Pink Floyd: 2009 The Great Gig In the Sky

The claim of this bootleg is that for the first time a complete stereo soundboard of Side 2 of Pink Floyd’s working version of Dark Side Of The Moon has surfaced. These are grouped on Tracks 6 to 10. The opening tracks that form side one of the Dark Side album are almost all live versions from the 1972 tour, in surprisingly great quality.
Money comes across as an aggressive hard rocker. Taken at a faster pace with the guitars offering a grit not found on the final released version. There’s also a longer fade with the singer ad-libbing a blues wail.
Us And Them has a much more jazzier, blue note feel. The horns are mixed forward. The phrase “black… and blue” is like soul singer versus jazz cool. This version takes away much of the familiar version’s contemplative, depressive mood. There’s a bite here that doesn’t suggest defeat. This track ends abruptly “joined at the hip” to Any Colour You Like.
The crazy laughter on Brain Damage is very loud on this earlier version. You can’t mistake the song’s intent here. “The lunatic is on the grass…” in plain sight for all to see. Rather than the distance of the released version, this one is claustrophobic, closing in on you with the full aural impact.
Eclipse is the ranting phrases repeated over and over. And that’s it, the working version. As far as we can tell, none of these tracks have been officially released. Overall, an excellent sounding recording.