The Great Pig in the Sky

Many of you probably know I came to Bombay just for the Great Gig made possible by Amit. Waters, my favourite member of Floyd (after Barrett, but then again most of Floyd came after Barrett), decided to make it up to me by playing at a time when I could attend. And this time by playing the whole of the Dark Side of the Moon.

The concert was spectacular, the sound was excellent, the pyrotechnics, the lights, fireworks on stage; everything one expects from a Floyd show was there; including the Pig. The pig is an integral part of Floyd shows and was designed by Waters. When the band broke up, Waters who had the copyright decided to charge the others each time they used the pig. Finally the other members of the band came up with their own pig by adding testicles and changing its gender. I was reminded of the Walrus and the Carpenter where the Walrus asks “And whether pigs have wings”. Well it didn’t need wings, the Helium Pig floated away after imparting the priceless and profound wisdom of Habeas Corpus. Which is when Rishi Iyengar yelled out “The Great Pig in the Sky!”.

Back to the concert. He started with In the Flesh (Wall), Mother (Wall), The Fletcher Memorial Home (The Final Cut) and Perfect Sense-I (Amused to Death- Waters). He also played a new track called Leaving Beirut, with its in your face anti-Bush agenda. I was overjoyed when he played Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun (Saucerful of Secrets) which is not a popular Floyd track, but embodies the psychedelic sound that Barrett was known for; it’s also the only song he played from a Barrett album. And the tribute to Barrett was fantastic. He played Shine on you Crazy Diamond (I-V) and Have a Cigar and Wish You Were Here. Shine on You Crazy Diamond was the first Floyd song I heard many years ago, thanks to him, and fell in love ever since. Barrett’s loss last year was heartbreaking, perhaps more so for Waters than anyone else.

The second half of the show, which was the whole of Dark Side of the Moon, took my breath away. Perhaps that’s why he started with “Breathe, breathe in the air”. Starting with Speak to Me he went on to Breathe, On the Run, Time, Breathe Reprise, The Great Gig in the Sky, Money, Us and Them, Any Colour You Like, Brain Damage and Eclipse. I must have heard the album a few hundred times in the last decade and many references came to mind.

“Money, so they say; Is the root of all evil today.” reminded me of the speech by Francisco d’Anconia in Atlas Shrugged. And then there was the Rabbit and the English Way and Black and Blue and the Paper Boy and the Dark Side of the Moon and the Sun eclipsed by the Moon. And in the trademark cynical Waters style he conceptualises the whole album with “There is no dark side of the moon really. Matter of fact it’s all dark.”

It didn’t end there, though such an end would have been fitting. They pretended to leave but came back with “You! Yes, you! Stand still laddy!” and went on to play Another Brick in the Wall-II. And then Vera, Bring the Boys Back Home and finally ended with Comfortably Numb.

The perfect Waters concert.