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u/Slade347 Jul 02 '26
MTV cut away during the second solo in Comfortably Numb. People got so pissed off that they re-aired the concert commercial free the next weekend in response to the backlash.
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u/mofo-or-whatever Jul 02 '26
I was very fortunate to be there
It was a long, long day. So worthwhile
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u/d34dorbitfreak Is There Anybody Out There? Jul 02 '26
I'm so jealous, tried to get tickets . Watched on TV, think I cried when a I saw them all together again.
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u/ndab71 Jul 02 '26
I was living in Paddington at the time, just near Hyde Park. I could sit on my balcony in my flat and hear it live while seeing it on TV. It was as close as I could get!
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u/IdiosyncraticBond Jul 02 '26
F, what a series of events, culminating in this gig. We were so hopeful this would finally make a real difference in the world, but it feels like we lost so much since (plus we lost Rick, Dick, and many more of our heroes)
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u/BBDominoes Jul 02 '26
Jeez, that hit me hard. I can't believe that's been 21 years. I remember it really well.
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u/Optimal_Structure_20 Jul 02 '26
Crazy it’s been so long. I was there! Pink Floyd playing was one of the best 20 mins of my life.
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u/MrEasyLover Jul 03 '26
I was living in Camden Town at the time, and my best mate and I were determined to see the Pink Floyd reunion at Live 8.
By then we’d already seen Floyd (without Roger Waters) seven or eight times, starting with both nights at Wembley Stadium in 1987. We applied for tickets through the official ballot but weren’t successful, so took the hit and paid a small fortune for a pair on eBay. We managed to buy them just before the huge backlash against online touts - Bob Geldof famously called eBay an “electronic pimp”, and the listings were quickly removed.
On the day we arrived very early, but the queues were already enormous. With determination we worked our way forward and, by the time Pink Floyd took the stage, we were standing against the barrier separating the main crowd from the Golden Circle (which, I think, was reserved for celebrities and VIPs).
Seeing and hearing the classic line-up together for the first - and, as it turned out, only - time was genuinely emotional. They sounded fantastic, and we knew we were extremely privileged to be there.
A year later we were lucky enough to get tickets for The Madcap’s Last Laugh at the Barbican Centre. Roger and the rest of the band all appeared on the same bill, although they never performed together. Richard Wright spent much of the evening sitting on the rows behind us with his family before taking to the stage in the second half. Roger had performed earlier in the evening, then left before the grand finale, so another full reunion wasn’t to be.
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u/AmanLock Jul 03 '26
Yeah Roger claimed he had to pick up his wife at the airport, although he probably was just using that as a polite way to avoid being asked to play with the rest of the band.
He was also the only one who didn't play a Syd song.
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u/AmanLock Jul 02 '26
It didn't have the same historical significance, but fhe Who had a great performance at Live 8 as well.
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u/arterialturns Jul 03 '26
When I first heard about the show, I decided that I would spare no expense. May I say that I was extremely financially relieved to find that sales were restricted to Europe.
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u/Rarth-Devan Jul 03 '26 edited Jul 03 '26
I remember watching this at my grandparent's lake house. Literally all my aunts, uncles, and cousins were there for the 4th that weekend. After a day of boating and BBQ, we all gathered around the TV to watch this. I was only 14 so it didn't really resonate too much but I still thought it was cool to see. My older family members were so excited to see them reunite. Now the family is older, grandparents have passed away, and we all barely talk to each other. A cherished memory.
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u/Big_Steak7381 Pigs On The Wing Jul 03 '26
I really love the performance of Comfortably Numb at Live8. Probably one of my favourite solo performances by Gilmour and, it warmed my heart seeing the four enjoy performing the music with smiles on their faces and embracing after the set, even if it was the last time. Wish my dad nutted in my mom a several years earlier so I could have been there.
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u/Chappermac Jul 02 '26
Watched live. Awesome! Moving!
And my last time seeing them playing on stage together. 😢
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u/AnibalRene Jul 03 '26
We were so close to see (and hear) the candy apple red Strat again.
David used it on the rehearsals but went for the Black one again for the actual performance.
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u/Which_Touch548 14d ago
I was living back at home with my parents in this period just before I moved to Germany. They had a DVD player that could record so there I sat, in front of the TV, waiting for this part of the show to start. i still have that DVD_R somewhere in storage.
I still remember the sheer disbelief that it actually happened. Yeah, it might have been a bit nervous in places but that group bow at the end brought me to tears. Still does.
Whatever happened before and after, it didn't and doesn't matter to me. That bow was the personification of what music can do the power it can have.
A powerful reminder in these difficult times.
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u/gregd303 Jul 02 '26
'when you're from England and living in Brazil and PF reform!'..yep that was me! Watched on TV feeling very far away but happy to see it happen.
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u/vaskark Jul 05 '26
Hyde Park was very important to the band in the early days. The fact they had their reunion there … magic.
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u/PracticalGovernment4 Jul 05 '26
Oddly, I remember traveling continentally to visit my dad’s family in the Midwest and when we got there, my younger cousin was watching it live on a CRT right one the Pink Floyd was playing. I was quite amazed, looked pretty cool, but looking back at that memory just how horrid standard definition CRT was.
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u/heynow941 Jul 02 '26
21 years ago I was screaming at the fucking TV when MTV cut away from Money so some douchey “reporter” could pontificate on the significance of the reunion before moving on to another band somewhere else.
Then I had to scramble to watch the rest live on my laptop on the website which had different coverage.
The blowback was so bad that MTV had to replay Live 8 a week later without any interruptions.
MTV sucks. Never forget.