Pink Floyd - 1977-02-25 - Paris, FR (AUD/FLAC) "Charade" Sigma 10

(Audience FLAC)

Live at Pavillion de Paris

Charade (Sigma 10)

Matrix Disc 1: SIGMA 10 DISC 1
Matrix Disc 2: SIGMA 10 DISC 2
(P) 2008 Made In Japan Promotional Use Only - Not For Sale

More Infos from Collectors Music Reviews

Disc 1: Time:
01. Sheep 11:49
02. Pigs On The Wing 1 1:51
03. Dogs 18:25
04. Pigs On The Wing 2 2:15
05. Pigs (Three Different Ones) 17:26

Total Time: 51:46


Disc 2: Time:
01. Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Parts 1-5) 13:40
02. Welcome To The Machine 8:00
03. Have A Cigar 6:12
04. Wish You Were Here 6:11
05. Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Parts 6-9) 18:02
06. Money 9:44

Total Time: 64:19

Charade represents the first silver release of the complete February 25th, 1977 Pavillion de Paris show on Pink Floyd’s Animals tour. Three previous silver titles released in the nineties featured the second half of the show, the songs from Wish You Were Here.

Shine On (Black Cat Records BC 25) released in 1992 from Australia ran about 5% too fast and was sourced from a high generation copy of the tape. Live Volume 2 (Joker Productions JOK-013-B) is another Australian release that is probably a remaster of Shine On.

“Shine On You Crazy Diamond (1-5)” fades out early and there are gaps between the songs, but has been described by collectors as “listenable.” Finally Paris 1977 (The Screaming Abdabs 091-014) is another release of the second half of the show on silver with the same issues as the others.

In the ensuing decade a lower generation copy of the show surfaced that offers the first half of the show and improved sound quality but missing “Have A Cigar” and “Wish You Were Here.”
Charade uses an alternate tape to fill in the gaps to complete the show.

The sound quality is very good and clear with the emphasis on the higher frequencies. It lacks the dynamic live sound and bottom end of Funhouse on Siréne, which documents the opening show from this set. It does however capture the same spooky atmosphere. The Parisian audiences were much m more quiet and respectful to the musicians.

The American shows the following summer would be a different story with many good tapes ruined by drunken morons yelling over the tape. There are minor distortion issues and slight channel drops during the first half of “Sheep,” but the tape clears up nicely and the rest of the Animals material is excellently recorded.

At this point Floyd had been touring for a month with the new material and already developed a tight presentation. The tape captures very well the Psalm 23 section of the first song which on many tapes is buried in the mix. “Dogs” has a tremendous about of bite (no pun intended) and the audience like the barking dogs in the middle.

“Pigs (Three Different Ones)” builds to a tremendous climax. 
At 11:57 Waters shouts out “SIX….ONE” to indicate this is the sixteenth show of the world tour.
Of all the songs in the set, this one is the most recently written and one gets the impression that, as Gilmour is spitting
out these angry metallic riffs, that the audience is sitting there with mouths open in astonishment.

The second half of the show featuring the Wish You Were Here material is more well known. The sound becomes slightly more fuzzy during “Shine On You Crazy Diamond Parts 1-5,” but the playing again is very aggressive and Dick Parry’s saxophone squeaks a bit. What is somewhat noticable in the first half, but becomes more apparent in the second is that this is definitely a David Gilmour concert.

Despite the show being tightly choreographed to fit the visuals on the screen, Gilmour takes every opportunity to produce unique solos, riffs, and throwaway riffs to make this show all his own. Charade is packaged in a double slimline jewel case with dull finish paper inserts, limited to two hundred copies.