Pink Floyd Performs ‘Astronomy Domine’ for KQED in 1970 to an Empty Fillmore Auditorium in San Francisco

In April 1970, a very young Pink Floyd agreed to perform an hour-long set for KQED (previously) public television and radio simulcast. This exclusive concert took place in an empty Fillmore Auditorium in San Francisco, where the band played “Atom Heart Mother”, “Grantchester Meadows” and “Astronomy Domine”.

This concert came about through producers John Coney and Jim Farber, both of who had seen the band previously and liked them very much. Farber told KQED that it was very much a team effort on a shoestring budget.

“When I went to work at KQED June of 1969, I proposed the idea that we do a program with them…John Coney, the other producer [who also directed the special], really liked their music. So we decided we might as well make a proposal to them. …We did it on such a shoestring, and it all came together at the right moment. You could take out certain little glitches, but I kind of like it for its roughness. ‘Cause it was a reflection of who we were at that time.

Farber also talked about how much they paid the band to perform.

“At that point, they were really anxious to have whatever publicity they could,” remembers the program’s co-producer at KQED, Jim Farber. “We did not have much of a budget. Pink Floyd did the performance and offered the rights for a certain number of airings for practically nothing. My memory is we paid them $200.”

Here’s footage of “Atom Heart Mother” and “Grantchester Meadows”, also from that day.