Apparently, we are entering a golden age of The Wall releases. I’ve heard/seen that before the end of summer, there will be two vinyl versions of the much beloved Is There Anybody Out There – The Wall Live 1980-1981 hitting the digital shelves. Previously, this has only been released on CD. I still have my longbox version and have pretty much worn it out over the years. Since I haven’t seen anything in the way of an official announcement, I will assume that these must be unofficial pressings. Apparently, one is a picture disc set, and the other will be pressed on green vinyl with one illustrated side. Additionally, Casino Records is releasing a massive The Wall box set that will include 4 different shows and span a staggering TEN LP’s. As long as I can get a hold of one, you can guarantee you’ll be hearing about that one on this site.
For now, we’re going to have a look at a Wall set that has just come out. This one is called Be Careful at Earls Court and has been released by Pigs On The Groove Records. This is a three LP set that contains the full show from the June 16th, 1981, performance. This is a limited set, numbered to 370 copies worldwide, available on orange, white or blue vinyl. It’s unclear whether that means there are 370 copies inclusive of all three colors, or 370 copies of each. Given the usual numbers on these things, I’m guessing that it’s 370 copies altogether. I know that there are fewer blue copies than there are of the other colors, and that sellers are charging more for that version. Sadly, manufactured rarity is a thing in the modern world and permeates even the bootleg record industry.
I’m not sure I can tell you what the logic was on choosing those colors for a Wall set where the cover artwork is red, white and blue, but I chose the orange one. Before mine even arrived, I heard multiple accounts of the blue version (the “rare” one) having some defects that affect play. I can’t say that every copy is affected, but I have seen several people complaining about it in several different languages. So, take that information for what you will. For me, Pigs On The Groove has been very hit or miss in the past. I’ve gotten some of their early releases that were absolute trash, so I was suspicious about this one going in, and bracing myself for the worst.
To start with, the packaging for this set is excellent. This has always been a strong point for POTG. Their triple or quadruple gatefold sleeves are always a sight to behold and Be Careful At Earls Court is no exception. In this case, we have a tri-fold sleeve with a foldout, and the printing is glossy and top notch. The sleeve has some liner notes on it, and they are actually pretty interesting. Apparently, according to the book Comfortably Numb – A History of The Wall by Mahon and Fitch (which I have and it’s excellent), “Mother” and “Hey You” were actually taken from this performance and used in the official Is There Anybody Out There? release. There are also some other cool bits of trivia, but I’ll leave those for you to discover if you decide to pick this one up. The notes also reference an additional insert, but my copy didn’t have one, and I haven’t seen anyone else mention getting one either.
This set comes in a standard, resealable outer sleeve, which essentially means it’s unsealed. The numbering is done with a sticker stuck to the back of the jacket, and the records themselves come in plain black paper sleeves. This is really the only negative I could find here, as unlined paper sleeves can lead to scratches. The LP’s have the standard POTG logo labels and were perfectly flat with no defects. I gave them a thorough cleaning before spinning, but they actually looked pretty good right out of the gate.
As far as I can tell, this is an audience recording. However, it is a GREAT audience recording. I was a little bit confused by the Be Careful at Earls Court title, but it made sense after hearing the introduction given by the MC. Essentially, he gives a long rambling introduction before the band comes out and says a few things about being careful and respectfully quiet when exiting the venue. In the world of bootleg concerts, stuff like this is usually the best way to tell similar performances apart from one another. The tape starts out a tiny bit rough, but once it gets going, the audio is phenomenal. This could probably be cleaned up and released officially. It really is that good.
What to say about the performance itself? If you are familiar with this tour, you’ll know that this performance is right at the end of the run. By this time, the band was firing on all cylinders, and the musicianship was on another level. All the sound effects and such were worked out, and everything was running smoothly. Presumably knowing that these last shows would be the best ones, Roger Waters apparently had some of them recorded with the intention of using them in The Wall the movie. In the end, the footage was deemed to be too dark to be usable, so the film went in a totally different direction. This is The Floyd at the top of their game, though, rest assured.
In my opinion, all the songs are excellent performances and among the best I have ever heard. As a matter of fact, some are probably better than the officially released versions, not to mention more interesting. The samples before “Vera” are a bit different and extended, and Gary Yudman has some additional dialogue bits before “In The Flesh”. If you are a diehard Pink Floyd fan like me, these little differences are an absolute treat after listening to the same versions of this stuff over and over for the last 43 years.
“Empty Spaces” was another standout to me. There’s something I really can’t describe in writing about what Rick is doing on the keyboard, but it’s certainly a bit different and changes the feel of the entire intro to that song. Everything is presented in stunning clarity (considering the source material), and I even heard some vocal harmony parts that weren’t nearly as apparent before. Of course, you can’t go wrong with the more popular songs either. “Comfortably Numb” and “Brick in the Wall” are both excellent versions and will be enjoyed by any Floyd completist. Unlike a lot of bootlegs, this one is totally listenable and could take the place of official versions when you want to shake things up a bit.
In sum, POTG chose a very worthy performance to present here. I went from being fairly certain it would be a bust to trying to source another copy in a different color so I’d have a backup. Given the information I’ve seen floating around, I’m still going to avoid the blue version, but will be picking up a white copy before they are sold out. After experiencing Be Careful At Earls Court for myself, I’m certain that they’ll be long gone much sooner than later. As far as ratings are concerned, the packaging and presentation is about a 9/10. It would be nice if the set was actually sealed and had poly-lined sleeves, but this is kind of nitpicky. The pressing itself is a solid 10/10, no question. Obviously, I can only speak for my copy on orange wax, but I am really pleased with this one. If you decide to pick one of these up, I imagine you will be, too.