Feature Photo: Erik Calonius, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Building the perfect Pink Floyd live dream setlist requires more than just stringing together their biggest radio anthems; it demands a flawless flow that rewards casual fans with iconic hits while surprising die-hards with deep tracks that haven’t been played on stage in decades. I saw Pink Floyd at Madison Square Garden in New York City for The Animals Tour on July 3rd 1977. Of course, most of the concert featured songs from that album. As any old school rock fan knows, this is the way it usually works. However, there were many songs that I was hoping to hear from their earlier years that they never played.
When building this list, we had to keep in mind that many of these songs, or we should say musical pieces, are very long, so we tried to limit them so that it would actually be a setlist that they could play that would probably take about 2 hours. So, if I had the chance to pick the setlist for the show, here are the songs I think would satisfy my rock and roll friends and me at least for that one very special night.
# 1 – Opening Song – Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Wish You Were Here)
What better way to start a Pink Floyd concert than with the slow buildup of the classic Wish You Were Here album-opening track? The question now is how much of this piece do you play? It doesn’t really matter. Why not just do the whole thing? All five parts. The crowd will be going nuts right away from the very first musical piece. You can’t just call this one a song.
# 2 – The Nile Song (More)
After the long spaced out opening track, I think it would be the perfect time to hit the crowd with a loud rocker that goes all the way back to the More Soundtrack. No one would be expecting this one. It would blow everyone’s minds.
# 3 – See Emily Play (The Piper at the Gates of Dawn)
We need to pay our respects to the Syd Barrett years, and this was one of the best songs from the early days of Pink Floyd. It fits perfectly into this spot in the concert. It is amazing how different the band sounded in 1967 compared to the way they sounded in 1975. The song was originally released as a single before making its way onto the band’s debut album, The Piper at the Gates of Dawn.
# 4 – Summer ’68 (Atom Heart Mother)
As you might be able to tell, this show is leaning more towards the hardcore fan. This was a great deep track from the Atom Heart Mother album. I love the British soulfulness of Richard Wright’s piano playing. It was a really important element to the early Pink Floyd sound that is often overlooked. This track is killer. I love the way it explodes into a happy pop chorus and then instantly dives deeper into a minor-chord melody sort of madness. It’s so good.
# 5 – Welcome to the Machine (Wish You Were Here)
While we are trying to pick as many songs as possible from as many different albums, it is hard to ignore Wish You Were Here, which I think is one of Pink Floyd’s best records. It was actually the first Pink Floyd album I ever bought. I was in ninth grade at the time, so the album has always been a little special to me. I still find myself trying to figure out that album cover. Even though people have debated its meaning for years, it always brings me back to sitting in my bedroom staring at it, trying to understand what was going on with those two people, especially the one who was on fire. Wish You Were Here was originally released in 1975.
# 6 – Time (Dark Side Of The Moon)
Well, we eventually had to get to the album Dark Side Of The Moon, and I think the sound of the machine from the last song would merge perfectly with the sound of the clocks ringing. The big question is how many tracks do we go to from Dark Side of the Moon, and which ones? I think “Time” fits perfectly here after the deep dive we took into Atom Heart Mother.
# 7 – Another Brick In The Wall Pt. 2 (The Wall)
This is a song chosen more for the casual fan. I have never been a huge fan of The Wall, aside from a couple of tracks, but everybody knows this one. I always used to get confused about which part was which, but I believe “Part 2” was the section that became the big hit. Since we are putting this concert together with casual fans in mind, “Part 2” is the piece we should choose.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6iqfDrQ0_o
# 8 – Dogs (Animals )
When I saw Pink Floyd do this track in 1977, I was totally floored. This very well may be my favorite Pink Floyd album. It’s between Animals and Wish You Were Here. Gilmour’s guitar work on this track may be his second-best of his career. The best is coming up soon.
# 9 – Us And Them (Dark Side of the Moon)
In 1977, most people had already left Madison Square Garden, thinking that Pink Floyd was done for the night. But my friends and I knew better. We had a feeling they were going to come back out. I remember the lights being on and people actually being told to leave. We were even pulled out of our chairs, but as we started getting close to the exit tunnel, the lights suddenly went down and the band returned for a sensational rendition of what remains my favorite track from Dark Side of the Moon. You cannot have a Pink Floyd concert without this one.
# 10 – Closing Song – Comfortably Numb (The Wall)
As much as people have always loved Pink Floyd for the long thematic pieces, spaced out instrumentals, deep lyrics, Storm Thorgerson-designed album covers, and the mystery and depth behind their music, one element that consistently fueled some of their greatest recordings was the guitar work of David Gilmour. This song contains what many people consider his greatest guitar solo. To watch Gilmour perform this live on stage and then close the main set with that unforgettable solo would be the perfect moment before the encore.
# 11 – 1st Encore – Wish You Were Here (Wish You Were Here)
I have been to a lot of concerts in my life, and one of the most effective encore styles, especially for the first encore, is when one member of the band walks out alone with an acoustic guitar and completely brings the crowd under control with a single soft acoustic song. It is the perfect way to calm down an audience that has gone completely bonkers, screaming for more. There is no more perfect song in the Pink Floyd catalog to do that with than the title track from Wish You Were Here.
# 12 – 2nd Encore – Money (Dark Side of the Moon)
This classic track from Dark Side of the Moon perfectly balances mainstream popularity with the deeper appreciation of hardcore Pink Floyd fans. Yes, it was a major hit, and it undoubtedly helped fuel the enormous success of Dark Side of the Moon, keeping the album on the Billboard Top 200 for what felt like forever. But beyond the commercial success, there is something magical about that opening walking bass line, the sound effects of cash registers and money, and of course, those unforgettable vocals. This would be the perfect final closing song for a concert celebrating the legacy of Pink Floyd.
This is just the first entry in our brand new Dream Setlist series… drop a comment letting us know which band we should tackle next.
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