A Pink Floyd reunion with all four members of the band’s most successful period involved seemed like one of rock music’s greatest pipe dreams for quite some time. The water under the bridge for these guys was a veritable deluge.
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Shockingly, Pink Floyd bucked all the odds and reunited once in London for the charitable Live 8 concert in 2005. They delivered a stirring performance that offered a little bit of closure and a whole lot of emotion to all of the fans watching.
Overcoming Bad Blood
The classic lineup of Pink Floyd that created the 1973 masterpiece Dark Side Of The Moon began to splinter at the end of the 70s. Keyboardist Rick Wright was fired during the making of The Wall. His playing failed to please Floyd’s chief songwriter Roger Waters. Waters himself departed in the mid-80s when his refusal to let David Gilmour and Nick Mason in on the artistic decisions caused an irreparable schism.
Gilmour reconstituted Pink Floyd under his own direction, even hiring back Wright for a couple of albums and tours. But even that version of Pink Floyd had been mostly dormant for a decade. Then, the Live 8 concert came onto the horizon in Summer 2005.
The benefit concert was targeted at ending poverty. It was organized by Bob Geldof, the same man who had spearheaded Live Aid 20 years earlier. Geldof had a history with Pink Floyd, having performed the lead role in the film version of The Wall. An idea began percolating that he was sure would set this show apart, but could he pull it off?
Reconvening Floyd
Geldof slyly went about the task of getting the most well-known lineup of Pink Floyd to set aside their differences. David Gilmour initially turned him down, but Roger Waters was open to it if Gilmour could be convinced. That’s when Geldof surreptitiously gave Waters Gilmour’s phone number so that the two men could speak directly.
Once they agreed, Nick Mason and Rick Wright also quickly signed on. The announcement that Pink Floyd would perform with Waters, who had long been dismissive of the later version of the band, in tow, sent shock waves through the music industry. Now, it was just a question of whether they could get along long enough to pull it off.
Rehearsals proved tense. Waters allegedly floated notions of drastically changing the arrangements of some of the band’s most famous songs. Gilmour won out in that regard, wisely countering that the audience was looking to indulge in nostalgia and hear those classic songs just as they remembered them.
The Performance
The four men took the stage as the penultimate act within a massive lineup of superstars at Hyde Park in London. Incredibly, the opening moments from Dark Side Of The Moon (“Speak To Me” / “Breathe” / “Breathe [Reprise]”) were soon wafting through the night sky as if these guys had never left.
“Money” and “Wish You Were Here” followed. Waters briefly mentioned former Pink Floyd member Syd Barrett in his stage patter. “Comfortably Numb”, with Gilmour delivering his unforgettable guitar solo, closed out the set. The four men locked arms to thunderous applause before leaving the stage.
That would have to suffice for Pink Floyd fans. Rick Wright passed away in 2008. Waters and Gilmour have insisted time and again since then that no other type of full-fledged Pink Floyd reunion would be forthcoming. Live 8 was the last true Pink Floyd reunion. That is why music fans were so fortunate to see the four men at their very best during that magical mini-show.
Photo by Jo Hale/Getty Images
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