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fleaibe's Collection

Pink Floyd   02/18/1981

Westfalenhalle, Dortmund, West Germany
Source Master Cass > SHN > PRRP Re-master > CD "Between a Wall and a Hard Place"
Media FLAC   2 discs
Notes The show presented here is the 6th German performance and was seen on
February 18th, 1981. We were fortunate to obtain both a CD copy of the master tape and copies of pictures taken at that event. In addition, during each
Wall show, Roger Waters would present a unique dialogue before the song "Run like Hell". On this night, Roger says: “Thank you, thank you. Do you like
our pig? He doesn't seem to like you very much. Go on, piss off pig. We're not very keen on animals...the only good animal is a dead animal! In a minute,
we're going to play a number for all the asteroids in the audience. It's called 'Run Like Hell,' and we can all CLAP, OUR HANDS! And it's gonna be fun!”
Overall, the remaster and artwork project turned out well in our estimation. In fact, with the reduction of noise and improvement in clarity the
attentive listener may even hear the click of a near-by camera, especially during the song “Goodbye Cruel World”. Was it the man who took the pictures
we used? We will never know…Maybe!
In any case, the Wall show was so rich with astonishing images and special effects that any photographer would have been at a loss as to where
and when to click ! The amazing inflatable figures, based on Gerald Scarfe’s unique depictions of the story’s protagonists, alone were worth an entire roll
of film ! The Wall show was laced with astonishing images that started with the first outburst of music and culminated with the final tearing down of the
wall. Outside of the inflatable figures, endless projections of photographs and film made to enhance the story kept the audience in suspense, wondering
what would come next. The surprise appearance of David Gilmour on top of the wall during the song “Comfortably Numb” is another fine example of
just how mind-blowing the Wall show really was. Lucky audiences who attended any one of these shows will most surely remember them forever.
So, why did we choose this title?
"Between a Wall and a Hard Place", we think, symbolizes what The Wall is all about...the fact that we all live our lives with our backs against a
wall, even if it is one that we build ourselves. Waters built a wall around himself to get away from the memories of his lost father, his ever-growing
uneasiness with the huge crowds of rock concerts and the broken relationships brought forth by incessant writing and touring. In the end, he either had
to express this on the famous double album or just go mad. The world is a hard place, and we all build walls to shelter from its realities, but if we hide
behind them for too long, or too well, we end up alone. We all have to choose between a wall and a hard place. Most of us choose the hard place
because, at least, we are not alone in it ! “The Wall” was an exorcism of sorts for Roger Waters and expressing his anger in that way must have been
quite liberating for him, but in the process he built another wall between his vision and his band mates, one that destroyed what had been, up until then,
a wonderful association. “The Wall” was to be the end of an era.
Notes from the Re-Master
Choosing a Wall show to do was the first step of this project. Some have already been remastered very well so we did not want to duplicate
other people’s efforts. After reviewing all the shows we found that some had good remastered versions, some had no remastered versions but very poor
quality master tapes and only a few had good quality master tapes but no significant remaster. The Dortmund February 18th, 1981 show was the one we
felt we could help the most.
We began with a SHN copy of the master tape. Upon initial review, the recording was found to be complete with tape flips occurring during
applause so no patches of music were necessary. The quality of the recording was also felt to be very good but a number of problems were obviously
present that needed correction.
First, the Hiss noise was bothersome and obscured some of the details of the show. To make things more difficult, the hiss varied and was
particularly pronounced during the acoustic guitar sections. Disc 2 also had a different Hiss profile than disc 1 suggesting that they might have been
recorded on two different tapes. This called for multiple and variable noise reduction techniques to be used. Now, with much of the hiss removed, you
can occasionally hear the click of a camera from someone close to the recorder taking pictures. This is particularly obvious during Goodbye Cruel World.
Clicks and pops were also found and removed manually. Where whistles and other audience noises were excessive, they were reduced.
Balance was also a major issue early on. The left channel was much lower than the right and was normalized with the right during dynamic
adjustments. In general, the tonality needed a small correction. A bit of a bass boost and cut in the midrange helped to make the bass guitar a bit more
noticeable and reduced the harshness of the guitar solos. Selective dynamic adjustment of tonality was also used where necessary. Dynamics were
adjusted to increase the dramatic character of the show.
Tracking was found to be incomplete. On disc 1 separate tracks were made for MC Introduction, Empty Spaces and A few Last bricks. Disc two
was missing a separate track for In The Flesh. The whole show was re-tracked using the live, commercially available Is There Anybody Out There? as a
reference source. Track gaps were found and eliminated during this process.
The final major issue in remastering the show was speed correction. Disc 1 had a gradually changing speed error that began as a stretch and
ended as a compression. Using the commercial live version of the show as a reference, the magnitude of this error was calculated and the speed
correction algorithm was applied. Disc 2 had more of a flat speed error that was also easily corrected.
PRRP Staff
CD1
1-1. Master Of Ceremonies 1:45
1-2. In The Flesh ? 2:58
1-3. The Thin Ice 2:43
1-4. Another Brink In The Wall (Pt. 1) 4:32
1-5. The Happiest Days Of Our Lives 1:41
1-6. Another Brink In The Wall (Pt. 2) 6:24
1-7. Mother 7:55
1-8. Goodbye Blue Sky 3:57
1-9. Empty Spaces 2:33
1-10. What Shall We Do Now ? 1:54
1-11. Young Lust 5:20
1-12. One Of My Turns 3:48
1-13. Don't Leave Me Now 4:13
1-14. Another Brink In The Wall (Pt. 3) 1:15
1-15. The Last Few Bricks 3:25
1-16. Goodbye Cruel World 2:11
CD2
2-1. Hey You 4:52
2-2. Is There Anybody Out There ? 3:12
2-3. Nobody Home 4:02
2-4. Vera 1:20
2-5. Bring The Boys Back Home 1:17
2-6. Comfortably Numb 7:23
2-7. The Show Must Go On 2:41
2-8. Master Of Ceremonies 2:33
2-9. In The Flesh 4:20
2-10. Run Like Hell 7:27
2-11. Waiting For The Worms 4:27
2-12. Stop 0:31
2-13. The Trial 6:30
2-14. Outside The Wall 3:05

PINK FLOYD
Roger Waters - Bass and Vocals
David Gilmour - Guitars and Vocals
Rick Wright - Keyboards
Nick Mason - Drums
THE SURROGATE BAND
Andy Brown- Bass Guitar
Andy Roberts- Guitar
Willie Wilson- Drums
Peter Wood - Keyboards
BACKING VOCALISTS
Joe Chemay- Backing Vocals
Jim Farber- Backing Vocals
Jim Haas- Backing Vocals
John Joyce- Backing Vocals
SPECIAL GUEST
Wili Tomsik- Backing Vocals
Trades Allowed Yes
Ratings Sound: A
Owned by fleaibe · Last Updated May 23, 2023