page_title: Dark Side of the Moon Tour
section_title: 1973 Dark Side of the Moon Tour
hierarchical_section_title: Dark Side of the Moon Tour / 1973 Dark Side of the Moon Tour
caption_attribution_description: A live performance of The Dark Side of the Moon at Earls Court, shortly after its release in 1973: (l-r) Gilmour, Mason, Dick Parry, Waters
context_page_description: The Dark Side of the Moon Tour was a concert tour by British rock band Pink Floyd in 1972 and 1973 in support of their album The Dark Side of the Moon. There were two separate legs promoting Dark Side of the Moon, one in 1972 before the album's release and another in 1973 after its release.
context_section_description: 1973 saw Pink Floyd go on two relatively short tours of the US, one in March to coincide with the release of Dark Side of the Moon and a later one in June.  Sandwiched between them were two nights at London's Earl's Court on 18 May and 19 May where they debuted the special effect of a plane crashing into the stage at the end of the song "On the Run". This was also the first year that the band took additional musicians on tour with them, unlike the earlier performances of "Atom Heart Mother" where the band would often hire local musicians. Dick Parry would join Pink Floyd during Money and Us and Them and a backing chorus of three or four women. Clare Torry sung backing vocals during the Robert Wyatt benefit concerts, she wouldn't do this again until 1990 at the Knebworth Festival.
  Due to the overwhelming chart success of both Dark Side of the Moon, which reached #1 in the US in late April, #2 in the UK, and the US-released single "Money", the nature of Pink Floyd's audiences changed in June 1973. They used to play at theaters and auditoriums but in this tour they played at Stadiums and large arenas. On 22 June 1973, in Buffalo, New York, USA, during the performance, a spectator fell off the upper level deck seating killing the person that they landed on.
  In October 1973, after a few months of hiatus, Pink Floyd performed a few concerts in Europe.
  On 4 November 1973, Pink Floyd played two shows at London's Rainbow Theatre to benefit musician Robert Wyatt, formerly the drummer of Soft Machine, a band they had played with in their UFO Club days. While at a birthday party for Gilli Smyth of Gong and Lady June on 1 June, Wyatt fell from a fourth story bathroom window, breaking his back and leaving him paraplegic. The concerts raised a reported £10,000 for Wyatt.
caption: Pink Floyd performing Dark Side of the Moon at Earl's Court Arena in 1973
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