’ good times and bad times. One of the lovers came back from the bad patch of the relationship; “I took a heavenly ride through our silence, I knew the waiting had arrived, for killing the past and coming back to life.” The song has a flowing rhythm unlike many Floyd songs and with compact touchy lead sections. Everyone’s gonna love, especially when they are in and out of a relationship and coming back strong with full vigor.
A song can’t be only romantic when it’s set On an Island. Melodic chord progression and sweet rhythm made it one of the most romantic moments of the night. The couples were holding each other and danced slowly. “Remember that night, white steps in the moonlight, sharing a dream On an Island it felt right…..We lay side by side…between the moon and the tide, mapping the stars for a while.” After the first stanza, chord changes and Gilmour plays magnificent guitar. The guitar playing also reminded me of the ocean and tide. David Crosby sang as background and lead vocals. I fell in love with the song’s lyrics, melody , and final lead. The leads are one of the bests in the post Division Bell years.
A song from Rattle that Lock made the audience jazzy with a track titled The girl in the Yellow Dress. The song is about a ravishing girl who has her mesmerizing smile, dark eyes as bourbon. As the song says,” She mesmerized with a smile, dark eyes compelling as the bourbon, The girl in the canary yellow dress, says yes.” The song progresses mainly with keyboard, bass and saxophone. The song was written by David Gilmour’s wife Poly Samson and Gilmour thanked her wife for that. The lyrics is such no one can deny that girl in the yellow dress. A jazz lover would find this song interesting. Another track from Rattle that Lock followed where Gilmour sings about a day even when the world slides away. The song is written with funky rhythmic progression. The day was maybe that good for Gilmour that he sings, “If this should be the last day on earth, I will sing alone.”
What’s the sound of sorrow and anger through the guitar? Gilmour’s intro of Sorrow is such an expression of anger of the title Sorrow from the album A Momentary Lapse of Reason. The song expresses about a man’s lost times of broken promises, shattered dreams, troubled memory and his current state of sorrow and physically weak state, with Gilmour’s heavy voice. A change in the song takes place in this section of lyrics, “One world, one soul, time pass, river flows.” A lead starts from here and ends with a keyboard. The song ends with strong notes and the lead section,” And silence that speaks so much louder than words, promises broken”. The lead section is a perfect ending of this incredible song. When you hear a similar bass and guitar sound like Another Brick in the Hell, you are supposed to jump off your seat. However, the next song was Run Like Hell, its bass and guitar are like another version of Another Brick in the Wall. Run Like Hell filled millions vaults of energy all hell broke loose. “You better run all day, and run all night….You better run.” This is a fantasy song or horror, you might refer.” The stadium audience were dancing and throwing hands in the air with “Run, Run, Run…..”. Wait a moment! The showmanship of this great band is not over. The stadium glowed with lightning, seen like never before, by the sides of the stages, middle section of the stages, from everywhere lightning and fireworks started. It was exactly like running like hell in heaven’s milky way. The song ended and I thought ,” This is it, the show is over”.
Suddenly an alarm pierces through every one’s heart. Then, tick tock of clock begins with incredible drumming. In the background the thunder continues and the drum sound starts to increase. After a section of drumming and thunder, the song starts, ” Ticking away the moments that make up a dull day, you fritter away the hours in an off-hand away. …And then one day you have found, ten years have got behind you, no one told you when to run, you missed the starting gun.” Then one of the memorable leads of Gilmour begins and moves the audience with reminiscent moments. And after one stanza breath reprise follows,” Home, Home again, I like to be here when I can, ……..it’s good to warm my bones beside the fire. Far away across the field, the tolling of the iron bells, calls the faithful to their knees, to hear the softly spoken magic spells.” The song is a perfect depiction and contribution towards time. That’s it. I told the audience beside me to move. He told me that until the light disappears the show doesn’t end. I said okay. To my wonder, I heard the bass and Bill Crosby’s voice,
“Hello, Is there anybody in there, just nod if you can hear me, Is there anyone at home.” The song is about a conversation between a doctor and a patient. The patient is in delirium and all he sees lips are moving. He thinks about childhood fever and he states that his hands were like two balloons. Now, he has the same feeling and he terms it as Comfortably Numb. There is a small section of lead guitar after this stanza. Again the doctor thinks that the patient is understanding what is going on. Just like the song states, ” Ok, just a little pin prick, there will be no more “Aaah Aah”, but you may feel a little sick”. Again the patient goes on saying, their treatment is of no use. He had a fleeting glimpse, out of the corner of the eye…..And the child is gone and the dream is gone, and he has become Comfortably Numb. Finally, the best solo of Gilmour begins with an extended version. However, the crowd wanted more and it ended with the audience applauding and chanting “ho, ho, yea, the boss man.”
Mr Gimour thanked the audience and introduced the band members. Everyone clapped after the introduction of the band. I was in a hurry, as I had to buy merchandise from the stores set up outside. I hugged Janice and Bill who sat beside me throughout the concert and wished them a great life. I chose the shortest path to the merchandise stores. I bought three t-shirts: one for my cousin who introduced me to the band, second one for my friend with whom I jammed and shared Pink Floyd throughout my life and for myself.
Finally, I took with me memories that will be treasured in heaven locked inside. When I was a child I felt like I had to be a Tintin. When I grew older, sega megadrive was my life. When I was a teenager, I was exposed to Bryan Adams, GunsN’Roses, Metallica, Sepultura and I would never be able to stop counting. However, when my older brother introduced me to Pink Floyd, something changed constantly. I passed my secondary school exam with flying colors. I told mother you have to buy me CDs. It was the end of the 90s, however, CDs were expensive and original could be found in a stadium located in Dhaka. My mother bought me The Final Cut, Momentary Lapse of Reason, The Division Bell and The Dark Side of the Moon. I thanked my mother from the bottom of my heart. Only this time, she never bothered why I am buying expensive CDs. Me and my friends experimented a lot, “the kids of the 90s”. One thing remained constant, the Pink Floyd experience. Though their genre is Psychedelic Rock, I don’t think it’s a great categorization. I would actually rank them in the same genre as Progressive Metal.
I am a simple man, however, sometimes, my Almighty provides me the unthinkable experiences which only happens magically. It is not a million dollar job or getting into the best business schools. However, He knows better what I want and am thankful to Him for this maximum yield.
Cheers, Pink Floyd Fans
Originally the draft was written in March 2016
explorelife365 