Dark Side of the Moon Listening Events Across America

Got plans for Saturday afternoon? How 'bout a visit to the dark side? The dark side of the moon, that is—or, rather, The Dark Side of the Moon?

To commemorate the 50th anniversary of that audiophile favorite, music enthusiast Philip O'Hanlon, of audio distributor On a Higher Note (and also MORMusic; MOR is short for Magnum Opus Rediscovered), has organized DSotM listening parties to take place 3–6pm Saturday, 25 March, at hi-fi dens across the USA. If you want to attend, you can (hopefully) find a venue near you at this link. (Scroll and find a location on the US map.) Unfortunately, participating venues are concentrated, as hi-fi salons are, in metropolitan areas.

Those who attend will get to hear—I'm not exactly sure what, but it will be drawn from the official 50th Anniversary box set. The set includes two CDs and two LPs in a gatefold package; the CDs and LPs hold remastered stereo versions of version of the original album and The Dark Side Of The Moon – Live At Wembley Empire Pool, London, 1974. Also in the box are audio-only DVDs with two versions of the "original" 5.1 mix plus 24/192 and dts-HD stereo versions; both Atmos and "original" 5.1 surround versions on Blu-ray; a 160-page book of photos plus a "music book."' (Is this a score to the album's music? I'm not sure.) Finally, the set includes two "replica" 7" vinyl singles ("Money"/"Any Color You Like" and "Us and Them/Time") and miscellaneous memorabilia.

I've been saying for a couple of years now, mostly in private conversation, that the time may have come for surround-format music to break through, thanks mainly to the widespread proliferation of music in Dolby's Atmos formats. In a recent chat, Sound & Vision editor Mark Henninger told me he thinks this 50th Anniversary Atmos version of DSotM may be what brings Atmos and multichannel music into the mainstream. He might be right. We'll see.

COMMENTS
Anton's picture

They gotta get the planetariums behind this!

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