“Changed my mind”: the one person that reformed Pink Floyd
Any chance of getting any of the original members of Pink Floyd in the same room after The Final Cut felt like a pipe dream half the time. Even though they were normally cordial with each other when putting together pieces of their history, the fact that Roger Waters sued the rest of the band for ownership of the name probably meant that they weren’t itching to send each other well wishes on birthdays or anything. It would have been a massive task to get the classic lineup back together, but David Gilmour felt their reunion at Live 8 would never have happened if not for one musician.
Then again, the fact that the band managed to carry on without Waters was a bit of a miracle. Despite Gilmour knowing the ins and outs of the music for years, Waters was the one who knew how to set up a scene for every project, but after The Division Bell, it became clear that Gilmour was equally as capable of steering the band into new territory that they hadn’t thought of before.
After wrapping the tour for The Division Bell, though, it felt like all things Pink Floyd had fallen silent. Gilmour seemed fairly content in keeping to his solo career, and since Waters had been making a fortune thanks to his various iterations of The Wall, it’s not like either of them were aching to kiss and make up.
When the opportunity for Live 8 came along, it was still a bit of a gamble. Aside from having not played together in years, the constant animosity between Gilmour and Waters had grown to the point where they could hardly be in a room together without looking uncomfortable. If there was anyone who knew a way to break through to them, it was Bob Geldolf.
He had already been in charge of the first Live Aid, but while Waters had shown up, the wounds were far too fresh for anyone to even think about a Floyd reunion. Now that things had settled down in their old age, Geldolf knew that this was a perfect way for the group to have one final bow together, and Gilmour was more than willing to listen.
There may have been a lot of hesitation, but Gilmour gave the star of The Wall credit for getting him and Waters on the same stage, saying, “Geldof called me, and I said no. So he came down on the train to my house to see me, and I said no. And then there were some conversations between him, and Nick Mason and Roger Waters, and eventually, Roger called me up at home and asked if I would do it. I had a think about it, and I eventually changed my mind, although I knew it would divert me from my path for a while.”
That’s not to say that all of them were willing to compromise at every turn. Even though Waters talked about how nice it was to see all of them back together again from the stage, the tension was palpable, especially looking at the rehearsals where Mason’s laugh was the only thing breaking up the disagreements over the setlist.
Still, seeing the band play through songs like ‘Money’ one last time was a nice way of wrapping up their days of playing along. And since Richard Wright has passed away and Gilmour and Waters continue to be as volatile as ever, we should be lucky that Geldolf at least managed to get one last jam out of them while they were still able.
