The Tokyo Moon

The Floyd road-testing DSOTM in Japan, March 1972. One of a number of Floyd gigs from 1972 which have surfaced in recent months from various sources, all showcasing the development of their magnum opus.Quality- wise, this one is fairly decent. Overall the sound is clear and bright, each instrument visible and in balance. The vocals occasionally become a touch muffled, as often happens with unofficial recordings of this nature, bearing in mind of course it is over fifty years old.Performance wise, the band are on good form, enjoying playing the new material to an appreciative audience.The biggest negative of this release though, as other reviewers have pointed out, is that around a minute into Us and Them, the record abruptly fades subsequently picking the set back up at Eugene.It does contain complete performances of the night's final two numbers, which the Sapporo cd from seven days later has missing, but the sudden disappearance of Dark Side from this performance is annoying!I guess one solution would be to take the last two/three numbers here (Eugene, Echoes and Saucerful) and tag them onto the end of the Sapporo cd to make one complete performance (Japan '72 maybe?). The Dark Side portion is better on the Tokyo disc, both in terms of recording quality and performance in my opinion, but Sapporo has the advantage of being the complete run through of Dark Side along with the opening number of the second set (Days), which is also missing from Tokyo.The two discs give a fair representation of where the Floyd were at in March '72, working on newly written material but still to commence recording the piece (May '72 possibly for the initial sessions?). But neither disc is definitive in its own right. As I said, you may need to mix and match the two to give a complete set, but for the committed hardcore Floyd fanatic these discs are of immeasurable interest, and they are at a price and quality far better than we had in years gone by.

Pink Floyd on their second visit to Japan for 6 shows in March 1972, performing 'Dark Side Of The Moon' aka 'Eclipse (A Piece For Assorted Lunatics)', in the early stages of development that would eventually see an official release one year later.For what it is, this is a very good quality and possibly semi-pro, audience-based recording in stereo, with an above average balance mix and standard of audio dynamics and clarity. Apparently, this recording was broadcast (probably later) on Japan radio, as there's a short announcement made in what seems to be a different location by a studio disc jockey, tagged onto the end of the performance. Whether or not that is a genuine insert remains unknown to myself. However, this disc is neither representative of the entire concert and nor is it without some major faults.It's maybe worth mentioning that the introduction, 'Speak To Me' was still at this stage a much abbreviated version at around 50 seconds in length. There's a slight title error with 'The Travel Sequence' with the use of 'Section' instead. It's noticeable that whilst Richard Wright's and David Gilmour's vocals are quite clear during 'Time', and 'Breathe (Reprise)', Gilmour's guitar sounds somewhat muted in the mix. 'The Mortality Sequence' seems to be a slightly shorter 4 minute version with perhaps about 30 seconds worth missing compared to other contemporary performances and features much less of Malcolm Muggeridge.'Money' is with Wright's organ solo that precedes Gimour's guitar solo and again the guitar is slightly muted in places throughout which may have something to do with the balance mix of the band's new four-channel 360-degree quadrophonic sound system that is bouncing the sound around the hall.At this point in the recording things go rapidly downhill.At 54 seconds into 'Us And Them' there's a brutal edit cut and then followed by another 20 seconds, just as Wright begins his vocal and before we know it there's a very quick fade-out and it's over. That's it - there's no more of 'Dark Side Of The Moon.'All remaining songs as performed, 'Any Colour You Like', 'Brain Damage' and 'Eclipse' are missing.The second set opener 'One Of These Days' is also missing.'Careful With That Axe, Eugene' which the Floyd have now played more times than they've had hot dinners, is still quite exceptional, replete with Roger Waters going fairly mental with his scream-part and gets a decent run at over 12 minutes in length.'Echoes' is performed in its full 24 minutes and thankfully Gilmour's guitar is sounding pretty decent throughout and the "funky" section which starts around the 8 minute mark is very good indeed, despite a very brief drop in sound quality for a few seconds around the 10 minute mark. The separation sound quality of the four instruments only adds to the enjoyment.The encore, 'A Saucerful Of Secrets' at a moderate 13 minutes, despite not being introduced as was Waters' general procedure, receives an enthusiastic welcome upon its opening bars and is performed with such grace and musical skill and devoid of much of its earlier psychedelic wig out craziness. Nick Mason's drums do sound very good during the first section before the melancholy organ by Wright floats in and performed almost uninterrupted except for the supporting backdrop provided by his band mates. This section is pretty much Wright's tour de force. Attentive listeners may detect some incessant, albeit muted chatter on the right-channel which is only a minor irritation.Despite obvious failings, this recording is not without merit and worth hearing, if only just for Wright's performance on 'A Saucerful Of Secrets'.Four stars for the above average quality of the recording and band performance.

Just bought this based on manufacturer/amazon website description but without a review of it. Now there's mine! The Tokyo Moon is a very good stereo audience recording BUT there is persistent, very irritating, virtually continuous, low-level audience chatter on every track picked up by the taper's microphones. I thought Japanese audiences were respectful. Not at this concert. I've only listened to a few minutes of each track but the continuous chatter has totally put me off listening to any more of each track. From what I've heard it seems to be a great concert but nobody shouted STFU!