Breathe

Pink Floyd‘s concerts are shrouded in both truth and myth. Between giant pigs flying out into the audience, huge walls being erected, and playing the legendary Pompeii, the iconic band not only pushed the boundaries of their music, but looked to bring an all new visual experience to their audience.

During the 60’s with Syd Barrett, Pink Floyd used psychedelic lighting to set their scene, but after the change in their lineup from Barrett to new singer and guitarist David Gilmour, the band needed something new to compliment their spacious arrangements. Insert Ian Emes.

Floyd had worked with Emes during the early seventies periodically and for their 1974/75 Dark Side of the Moon tour hired the filmmaker to make short movies to be shown behind the band with the images relating to what song they were playing. For example, the song “Money” would be visually aided with coins, dollars, and other riches being projected in the background and “Time” would have clocks and other things to guide the narrative. All of these animations and shorts were to be shown on the newly introduced (and now infamous) circular screen behind the band.

The first leg of the Dark Side of the Moon tour was the England/France shows in 1974 where these videos were shown for the first time. Enjoy the music…



The set of the videos for the 1975 North American tour (the Wish You Were Here tour) were a bit different however by trading out some of the surreal imagery for short films that were shot on location with actors and such. Sit back and relax for this ride as well…



These videos offer an exciting glimpse into the shows that followed Pink Floyd‘s monumental album and how the band incorporated iconic visuals into iconic music.