1975 April 12 & 13: Cow Palace, San Francisco

updated May 2009

setlist: Raving And Drooling / You Gotta Be Crazy / Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Parts I-V) / Have A Cigar / Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Parts VI-IX) / The Dark Side Of The Moon / Echoes

3 tapers are in circulation for this date. all seem to be incomplete. The most circulating version lately is "Cow Palace Day 2", a nice mix of 2 recorders (3 sources), maybe one of the few mixes really worth getting. It uses as main source the LP "Prism" that's missing YGBC and Echoes (maybe was directly used the DFA's version "Prism - The Cow Palace" sourced from that vinyl) and has as fillers YGBC from another second recorder and Echoes from "Schism" (same first recorder but from a different source of inferior SQ).

here are the 3 tapers + notes about what they're missing/including from some of the versions I checked of them:

recorder 1: includes 1st set + Dark side set + Echoes and is missing YGBC (at least it never appeared in any version from this first taper so far); from this recorder are "Prism - The Cow Palace" and "Prism" LP (both are missing Echoes; excellent SQ) and all the Cds sourced from them, like this nice Pinkrudy transfer; "Schism" (is missing the whole 1st set + STM but has Echoes; inferior SQ); "Cow Palace Day 2" (uses "Prism" as main source, has Echoes filled from "Schism" and YGBC filled from another recorder); some tapes have the complete recording from this taper in very good quality, like this LowGen

About Echoes, as the copy of the master of recorder 3 confirms, the Echoes appearing on this recorder 1 must be fake but the date is unknown. The Real Echoes for this date must be the one that appears on the un-patched copies of recorder 3 so.

recorder 2: includes the whole 1st set and part of the Dark Side set till the beginning of U&T, the rest seems to be missing so far;

it's circulating with no specific titles, or just "untitled" and is the recorder used for the YGBC track on "Cow Palace Day 2"; SQ is very nice. I checked another old fantape sounding a bit inferior than this, it seems this recorder didn't circulate often in the old days though. It was sometimes labeled 75-4-12.

recorder 3: includes the whole 1st set + the whole Dark Side set (with Eclipse cut) + a partial Echoes; About Echoes, on copies of this recorder it has been sometimes patched with the Echoes that is on copies of recorder 1, but this one must be the genuine Echoes of this date as the copy of the master of this recorder confirms, the Echoes appearing on copies of recorder 1 must be fake so but the date of it is unknown.; I have a version from "3rd Gen." (having just a small part of  Echoes + Echoes again filled from the Echoes appearing onrecorder 1) and a version from a "4thGen" having always Eclipse cut and then Echoes at the end but completely from this recorder, same contents as this copy of the master.

mind that horn is audible here and there on the first set (the horn typically used at the stadium) both on recorder 1 and recorder 3 (it sounds nearer to recorder 3), it's not audible not on recorder 2.

I think it's quite easy to recognize the 3 recorders because of the peculiar cuts or the missing tracks any of them use to have, here are some points where to easily recognize them according to what is circulating so far:

R&D: on recorder 1 fades in at the very beginning on the common copies but old fantapes reveal there's even the intro to the song on this recorder even if sounds distant, like the recorder was hidden for this first part (maybe that's why it was edited out); on recorder 3 has tuning + intro; recorder 2 strats at the very beginning (no intro), here a girl talks and yells at the beginning and the taper moves the recorder a bit

YGBC: it's missing on recorder 1; on recorder 2 there are tunings at the beginnig, but they are cut and the taper restarts taping when Waters announces the song, this taper got just part of the intro, Waters here says just: "called YGBC"; on recorder 3 there are more tune-ups at the beginning and this taper got the full Waters' announcement, Waters says: "ok, this is another new tune and it's called YGBC", at the end a guy near to the taper coughs.

SOYCD parts I-V: recorder 1 is missing the Water's intro, a guy very near to the taper shouts a very long "wooaaow" twice at the beginning, then he shouts "yaahoo" and keep on shouting (always the same guy); on recorder 2 the Water's intro is missing as well  and there are many different guys shouting "wow", "wow" here and there at the beginning; on recorder 3 there's the Waters' intro ("this is another new in and it's called SOYCD") soon after the intro 2 guys near to the taper have a short chat.

SOYCD parts VI-IX: recorder 3 has the Waters' greetings ("we're gonna take a break now and we'll come back with another set") missing both on recorder 1 and 2.

STM: on recorder 1 guys scream "get down", "sit down" at the beginning; on recorder 3 a guy talks and laugh for long at the beginning (probably the taper); on recorder 2 the taper makes a short noise directly on the mic at the beginning.

Breathe: on recorder 3 a guy (maybe taper) makes a long loud whistle at the beginning, there are also small cuts (or likeky losses of volume) provoked by the recorder about when Gilmour sings "and all you touch and all you see is all your life will ever be"; on recorder 1 a guy near to the taper yells "wow" after the first guitar note; on recorder 2 a guy near to the taper yells a long "woooow" right at the beginning.

Eclipse: on recorder 1 there are the last greetings before the encore; on recorder 3 it's FROM ANOTHER DATE

here's a review of the show ritten by Alex Woodman appeared on Brain Damage:
The Cow Palace, San Francisco, California, April 12th and 13th, 1975
(Originally appeared in Brain Damage Magazine issue 37)
Early in 1975, the ads for the forthcoming Pink Floyd concerts at The Cow Palace in San Francisco appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle. Scraping together every last penny I could, I bought as many tickets to both nights as I could afford. Pink Floyd were by far my favourite band ever since a friend played One of These Days for me back in 1971. Now I was finally going to get a chance to see them.
Both days I arrived with my friends at One in the afternoon for the 8pm show. (I had to be right up front!) Fortunately, there was a small line of great people ahead of us and we enjoyed the “trip” until the show started. The fog slowly creeping down on us from San Bruno Mountain was a nice effect also.
The doors finally opened and once inside we found ourselves buying copies of Pink Floyd comics. We then rushed up and sat about 20 feet from the stage. Looking around, we noticed that there were stacks of speakers on either side of the auditorium and a stack in the back.
Nick Mason’s drum kit had the ‘ocean wave’ design on it. Looking through the comic book, we noticed words to songs we’ve never heard before - Raving and Drooling, You Gotta Be Crazy and Shine On You Crazy Diamond.
Eight o’clock came and went and it wasn’t until about 8:20 that the band finally came out. It was told by a local DJ with a backstage pass that Mr. Gilmour had purchased a pinball machine and was playing the free game he won on it! The lights went down and without a word they started into Raving and Drooling (Sheep), followed by You Gotta Be Crazy (Dogs) and then Shine On You Crazy Diamond. The first two songs lasted about 10 minutes each with Shine On clocking in at least a half an hour long. At the end of Shine On, a mirrored flower rose from behind the band with its mirrored petals rotating in one direction and mirrored center rotating in the opposite direction. How incredible to hear new music that was to come out on the next two albums live for the first time!
After the break, the boys came out to do Dark Side in its entirety. The quad system was fantastic and we were all totally blown away. We knew we were in for a treat when the heartbeat started up. The crashing plane at the end of On the Run scared the shit out of me as I didn’t notice it until it was right on top of me! For an encore, we were treated to a great rendition of Echoes with some saxophone added to the middle of the jam. Dry ice mist came cascading off the stage into the crowd while green lights were reflecting on it. All I could see at this point were a bunch of heads sticking out of this green fog. We all thought it was a great combination to go along with the high-pitched screams coming from Gilmour’s guitar. One guy started yelling, “I can’t breathe!” and climbed up onto the stage. Waters slowly backed away from him when one of the stage crew quickly appeared from behind the drum set and hit the guy like a cornerback sending him flying back into the crowd. He disappeared into the fog. The show ended with the chorus of voices rising higher and higher, then softly fading away.
Both shows were great and unforgettable. I am really glad I went as it was the only chance I had to see the Floyd as a foursome.

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