Cedar Falls, Iowa 5/18/88
Recorded at the University of Northern Iowa Dome
Cedar Falls, Iowa
May 18, 1988

Perhaps due to Roger Waters finally having been vanquished as a significant legal threat at the end of the previous year, the concerts that Pink Floyd performed in 1988 are a hell of a lot more interesting to watch and listen to than any of their 1987 shows, many of which the band seemed to be sleepwalking through. Whatever the reason, there is a palpably increased energy level and sense of enjoyment from all of the players on this leg of the tour that was all but nonexistent before ... and with the right cameraman in the right position, we could have had a truly amazing visual document to discuss here. Too bad, then, that 'Cedar Falls' comes up sorely wanting on the former count -- this is perhaps the most frustrating 1988 VOIO I have seen in that it could have been *so* much better if it had been shot by someone with a more experienced hand.

While it *does* eventually improve, 'Cedar Falls' starts off pretty badly indeed -- "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" kicks off in negative color for whatever reason (a truly memorable image of two black spotlights "illuminating" a field of blinding white), snaps back into color, and is then hacked to little pieces as the cameraman seems to keep forgetting where the REC button is. After that, he seems to engage in a lengthy battle with the auto-zoom lens (which creates a couple dozen eye-buggering moments as the camera continually refocuses on the stage while an unending conga line of people walk directly in front of the lens), and spends the rest of the time apparently in an effort to get a bead on where the damned stage is. The following three songs (with the weird exception of "Signs Of Life") are a similarly unwatchable blend of hellishly-blurred lights, heads, shoulders, and wild, nausea-inducing sweeps around the perimeter of the stage, with things only settling down just as "A New Machine" starts up (insert wisecrack here).

Once the audience is, as a whole, too blissfully stoned to get up and go for another beer, 'Cedar Falls' becomes pleasantly enjoyable as the cameraman gets an unobstructed view of the entire stage, frequently zooming in on David Gilmour, Nick Mason, Scott Page (argh) and Tim Renwick most of the time (though these close-ups are too blurry to qualify as anything better than a B rating). Sadly, by the time "Wish You Were Here" starts up, some guy takes up a standing position directly in front of the camera lens, which forces the cameraman to either zoom in on Mr. Screen or on stage right for the rest of the concert's running time.

If you have to patience to sit through all of the above, there *are* a few selling/trading points to this recording that are worthy of consideration -- many of the close-in shots of Mr. Screen are remarkably low on flicker and the images show up well (though the color looks a little washed-out in comparison to the stage lighting and lasers, which are bright and well-defined), we get some very nice close-ups of Mr. Pig, and Gilmour himself is as animated as I ever seen him on stage (especially during "Money" and "One Slip").

Proceed with caution.

'Learning to Fly'	'Yet Another Movie'
'Time'	'Welcome to the Machine'