Pink Floyd
'Hunting Animals in Berlin'
Deutschlandhalle, Berlin
January 30th 1977
Godfather Records (G.R.) 254 / 255
Silver CD > FLAC
**Notes included with Silver CD**
Pink Floyd released their "Animals" LP in January 1977, after about 7 months of working sessions, in their
new recording studio built up on Britannia Row, Islington, North London. The decision made earlier in 1975
to postpone the recording of "Raving and Drooling" and "You Gotta Be Crazy" (renamed "Sheep" and "Dogs",
respectively, on the definitive album) was really wise, because with a new Waters composition "Pigs (3
Different Ones)", and the acoustic bookends of "Pigs on the Wing Pt 1" and "Pigs on the Wing Pt 2", they form
the backbone of the album. The tour started on January 23rd (with the new guitar player Snowy White siding
Gilmour, and Dick Parry on sax also) in Dortmund with two shows, and kept the band busy until July (the
infamous show in Montreal on July 6th where Waters spat in the face of a guy in the crowd). It was a remarkable
tour, anyway; very ambitious and spectacular, enlivened by flying pigs, floating cars and fireworks. The set
consisted of the entire "Animals" LP, with songs in a different order in the first half, followed by the "Wish
You Were Here" LP in its entirety, and "Money" (or "Us and Them") as an encore. The tour saw Gilmour come into
his own with some searing guitar work, especially on "Shine On You Crazy Diamond Pt 8", "Wish You Were Here, and
"Money". It was a tour of alienation, too, and Waters and his ego started to destroy the friendships and
co-operation between band members (especially Wright). In November 1979 they released their masterwork LP "The
Wall", but this tour was a great swansong!
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Pink Floyd?s tour in 1977 has always been popular, but the past four years has seen a constant stream of
releases on silver that is really quite remarkable. Hunting Animals In Berlin contains the second of two
concerts in Berlin a week into the long tour in support of Animals. Godfather use the same complete audience
recording also utilized on Berlin 30.1.77 (Hip Records), Berlin 1977 (Windmill 028) a five CDR set with the
January 29th show, and the fan produced Absolut Floyd. The sound quality is good to very good with a very
quiet audience throughout the show. The taper was somewhat distant away from the stage and there is very
slight fuzziness during the very loud parts of the music. There are also noticeable drops in sound quality
before ?Pigs On The Wing Part 2? and ?Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Parts 6-9).? But the sound compares
favorably with the other shows from the first week of the tour. The taper also caught the minute and a
half announcer at the beginning who was laying the ground rules for the audience.
With the Animals LP, Pink Floyd achieved the perfect balance between form and content. The previous two LPs
dealt with such abstract concepts that there was some obscurity about what they were singing about. David
Gilmour stated that people still to this day that people ask him what Dark Side Of The Moonwas about. And
with Wish You Were Here, the issues they were singing about, the rapaciousness of the music industry and the
descent into madness of Syd Barrett, were hopelessly obscure that the audience wouldn?t know that unless told
beforehand. Animals, by contrast, deals with more concrete themes and is an indictment of the very structure
of our culture. Anyone who would pay a fleeting glimpse to the lyrics can understand and identify with what
the songs are addressing producing a greater point of contact with the audience.
This show in Berlin occurs a week into the tour and the delivery of the material is very good. The songs do
not stray too far from the their studio counterparts and wouldn?t be expanded significantly until they played
in North America the following summer. The 23rd Psalm part in ?Sheep? is very well recorded. There seems to
be some PA issues in the latter half of ?Dogs? because Gilmour can?t be heard during the ?Who was born in a
house full of pain? part until the final couple of lines, leaving Waters to sing most of them. The final
song of the first half ?Pigs (Three Different Ones)? is fifteen minutes long and includes Gilmour?s big solo
of the set. Some collectors claim to hear Waters shout a ?choked six? at 11:46, but it is very hard to tell
and is doubtful he says anything. Although this is the sixth show of the tour, he would shout that number
the following night in Vienna.
The second half of the show sounds tentative at the beginning but turns out to be the stronger of the two sets.
There are some problems with Dick Parry?s sax in ?Shine On You Crazy Diamond Parts 1-5.? Either he misses his
cue at 11:43 or the microphone wasn?t turned up. He can be faintly heard until he comes blasting in at 12:24.
The radio between ?Have A Cigar? and ?Wish You Were Here? does not pick up anything too interesting and they
hurry along to the acoustic number. The only encore played in ?Money? which comes to a screeching halt and
Waters says, ?Guten Abend? at the end. Hunting Animals In Berlinis packaged in a tri-fold gatefold sleeve
with many photos from the tour. It is nice to see a bright colorful cover instead the normal dark cover with
stenciled title used by labels in Japan. This is a title worth having.
TRACK LISTING
Disc 1
1. Introduction
2. Sheep
3. Pigs on the Wing Pt 1
4. Dogs
5. Pigs on the Wing Pt 2
6. Pigs (3 Different Ones)
Disc 2
1. Shine On You Crazy Diamond Pts 1 - 5
2. Welcome To The Machine
3. Have A Cigar
4. Wish You Were Here
5. Shine On You Crazy Diamond Pts 6 - 9
6. Money