Our thanks to Theatrice Westbrook for very kindly sharing recollections of a couple of special days in Los Angeles, California, in April 1988, when Pink Floyd played at the Memorial Coliseum as part of the A Momentary Lapse Of Reason tour:

Rehearsal for the North American leg of stadium tour, April 14:
I was living near the Coliseum, 2 blocks away. For some years I had begun to take advantage of the proximity of concert venues. I often would just seek out a scalper and find a ticket. As these were also large sports venues there was a broker across the street on Martin Luther King, Jr Blvd and I could check there for tickets also, as I did for the 1987 show I attended.

After several shows in Australia and Japan, the next leg of the “A Momentary Lapse of Reason” tour was set to open in Los Angeles on April 15, 1988. Since I had seen the concert in 1987 I figured there was no need to see them again. They were not expected to return, no one expected the initial tour to be so successful. It was somewhat of a bucket list thing to get a taste of the old stage show, with “Mr Screen”, the films, the lighting and sound effects. So I decided not to bother with the chaos of seeking out a ticket for an even larger crowd. I was even enticed by a direct ticket offer. A week or so earlier, the husband and wife owners of Record Retreat at University Village, the former record store where I had bought LPs since college, had 2 good floor seats to sell me for $44 each. Though a tiny voice told me I should have, I declined their offer.

For a couple of days we had heavy rains, which stopped in early afternoon. I was walking home and heard music from the Coliseum, which was open. Gates were open, so I snuck in through the tunnel. I thought I heard the crew testing the equipment and instruments. As I inched inside - waiting each moment to be told, or yelled at, to exit - it became evident that it was the actual band playing.

I crept, closer and closer down the tunnel, till I was in the Coliseum, watching the band rehearse from the mouth of the tunnel. I was at ground level, at the opposite end of the arena from the stage. It was massive, with two huge columns of PA on each side. Basically the stage and lighting was the same setup as the 1987 tour but on a larger scale. (I snuck in just as I had done months earlier on vacation in London, when the “pitch” was being mowed at the original Wembley Stadium: I crept in through the tunnel and walked around the stadium floor, taking pix of that awesome venue.)

I saw Pink Floyd testing lights and sound, tuning, playing "Master Blaster" by Stevie Wonder, "Where Is The Love?" by Donny Hathaway & Roberta Flack, and other jams during soundcheck. Durga McBroom sang lead on “Where Is The Love?” (Snippets of one or two other songs were rehearsed. I long ago forgot which other songs, as I did not take note of the occasion. Looking back, I can't believe that! The rehearsal reminded me of a book I read about Pink Floyd which described a soundcheck in 1975 where they jammed Ace's "How Long" for about 10 minutes. Would love to hear a recording of that. But my rehearsal soundcheck here will suffice.)

I was there in the tunnel for about 20-25 minutes. Then David Gilmour ended the rehearsal, announcing "a 3/4 run-through after dinner." That evening the rains came back, pretty heavy. This further dissuaded me from going to next day’s opening show. Note: Much of the tour is now viewable online and fans are familiar with the proceedings. But here I will add my impressions from the tour.

Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles CA - April 15, 1988:
It was the first show of the North American stadium leg. The skies had cleared. I decided at the last minute to go to the show after all but went my scalper route. This was a really hit-and-miss activity. I got a scalper seat (eventually from the ticket broker on MLK - after leaving him and finding no cheaper alternatives, then returning and finding his price did not decrease close to show time as it did in 1987!) The ticket was more expensive than the $44 Record Retreat ones, and the seat was waaay back up high. Should have taken those floor tix!

I don’t usually like to attend opening-of-tour concerts, preferring to see groups mid-tour or at end of tour where all the kinks are worked out and the bands are (hopefully) firing on all cylinders. But this one was actually part of a continuation, as we would come to find, of a very long tour.

I got in early, waited around an hour for the show to start. Saw the quad PA system, which I didn’t seek out during the rehearsal. Two large cranes were set up near us with lines down to the stage, one with the flying bed prop set up.

Sound was a bit diluted way back, but still good. Quad PA was in effect; one of the PA stacks was up behind me but not close enough to cause sound imbalance. Nature sounds began in the surround PA about 45 minutes before the concert.

First Set:
Setlist was almost exactly the same as on the '87 leg, beginning again with “Shine On, You Crazy Diamond (Pt. I-V)” As on the first leg - and in bold tradition of the Floyd - the new album was highlighted in the opening set. The whole album would be played here, except for “One Slip” as the opening encore. The same new films accompanied the new tracks on Mr Screen as on the earlier tour leg. At this point the audience was much more familiar with the new cuts. Many more new and younger fans were in attendance since last leg of the tour, although Pink Floyd had already gained some younger fans in preceding years via their legendary status. One could see the effect of the cross-generational allure of the music; now many younger fans had a chance to witness the live show. Their numbers began to grow as the sizes of venues began to increase. The reactions of those in the crowd who were seeing the show for the first time was noticeable.

Lighting effects and moving rigs were still effective (though far away) in this setting, some more than others. Overall the intelligent lites had great impact. Mr Screen worked out fine, everything was viewable. Though not quite as large, this was a precursor to the gigantic video screens regularly in use today. Nowadays (21st Century), Mr Screen serves double duty, also as a live video (digital) projection screen.

Lasers appeared at the end of “Yet Another Movie.” I was curious how lasers would appear in an outside venue, and the dangers. “Terminal Frost” was the first song extensively utilising lasers, which worked in the big stadium. If one is aware of laser origins and capabilities, questions may arise about safe use as an entertainment apparatus. (The concerns would be about intensity and direction, i.e., cannot sweep beams randomly into the audience due to danger to eyesight; cannot randomly shoot lasers into the sky due to hazards to flight crews and aircraft. Many of us haven’t the slightest concern about these things while rocking out at a show.) This piece had a calming, chill effect on the audience, as done in ’87. The song could fit into the Smooth Jazz category. I found this newly impressive aspect of Pink Floyd: now possibly appealing to an even wider audience - maybe to the displeasure of some uncompromising fans - as has occurred before with "Another Brick In The Wall, Pt.2.” (That song, of course, received huge audience response in the second set.)

"Sorrow" - With the juice turned on, Gilmour shook the foundations of the Sports Arena in ’87 on the guitar intro and outro. Robots elevated from below stage, with the laser-like lights shooting out over the audience. The effect was dampened that far back where I sat. This would have been awesome on those floor seats. (I did have a small taste of the gargantuan sound, from a different perspective, at the dress rehearsal.)

“On TheTurning Away” again closed the first set. I was also curious how moving lights around Mr Screen would work in an outside venue, as they were contained inside the Sports Arena. The lights should have had interesting effect outside as these intelligent lites had longer throw than conventional ones, and there was no roof to contain the beams. But there was the black stage drapery hung atop, on sides and behind, which gave a similar enclosed, “indoor” effect onstage on an enlarged scale. (The backdrop and cover was also for inclement weather.) As is widely known among fans, the light cues for this song were that they moved in and out around the screen, intermittently changing patterns around the edge. Still a striking sight on an enlarged scale - especially for those down closer.

Second Set:
Opening this set as on the first leg, “One of These Days” included the animated light show which was a showpiece due to the moving lites around Mr Screen, similar yet more lively than the effect used on “Turning Away.” The pig appeared here in the mid-section and was, as always, a huge hit. (I don’t recall if the pig was bigger than the one used at indoor arenas.)

“The Dark Side Of The Moon" tracks were highlighted in this set, as was done in ’87. Great seeing the 1970’s movies again. Though not quite as blown away as I was the first time, the sights were still mind-blowing, a treat to experience live with the music. (This was only my second viewing, as there was no Internet for repeat viewings at will, and the VHS release was still a year away.) The effect of the flying, crashing bed on "On The Run" was minimised greatly from that far back and in such a large venue, even though the flash-pot was larger than the one used at the Sports Arena. I had anticipated this and was somewhat disappointed. They would have needed a giant bed prop (how large could you go?) or other effect; it worked better inside a “smaller” arena.

”The Great Gig In The Sky" was added to the set, with the "Crystal Voyager" surfing waves on Mr Screen as was played in the Seventies. I had some familiarity since seeing the surfing movie in college. Yet I had not seen it paired with this song (and in a pink/purplish tint). This was impressive and on a massive scale. The piece and the voices somehow were fitting for this large, cavernous place. The film for “Us and Them” had a somber, quieting effect on the crowd. It was actually effective, and it fit the music. I was never sure over all these years if many in the audiences understood this song.

"Another Brick In The Wall, Pt.2" was a big hit all around with Floyd fans and many others, and this show was no exception. No giant Teacher puppet tonight; the song spoke for itself, with the evening’s excellent lighting accompaniment.

Back-in-the-day it was easier to roam around an arena towards the end of the show, sometimes getting very close to the stage, or at least to the floor. This time, I could not go down closer to the stage. When I tried to get closer at the end of second half of the main set on "Comfortably Numb" to see the mirror ball up close, ushers were blocking the aisles to the lower sections. The view was blocked, and people in the aisles blocking me also interfered with the sound. This destroyed the effect of the piece for me. I truly wanted to see this done on a larger scale.

The lighting blitz of the “Run Like Hell” finale, what I could make out of it over and between heads and bodies, did work out well. Most of the show translated up to this larger scale (the Floyd were no strangers to stadium shows), but some spots could have been reworked for the bigger space or just left to the music. Their lighting could have taken up any visual slack.

Whereas today the majority of effects can be achieved on oversized screens without props, the giant technical support systems such as the cranes added another dimension, a certain charm - a peek under the hood, so to speak - for all to see at the Coliseum. Overall I still believe it was as immersive an experience as could have been conceived at the time. Pink Floyd were among the innovators of mammoth concert staging. The audience was pumped. The band was regaining its traction and status on the concert trail. We were reminded of what a force they were in the music world.