• 6 -OSO
• EX -BEAKER
• VG-Ex -Scott
• VG -HERWIG

The sound quality is perfectly acceptable, bearing in mind the age and nature of this recording: it's reasonably clear and distortion-free. -TAP (#50)

Interstellar Overdrive is one of the best post Barrett versions I've heard. The band clank and screech along nicely, and indulge in plenty of impovisation. Even better is the closing track A Saucerful Of secrets (NB: listed on the sleeve as Set The Controls...). This version is a raging howl, full of some of the most bitter, grating and violent noise ever recorded. Unfortunately, it fades out tantalisingly before the end, but it's still among the best 18 minutes 13 seconds of the Floyd's career. Atom Heart Mother is one of those post-orchestrated unorcchestrated versions. Embryo, in contrast to the weedy demo on Works and Picnic compilations, comes alive on stage, and this is a powerful version with yet more improvisation.

EDS' NOTE: This gig is apparently unperformed. We'd guess it's from the Spring, not Autumn, tour of 1970 - any offers? -TAP (#50)

High end supressed somewhat. No orch. for AHM. Mastering - vinyl. -OSO

"A Trick Of The Light" says "San Antonio 10/70". Pink Floyd was nowhere NEAR there in 10/70. Actually, they were in Canada and California during most of that time. (Hence the 10/17/70 tape "Brutish Temptation"...) But, I'm not sure what the correct source is.. sorry. -SCOTT

I agree with the previous comments on IO, although the track has changed so much you can see why they stoppped playing it. I disagree about Embryo - this is a very good version, but loses that special slightly disorientat(ing/ed) feel of the Picnic demo that I personally love. I could probably live without AHM. ASoS is great, it's a real shame it fades out, but the vocals are a bit ragged during Celestial Voices. -KeithC

This recording is exactly the same as the Big Pink LP. The Big Pink LP however also has been labelled with a wrong date and venue. Both A Trick Of The Light and Big Pink however are from 12mar70 at the Audimax, Hamburg. -ANDRE

Interstellar Overdrive bears little resemblance to the Syd days as this contains a wonderful post- Barrett jam held together very much by Rick s organ work, which in places sounds very much like Sysyphus to me. Atom Heart Mother contains the drum solo bit similar to the Croyden version on 18jan70, and Birmingham 11feb70, so I m guessing this show is most likely Spring 70. The Embryo solo section is primarily Rick again, but Dave is doing the seagull bit, which again suggests Spring 70. A Saucerful of Secrets is howling mad and one of the best versions I have heard, but does fade out just as the celestial voices portion begins. The SQ is also quite good. I d give it an EX. -BEAKER

I was really surprised by this disc. I bought it mainly because the price was low and it was the only disc of any real interest available at the time from my favorite live Floyd period, 1970-1971. This is a really good disc. The recording is good and the performance is pretty hot. It has a really good version of Atom Heart Mother. I m not sure if it is the acoustics of the concert hall or the way Dave played that night, but the guitar on Atom Heart Mother has a definite slide guitar sound, especially after the band kicks in after the drum solo. I like this slide sound a lot. I agree completely with the Editors Note that disputes the date given on the cd. I would say that the actual show occurred during the European Tour of March 11-21, 1970. Two things support this. First, Atom Heart Mother is an early version. The song structure and drum solo towards the end is typical of the early performances. Second, this was the only 1970 tour to feature Interstellar Overdrive in the set list for all shows. After this, it was performed only a handful of times. Looking at the few times it was performed after this tour, I could find only one show that contained all four songs w/ the unorchestrated AHM (Montreux - Nov 21, 1970 - not the Smoking Blues show, which the book Pink Floyd: In The Flesh says was on Nov 22). Comparing the Atom Heart Mother on ATOTL to other performances in Oct-Nov 1970 shows that they are at different points in the song s development. Prior to the March European tour, it was played a couple of times (Feb 15 and 28). While it could be from one of these shows, AHM sounds slightly more refined on this cd than on the Feb 11 cd, which makes me think they had been playing it just a little longer than Feb, but who knows. A Journey Through Time And Space shows a promising set/time list for March 12, Hamburg, West Germany. The song lengths look very similar to the ones on this cd. Though the book does not show Saucerful, the song was played at this show, so the Hamburg show could be a definite possibility.

The cd cover is a very nice, atmospheric shot of Roger and Rick. Opening the insert (or opening the cd case and looking at the front and back side by side) reveals the complete shot, with Dave and Nick included. The shot looks to be time appropriate. The only negative thing I can say about this cd is that it is somewhat short (though this may have been all that was available of the show). I highly recommend this cd is you like this period of Floyd. The performance is really good and there are not many shows from this period (March 1970?) available on cd. -Scott

Oh, the typical "no hiss, no music" production of WPOCM. They remove all the hiss and don't leave much of the original music. Everything sounds to tinny, you can only hear the louder parts, the more silence parts are simply that: silent. -HERWIG