This Saturday marks the 40th Anniversary of Pink Floyd's "Games for May" concert at Lo
ndon's Queen Elizabeth Hall; a show not only notable in the history of The Floyd themselves, but also in rock history overall. For audio geeks, this show marked the first ever concert performed in "Quadraphonic" sound. Utilizing the Azimuth co-ordinator soundsystem, the band enveloped their audience with music and effects that panned around the hall, which was probably pretty trippy at the time even to the people who weren't tripping on acid. For Floyd geeks, the show was significant in that it was their first major performance that put the band on the map and it laid the groundwork for their later infamously grandiose live spectacles.
Of course, this wasn't your stoner uncle's Floyd, this was still the pyschedelic-era Floyd fronted by one of rock's most famous acid casualties, Syd Barrett. Since Barrett's death last year, there have been all sorts of old Floyd and solo Syd tributes and now later this month the anniversary of Games of May will be celebrated with a full-blown tribute concert in London later this month. Barrett contemporaries like Robyn Hitchcock, Graham Coxon (Blur) and The Melvins will be recreating the original setlist over two nights, though unfortunately I don't they will be trying to create the old Quadraphonic sound.
However, we thought we'd honor both occasions by turning the Friday 8-track into a Friday Quadra-track and post the first four songs from the original Games For May setlist. (Feel free to crank up your Dolby Surround or wire up a couple of extra speakers in the house to create your own "Quadraphonic" experience)
Download: Pink Floyd - "See Emily Play" (bootlegged "rough mix" version)
Download: Pink Floyd - "Matilda Mother" (from Piper at the Gates of Dawn)
Download: Pink Floyd - "Flaming" (from Piper at the Gates of Dawn)
Download: Pink Floyd - "Jugband Blues" (bootlegged alternate version)
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