This page collects together some of the comments Brain Damage has received from its visitors, about the band's Live 8 reunion on 2nd July, 2005, at London's Hyde Park. Our thanks to everyone who wrote in with their views; we only wish we could post them all! All pictures taken by Andy Whitworth.
Please pass on this message to
anyone who might relay it to the band members: THANK YOU SO MUCH! YOU
HAVE MADE A DREAM COME TRUE FOR SO MANY PEOPLE, MYSELF FIRST AND
FOREMOST, AND IN A CONTEXT THAT WILL DEFINITELY MAKE THE MESSAGE OF
'MAKE POVERTY HISTORY' MORE POIGNANT AND AGGRESSIVE TO ALL THOSE
PARTICIPATING. PINK FLOYD LEGENDS FOREVER.
-- Claudine Slater, Malta.
I always knew the band would get
back together...after my father and his brother didn’t talk for 25
years and got back together I knew anything was possible. There is no
question that this band with the aid of session musicians can afford to
do one last tour - just look at the Rolling Stones, and I know Roger
would definitely tour again...and there is no way that the band would
tour without Roger. It just couldn’t happen without him; I give them
another year to 2 years and you’ll see a tour.
-- Sean Baghai
It was great. The band sounded
like a band. If ever there was a right time to put aside petty
differences this was surely it. All floyd fans dream of the day that
they hit the road again and recreate the great music they have given us
for nearly 40 years. That may never happen so we'll just have to take
22 mins they gave us on Saturday and dream the rest.
-- Paul Burke
Having never seen the Floyd live,
it was a great experience. The performance of Wish You Were Here
brought a tear to my eye. But the most emotional part for me was the
obvious delight Roger Waters was having playing again with his old
band. He looked like a little boy out there, having the time of his
life. For such a serious guy, that was just wonderful to watch.
From one fan, many thanks to the band for completing the circle.
-- Brent K. Walker, Toronto, Ontario
It was absolutely superb! A pity
they only played 4 tracks, but better than nothing. Here's hoping they
can be convinced to do a world tour! I am 23 years old from sydney. I
cannot remember the last time I cried, but tears streamed down may face
when I heard them play on the radio. I found it very difficult to even
sing along. Even though I was lucky enough to be 7 rows from the front
at Roger's In The Flesh Tour '02, I never imagined a reunion was on the
cards. Good on Sir Bob for talking them into it! The sound was as if
they had never broken up. Not bad at all for a bunch of old men! Truly
the greatest band ever.
-- Phil Cosgrave
I sincerely hope everyone one
around the world felt for one second the feeling I felt on July 2nd
2005. Seeing Pink Floyd reunite was possibly the most unforeseeable
thing I ever thought possible. It was the kind of sight that made me
think that anything is possible. I thank David, Roger, Richard, and
Nick for coming together to play this concert. I will never forget
7/2/2005 and what it stood for; change is possible and it starts with
us. I just thank Pink Floyd and Sir Bob for making us aware of what is
going on.
-- Steven A. Valvano, Scotrun, Pennsylvania, United States
I live in Oz so when Floyd came
on it was about 8:00am. I had my 3 year old son on my knee and halfway
through Breathe he said "Mum, Dad's crying".
I began to think
that we gotta strike while the iron is hot. I know we got zero chance
but I reckon we should get a petition going for an reunited album/tour.
Yeah, Gilmour has his current solo project and so has Waters but, why
the hell not. Let's get 500,000 emails, all individualized personal
pleas. It would not take long for word to get around, hell, we may end
up with a million emails. Look, it's a long shot but so was last night.
-- Stu, Oz
This is only the beginning,
please God make them tour together again! Yesterday Pink Floyd once
again were on top of the world not only musically but also politically
at the woodstock of the 2000's (the woodstock of this current
generation...). We will live to remember this night forever, study it
at school, dream about it at night, talk about it at daytime. Please
God make them feel that they should and could do that mega tour
together that we dream about every night before we go to sleep.
-- Itai Simon, Israel
Oh, oh, oh, oh, Wish I had been there. I'm 52 and reduced to tears. What can I say? Bloody marvellous!
-- Paul Gale
The best 20 minutes of my life to see Pink Floyd perform!!
-- Tony Wynne
I
was one of the lucky 200,000 in Hyde Park (I was in the big screen
areas) looking forward to watching live the Pink Floyd reunion. The
band stood head and shoulders above the other acts, showing an
incredible poise and timeless musical talent. I think the chosen set
could not have been better from the opening Breathe setting the pace to
the beautifully played Comfortably Numb passing through the classic
Money and emotional and moving WYWH. It was a classy and remarkable act
from the best ever rock band. I was delighted to see Roger enjoying
himself and that smile Dave gave to Nick/Roger marking a defining
moment. Musically, I though that the band played great except for a few
minor slips and the audiovisual show was reminiscent of Pink Floyd
standards. I was pleased to see the people enjoying this moment waving
and chanting although for Floyd fans the sensations must have been much
more vivid and profoud. By the time WYWH was being played, I was in
tears and my emotions towards the end with Comfortably Numb were
peaking. The final moment with the band standing together was very
touching and emotive, although a feeling of sadness came to my mind
when I realized that this was probably the last time the Pink Floyd
were standing together. Thanks to Nick, Dave, Roger and Rick for this
dream come true for all the Floyd fans. We will always remember this
moment.
-- Sebastian Freille, Nottingham, UK
After I missed the Earls Court
Wall concert all those years ago because the bloke who was supposed to
drive us to London got drunk "by accident" (imagine sitting in Cardiff
with ticket in hand while the Floyd were on stage in London!!!) I never
thought that I could cry so hard about the Floyd again - I was wrong.
I'm so glad I taped the show because I could hardly see the TV for
tears. God bless Dave, Roger, Rick and Nick for having the grace to let
us touch heaven again.
-- Skywise012000
What a show! I watched it on a
Big screen with my girlfriend and Roger was right when he said it was
emotional. Both my girlfriend and I, and I'm not ashamed to say it, had
a tear in our eye throughout Wish You Were Here. I know it's only
wishful thinking, but i hope they (Roger and David) can put the past
behind them and get back to what they do best. Play Live!
-- Patrishia O'Connor
Pink Floyd the greatest band of
all time was a sight to see. The band looked GREAT, and sounded
brilliant! David looked well, and slimming down a bit from the release
of his DVD in 2003. I watched in awe of a sight I thought would never
happen! Living on the other side of the world (Hawaii) I tried and
tried to get tickets, and would have give all my worldly possessions to
have made the show. I actually cried two times while watching the
wonderful show.
I have long said that by not playing anymore,
the Floyd has no idea who they are effecting and in what way. I can
only hope that the magic was felt in all of their hearts to fulfill my
lifelong dream of actually seeing the greatest band of ALL time live
and in person.
-- Rick Frazier, Maui HI
This cracking performance was one
of their best "modern" shows I've heard with Gilmour getting the guitar
solos spot on - heroic but not over-indulgent. Nick was giving the
drums a fair thump during 'Money' and Rick's swirling organ chords
swept majestically through the mix on "Comfortably Numb".
I'm
no psychologist but the TV coverage made it look like Roger was doing
all the work to make amends - did I see a look of smugness on Gilmour's
face? It was definitely much warmer between Dave and Nick than Gilmour
and Waters!
Chance of a reunion tour? I won't be clearing my diary yet...
PS. Would have preferred 'Axe', 'Cymbaline', and 'Set The Controls' but
nobody's perfect!
-- Andy Gibbons
I thought floyd's performance was
just sublime. Magnificent, silky-smooth and magical. And along with the
who's fissile performance just before, were the two real powerhouse,
show-stealers of the day: two of the finest rock guitarists in action
back-to-back. A real treat. While apparently Gilmour has just turned
down a $200m (now THAT's brand clout) offer to tour the reformed band
in US, I hope that getting together for live8 will prompt a longer-term
reconciliation that gets them on the stage once more. The demand
is certainly there.
-- Jules Wright
I was petrified that it would
somehow be an under-rehearsed embarrassment, or a let-down in some way.
I should have known better. As soon as the opening heartbeat took root,
I just knew it was going to be good. What a climax to a great days
entertainment. There had been some really terrific performances - U2,
Madonna, Scissor Sisters, Robbie Williams - but the Floyd were the
tops, a fitting climax. I had not expected the usual range of effects,
like the pre-recorded elements, and visuals: I suppose I thought it
would be more 'intimate' like the concerts Gilmour did a couple of
years ago. But, no, they were all present and correct, and the TV
cameras even panned round at one point and there was the London Eye lit
up and almost pretending to be the Floyds circular screen. Any niggles?
Well, yes: like with other bands, the mix left something to be desired,
as the keyboards, crucial to the feel of Comfortably Numb, were
completely swamped. But in any case, we TV viewers could have been
forgiven for believing that Rick Wright hadn't been invited to the
party, so little did we see of him. And why did Gilmour look so grumpy
at the on-stage ensemble finale? Still, that aside, it was a triumphant
return, and who knows what it might lead to - Nick Masons grin
throughout the set said it all really.
-- Joolz
I'm sorry - got to rant to
somebody - did Gilmour look at Waters once? Tried to leave the stage
before "the hug" - at least Rog was trying to get a musical and visual
connection going - Gilmour just staring ahead like a sheep... Also -
did you think Gilmour looked miffed when Rog interupted intro to WYWH?
Only a punk fan to complain to here... Sorry!
-- James MacDonald
WOW! All I can say again and
again is WOW!!! I can't believe what I just saw with my own eyes and
heard with my own ears! The Real Pink Floyd playing music together
again! Roger, Rick, David and Nick - and nobody else backing them up,
like the army of session players on the last two Roger-less "Floyd"
albums and tours. No, just the sax player (wasn't it Dick Parry from
the original recording?) on Money and the soul singers to help sweeten
Comfortably Numb to round out a great (but WAY too short) performance
by the "boys". This was the second best reunion we could ever hope for
(after, of course, the Beatles, which of course never happened). It was
fantastic to see Roger smiling and rocking with his old mates, Rick
really soaring on his Hammond. I've got to hope that this great reunion
for them will lead to a full-fledged concert, perhaps like the recent
Cream reunion shows in London. Not a tour, because I think that would
dispell the magic for them. Not that I wouldn't go to see them if they
did come here! But I would love to see them do like four shows at, say,
Earl's Court, getting around to playing almost everything from their
history together, all recorded on DVD of course. I just can't imagine
they would have but a 20-minute reunion and then go their separate ways
again. No, they looked real happy together up on stage. I'm glad as
hell they did it, and I hope like hell they'll do it again!
-- Kirk Knighton age 49, who only saw Pink Floyd once, in 1973 on the Dark Side tour
I'm 55 and an ex-soldier. I cried!
-- Paul