In early 1973, a comet headed toward the sun captured the attention of scientists and the world at large. Named after its discoverer, Luboš Kohoutek, it was watched closely until it disappeared sometime around January 1974. In February 1972, well before the discovery of one of the brightest comets of the 20th century, a band that would become one of history’s most notable had been touring with what was to become their new album. The band was of course Pink Floyd, and that legendary album The Dark Side of the Moon.
Knowing that this early performance of DSOTM was captured in February of ’72, and that the Kohoutek comet wasn’t discovered until March of ’73, gives us a good idea how long it must have taken for the bootleggers to produce this record, or at least how long they decided to sit on it. Then again, it’s a good bet that they waited for their release to coincide with that of the actual album, which of course was put out by Harvest on the 1st of March 1973.
The Coming of Kohoutek, which has been re-pressed by Andy Capp Records in 2024 as a limited edition, was originally released under a more specific name: In Celebration of the Comet – The Coming of Kohoutek. This was released many times under the label The Amazing Kornyfone Record Label, and up until now featured the same memorable, tipped-on artwork.
Fast forward to 2024, and Andy Capp records have re-released this fantastic recording with all new sleeve artwork, pressed on beautiful multicolored vinyl. There are 550 copies released altogether. Since I love the artwork and the show, I picked up two copies of this record in yellow splatter and white splatter. White and yellow were pressed in 200 of each color, along with 100 clear brown splatter and 50 split color versions. All of these are individually numbered, and each one comes with either an Obi or a promo sticker, depending on the edition you choose.
The audio quality of the tapes from the Rainbow Theatre DSOTM performances that year is superb. This fact is very well known in the Pink Floyd bootleg collecting community. If you want to get an idea of what these recordings sounded like, there are a few different versions on YouTube. The audio used to press this record is very high quality. As always, I gave the record a thorough cleaning before spinning it, but the pressing is good. The record itself is heavy, and I’m guessing it’s around 180g. These releases aren’t cheap, but if you are a collector, they are normally well worth the money. This one is no exception.
Audience Recording from the Rainbow Theatre, London on 20 February 1972
A1 Breathe
A2 On The Run
A3 Time
A4 Breathe (Reprise)
A5 The Great Gig In The Sky
B1 Us And Them
B2 Any Color You Like
B3 Brain Damage
The first thing that should be said here is that this is a very unique performance of the album that we have all come to know and love. For the most part, everything’s here, it’s just a little different. The recording has a few cuts, but it’s mostly smooth sailing, and the pressing and production don’t get in the way of experiencing the show. At least not until the very end.
Besides being an all-around great performance musically, the main attraction for fans who might want to pick one of these up are the differences we find between this working version and the one that was finally officially released. Most notably, the use of samples in this live show are both different and plentiful. The Lord’s Prayer, for example, is used during Us and Them. While this didn’t make it into the final cut of the album, it sounds great here and the idea would later re-surface in 1977’s Animals, albeit in a different way.
Another major difference that I found interesting is the very different guitar solo, both composition-wise and tone-wise, that Gilmour played during Time. I can see why he made the final changes he did, but this version is refreshing to hear. The best way I can describe it is much more laid back and even more bluesy than the version we are all used to hearing. There are also a lot of alternate lyrics here, but you’ll have to listen to find out what those are.
The only real problem that I can find with this latest pressing is that Brain Damage, the last track on the album, has been faded out early. It’s not a matter of an issue with the original tape, as I have other versions of this show in FLAC and other formats, and there is no premature fadeout present there. I imagine it had to be an issue of space and timing on the record, but there’s no way to know for sure.
The early fade out is the only thing preventing me from giving this release a perfect 10/10 score. As it is, I would have to say it’s a strong 9/10, and would recommend picking it up if you get the chance. I understand that almost everyone who is interested in these recordings will already have this show in lossless format, but what makes these releases fun is the physical media and the artwork. Both are really well done here, and The Coming of Kohoutek would make a perfect addition to any Pink Floyd Boot collection. If you do manage to find a copy, expect to pay around 75.00 US for it before shipping costs. For a small run of a single high-quality LP, I think that price is appropriate. Happy listening!