Pink Floyd World Tour 1968

Pink Floyd World Tour 1968
Tour by Pink Floyd
Start date 17 February 1968
End date 28 December 1968
Legs 3
No. of shows 88
Pink Floyd concert chronology

Pink Floyd World Tour 1968 was a Pink Floyd world tour spanning February to December 1968 in which the group visited Europe and North America.

History

The tour began with difficulty as the band's lead guitarist, vocalist and primary songwriter Syd Barrett left the band in April 1968.[1] Despite leaving in April, Barrett had only played in the band in January this year, when they were briefly a five-piece with the addition of guitarist David Gilmour, but he soon replaced Barrett entirely.[2] As the main frontman, Barrett had initially been a central part of live performances, although bassist Roger Waters was able to steer the band through a potentially difficult series of live concerts based mainly on the European mainland. Many of these performances took place at multi-artist music festivals in Europe, although the band were starting to establish a successful university circuit around the UK. In these venues, the band were greeted with respect and during some performances the audience would remain silent until the very last note was played.

The tour began on 17 February at the Patronaatsgebouw, Netherlands and ran until a final performance in the Netherlands on the 28 December. The tour was fitted in and around recording commitments and the band did not perform consistently during this period.

After Barrett's departure, many of his songs were gradually dropped from the band's set lists, but some compositions that the band had performed with Barrett remained in their repertoire until 1971, notably "Interstellar Overdrive" and "Astronomy Domine". The latter track was doubled in length with an additional organ solo and repeated verses.[3] "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun" had been performed in late 1967 with Barrett, but the band increasingly extended it to feature more guitar and organ work. This song would be played at almost every Pink Floyd concert until 1972.[4] In 1968, a large gong also became a characteristic part of the band's live show following its introduction at the "Games for May" concert in 1967.

"Careful with That Axe, Eugene", which was introduced in early 1968 under the titles "Murderistic Women"[5] and "Keep Smiling People",[6] would develop into a major part of the band's live shows up until 1973. The song was gradually extended as the year progressed, with initial performances lasting only four minutes and then growing to reach 8 minutes and more. At the latter end of 1968, Waters' vocalizations and climactic screams became a focal point of this piece.

Another increasingly regular addition to Pink Floyd performances was "The Massed Gadgets of Hercules": an early, shorter version of "A Saucerful of Secrets". Like "Eugene", the song was gradually extended from 6 minutes up until around 11 minutes as Gilmour took the wordless vocal on the closing "Celestial Voices" section of the song.

Tour dates

Date City Country Venue
Europe
17 February 1968 Terneuzen Netherlands Patronaatsgebouw
22 February 1968 Leuven Belgium Rijschool
23 February 1968 Antwerp Pannenhuis
24 February 1968 Brussels Cheetah Club
25 February 1968 Bussum Netherlands De Engh
26 February 1968 Cambridge England Lion Hotel
9 March 1968 Manchester Manchester Technical College
14 March 1968 Belfast Northern Ireland Whitla Hall
2 shows
15 March 1968 Oxford England Stage Club, Clardendon Restaurant
16 March 1968 London Casino Hotel, Tagg's Island
20 March 1968 Liverpool New Grafton Rooms
22 March 1968 London Woolwich Polytechnic
18 April 1968 Rome Italy Piper Club
19 April 1968
20 April 1968 RAF Waddington England Raven Club
3 May 1968 London Westfield College
6 May 1968 Rome Italy Palazzo dello Sport EUR
11 May 1968 Falmer England University of Sussex
17 May 1968 London Middle Earth
23 May 1968 Amsterdam Netherlands Paradiso
2 shows
24 May 1968 Lapworth England The Punchbowl Hotel
25 May 1968 Wishaw The Belfry Hotel
26 May 1968 London PF Middle Earth (OZ Magazine benefit)
31 May 1968 Amsterdam Netherlands The Paradiso
The Fantasio
1 June 1968 Lijn 3
Bussum De Engh
2 June 1968 Vlissingen Concertgebouw
3 June 1968 Heesch De Pas
8 June 1968 Haverfordwest Wales Market Hall
12 June 1968 Cambridge England May Ball - King's College
14 June 1968 London University College London
15 June 1968 Manchester Magic Village
21 June 1968 Oxford Commemoration Ball - Balliol College
22 June 1968 The Hague Netherlands Houtrusthallen
26 June 1968 Sheffield England Sheffield University
28 June 1968 Shrewsbury Music Hall
29 June 1968 London Hyde Park Free Concert - Hyde Park
North America
8 July 1968 Chicago, Illinois United States Kinetic Playground
12 July 1968 Detroit, Michigan Grande Ballroom
13 July 1968 Ann Arbor, Michigan Fifth Dimension
15 July 1968 New York City, New York The Scene
16 July 1968
17 July 1968
18 July 1968 Boston, Massachusetts Boston Tea Party
19 July 1968
20 July 1968
24 July 1968 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia Music Festival
26 July 1968 Los Angeles, California Shrine Exposition Hall
27 July 1968
2 August 1968 San Francisco, California Avalon Ballroom
3 August 1968
4 August 1968
9 August 1968 Seattle, Washington Eagles Auditorium
10 August 1968
11 August 1968
16 August 1968 Sacramento, California Sound Factory
17 August 1968
23 August 1968 Los Angeles, California The Bank
24 August 1968
Europe
24 August 1968 Prestatyn Wales The Royal Lido, Central Beach
31 August 1968 Kasterlee Belgium Kastival 68 Festival
1 September 1968 Amsterdam Netherlands Paradiso
4 September 1968 Richmond England Richmond Athletic Club
13 September 1968 Erdington Mothers
20 September 1968 Bristol Victoria Rooms
27 September 1968 Dunoon Scotland Queens Hall
1 October 1968 Glasgow The Maryland Ballroom
4 October 1968 Erdington England Mothers
6 October 1968 London The Country Club - Belsize Park
16 October 1968 Lyon France Théâtre du Huitième
19 October 1968 Brussels Belgium Théâtre 140
20 October 1968 Théâtre 140
2 shows
5 October 1968 London England The Boat House - Kew
26 October 1968 Imperial College London
7 November 1968 Porchester Hall - Bayswater
8 November 1968 Fishmonger's Arms - Wood Green
16 November 1968 Olten Switzerland Restaurant Olten-Hammer
17 November 1968 Zurich Kongresshaus
22 November 1968 Richmond England Richmond Athletic Club
23 November 1968 London Regent Street Polytechnic
24 November 1968 London Country Club - Belsize Park
27 November 1968 Newcastle-under-Lyme Keele University
29 November 1968 London Bedford College
5 December 1968 Bournemouth Royal Arcade Ballrooms
15 December 1968 Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle City Hall
27 December 1968 Rotterdam Netherlands De Doelen
28 December 1968 Utrecht Margriethal-Jaarbeurs

Set list

A typical set list would include some of the following:

  1. "Astronomy Domine"
  2. "Interstellar Overdrive"
  3. "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun"
  4. "Pow R. Toc H."
  5. "Let There Be More Light"
  6. "The Massed Gadgets of Hercules" (first performed on the 23 May 1968, renamed "A Saucerful of Secrets")
  7. "Flaming"
  8. "Keep Smiling People" (a prototype version of "Careful with That Axe, Eugene")

Other songs

  1. "Remember a Day" (played only once on 6 May 1968)
  2. "It Would Be So Nice" (played only once on 11 May 1968)
  3. "Matilda Mother" (played only once on 26 July 1968)

Tour band

Additional musicians

References

  1. ↑ Schaffner, Nicholas (2005). "Prologue – Wish You Were Here". Saucerful of Secrets: The Pink Floyd Odyssey (New ed.). London: Helter Skelter. p. 15. ISBN 1-905139-09-8.
  2. ↑ Manning, Toby (2006). "The Underground". The Rough Guide to Pink Floyd (1st ed.). London: Rough Guides. p. 45. ISBN 1-84353-575-0.
  3. ↑ Manning, Toby (2006). "The Albums". The Rough Guide to Pink Floyd (1st ed.). London: Rough Guides. p. 160. ISBN 1-84353-575-0.
  4. ↑ Mabbett, Andy (1995). The Complete Guide to the Music of Pink Floyd. London: Omnibus,. ISBN 0-7119-4301-X.
  5. ↑ Hodges, Nick and Priston, Ian (1999), Embryo: A Pink Floyd Chronology 1966–1971. Cherry Red Books, p. 126.
  6. ↑ "RoIO CD: Keep Smiling People". Pf-roio.de. Retrieved 16 September 2012.
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