PINK FLOYD Animals 1977 The Animals stadium tour of the USA in the summer of 1977 followed the European arena tour of 1976. The indoor dates headlined the original inflatable pig, built by Jeffrey Shaw and Hipgnosis for the album cover shoot at Battersea Power Station in London.
		The helium-filled pig famously escaped, but it was recovered from a farm in Kent, hung on a wire, and flown over the crowds on the indoor shows.
		The stage for the stadium shows was revolutionary. The weather protection was provided by telescoping umbrellas stored under the stage. The umbrellas were developed by Ian Liddell at Buro Happold from an original design by Frei Otto.
		Roger Waters wanted to add an inflatable family to the show. The figures were designed by Andrew Sanders and Mark Fisher, sewn together by Rob Harries and flown from winches and rigging designed by Jonathan Park.
		The family consisted of a mother on a sofa, her helium filled husband, two and one half children, assorted consumer durables and a car.
		The inflatable family was suspended from a 300m (1000ft) long cable stretched across the stadium between two cranes.
		'Animals' was performed as the first half of the show. At the end of the set, the old Battersea pig was flown over the crowd on a cable stretched from the back of the stadium to a position behind the stage. As the inflatable pig disappeared from view, a second, helium-filled pig with a belly full of propane rose up into the night sky from behind the stage. The pig was detonated at a height of about 400ft.
		The show finished with a 300m wide pyrotechnic waterfall hung on the family rigging cable.
		In the year following the show, Mark Fisher and Jonathan Park developed a new design for the 'Pyramid' stage which had been used for the 'Wish You Were Here' USA tour of 1975. The design featured a helium filled aerostatic pyramidion on top of the truncated pyramid stage.
		Pink Floyd The 'Animals' USA Tour 1977
		Stage and lighting design: Graeme Fleming Umbrella design: Ian Liddell Inflatable design: Andrew Sanders, Mark Fisher Inflatable engineering: Jonathan Park Hindenburg Pigs: Richard Hartman