I Just Read About That…

[ATTENDED: April 20, 2019] Nick Mason’s Saucerful of Secrets

While I, like many people my age, love Pink Floyd, (I mean Dark Side of the Moon is the most popular album in history or whatever), I have always really enjoyed their early stuff.  Not the Syd Barrett stuff, exactly, but the stuff from that era: Ummagumma, Meddle, Atom Heart Mother.

When I saw that Nick Mason was touring with some non-Pink Floyd guys, I was intrigued.  I’ve always thought that Mason was an underrated dude (when the rest of the band has huge personalities it’s easy to get overlooked).  He also seems like just a nice fella.

Then I read that this tour, dubbed Nick Mason’s Saucerful of Secrets, would focus on the pre-Dark Side of the Moon era of psychedelia and experimentation. Mason says he wished to revisit songs that were staples of early Pink Floyd shows from 1969–1972, as well as other songs that were never performed live by Pink Floyd during this era. Mason said the group was not a tribute band, but that they wanted to “capture the spirit” of the era.  And they were going to play some of “Atom Heart Mother,” my personal favorite.

The band would consist of Dom Beken on keys, Lee Harris and Gary Kemp on guitars and vocals, and long time Pink Floyd collaborator Guy Pratt (man, he has played with EVERYBODY) on bass and vocals.

The Met Philly has a great sound.  I didn’t love the seating set up (middle-aged dudes drink a lot of beer and then pee it out a lot).  Bt the place is comfortable enough.  My view was almost blocked by a pole (the left side of the stage was cut off, but there was nothing to see there.  It was mildly annoying.  The people next to me could not wait to move seats though (it was crazy how jumpy they were).  So when they moved, I moved over a seat and all was fine.

I loved the retro look.  Psychedelia is a great era and the images are wonderful.  I loved the font he chose and the spiralling lights.  I also loved that some of the songs had backdrops of those weird visuals of what I imagine are drops of colored liquid pressed between slides.

The band came out–huge applause for Mason–and got right to it with a ripping version of “Interstellar Overdrive.”  And then it was “Astronomy Domine.”  I thought I might hear Voivod play it two weeks earlier, and then I did hear The Claypool Lennon Delirium play it the week earlier and now here was more or less the original.  I love TCLD’s version, but this version was tremendous.

In fact, everything about this show was tremendous.  The musicians were on top of their game.  The effects were simple but really effective and the sound was spot on.

I haven’t listened to much of this music in quite some time, so I wasn’t looking for fidelity to the original.  Like Mason said, this captured the spirit of the era.  It does make me wonder if any old band doing this would be fine, and I suppose it would, but having Mason there adds a stamp of legitimacy to the whole proceedings.  Mason (go lord, he is 75) sounded amazing on the drums–fast and powerful.

They played one more from Piper at the Gates of Dawn, “Lucifer Sam,” which was wonderful.  I don’t dislike the Syd Barrett songs at all, but I like some a lot more than others.  “Sam,” “Bike” and “Arnold Layne” are my three favorites, so I was really glad they were all included.

Then they really surprised me by playing “Fearless” from Meddle.  I’d assumed that this album was not going to be included (if they had played “Echoes” I would have freaked out from excitement, but hat would have been the whole show).  I was happy to hear “Fearless” and even happier to hear that they included the original (I believe) recording of “You’ll Never Walk Alone” for the beginning and end.

Although I love this era of Floyd I never really got into the soundtracks.  More and Obscured By Clouds were records I’d listen to once in a while, but not really.  So I didn’t recognize “Obscured By Clouds” and “When You’re In” and thought it was just a jam (which it totally was).

The show wasn’t done exactly in chronological order, but parts were grouped somewhat by album. The middle section was a bunch of one-offs though.  There was “Remember a Day” from Saucerful of Secrets which Guy Pratt told us was written by “my son’s grandfather.”  Which at first I thought was a funny way of saying Pratt’s dad, but when I looked it up, it turns out that Pratt married Richard Wright’s daughter.  Neat.  Lee Harris did some amazing recreations of that guitar sound that Floyd got in these early songs.

For “Arnold Layne,” they played a video of the band from that era behind the band (a lot of Mason which much darker and longer hair).  Mason reminded us that “Layne” was once banned by the BBC for its content.  But he assumed we were now old enough to hear it noe.

Then they played a song that I genuinely didn’t know.  “Vegetable Man” was next.  It was unreleased and apparently unfinished, that only appeared on the recent Early Years compilation.  It was a pretty cool song in that bizarro Syd storytelling vein.  Every few songs the band guys interjected some stories and memories.  Interestingly, Mason didn’t say a whole lot, leaving the narration to the guys up front.  But he did tell us a bit about “Vegetable Man.”

Gary Kemp, (who plays with Spandau Ballet) told us that his Floyd moment came in 1974 when he saw the group perform at Wembley.  He was an aspiring guitarist, and should have been spending his time watching David Gilmour, but he couldn’t take his eyes off of what Mason behind the kit (he was the only one moving).

Then Kemp stepped up to an acoustic guitar (on a stand) and played “If.”  After a verse or two, they paused and started the main theme from “Atom Heart Mother” and I nearly lost it.  Obviously they weren’t going to play the whole thing, but they played a lot more than I thought they would (about 7 or 8 minutes).  After a suitable jam, they concluded the delightful If–as if it were all a dream.

They jumped to the “More” soundtrack for “The Nile Song” (which I love) and “Green is the Colour” (which I didn’t know as well).  Pratt told us that a decade before he had been rehearsing with David Gilmour for a tour.   Gilmour had “generously” offered to let the band members make setlist suggestions. When Pratt suggested “The Nile Song”, Gilmour said, “Perhaps you should find another band!” And now here he was in another band, playing that song with Mason.

They also played “Let There be More Light” from Saucerful, which Pratt said they didn’t play in Europe–only in America.

Dom Beken was outstanding on keys, doing everything from playing the pretty piano melodies to creating the trippy sonic textures that fill so many of the songs, especially the ones like the sound effects in “Interstellar Overdrive” and “Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun.”  As for “Set the Controls,” Mason told us that he was pretty excited to play this song because back in the day Roger Waters, who is a wonderful man, would never share the gong.  But this was his band and his show and he was certainly going to hit the gong.  Which he did.

Interestingly, in New York, Roger Waters came on stage (I’m never at the shows with special guests–see TCLD and Geddy Lee), but he played gong on this song, just like he used to.

Then they played some early rock n roll singles.  I love both “See Emily Play” (with a nice jam and harmony vocals section at the end) and “Bike” so that was awesome to hear them live.  “Bike” included the nonsense at the end as well, which was a nice touch.

“Bike seemed like a set ender, but they had one more track up their sleeves.  A ripping and awesome “One of These Days.”  I got goosebumps when mason said (or the recording of him said) “one of these days I’m going to gut you into little pieces.”

They went off for an encore.

I honestly didn’t know what they end the show with–I mean what else was there?  “Cymbaline?” “Alan’s Psychedelic Breakfast?” (Oh my god that would have been awesome).  “The Grand Vizier’s Garden Party?” (hint hint).

Well, they went really weird with “A Saucerful of Secrets.”  I wished that I had realized what this was right away..  I thought it was just an introductory freakout jam, because I had totally forgotten what a bizarre song “Saucerful” is.  It wasn’t until after the drum solo of Part 2 “syncopated pandemonium” that I recognized what was going on and how cool it was to hear the final two parts live.

They ended the night with another unreleased song, “Point Me at the Sky.”  Although I am sure I knew at least the chorus from somewhere.  Where could that be?  I did rather enjoy the “if you survive til 2005” line, too.

This was such a fun and wonderful show.  I don’t usually see bands that are a lot older than me.  Typically the bands I see are about half my age.  So it was kind of cool to hear songs that came out before I was born.

I also don’t really care for nostalgia acts.  But old doesn’t mean nostalgia.  Most of these songs were never heard live–certainly not by most of the people in the audience.  And it wasn’t like he was trotting out a setlist of greatest hits (as interesting as Brit Floyd sounds, I don’t know if I want to see that).  This was a modern reinvention of old songs–many songs that sound fresh and groundbreaking some 50 years later.

I didn’t get a close seat because I didn’t really think it would be worthwhile.  But if he tours this show again (maybe with one or two different songs?) I would see them again, but I’d be much closer.

1. Interstellar Overdrive ¶
2. Astronomy Domine ¶
3. Lucifer Sam ¶
4. Fearless ≅
5. Obscured by Clouds ©
6. When You’re In ©
7. Remember a Day §
8. Arnold Layne ®
9. Vegetable Man ⊄
10. If ♥
11. Atom Heart Mother (excerpt) ♥
12. If (reprise) ♥
13. The Nile Song ϖ
14. Green is the Colour ϖ
15. Let There be More Light §
16. Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun §
17. See Emily Play ®
18. Bike ¶
19. One of These Days ≅
    encore
20. A Saucerful of Secrets §
21. Point Me at the Sky ⊄

¶ Piper at the Gates of Dawn (1967)
§ A Saucerful of Secrets (1968)
ϖ More soundtrack (1969)
♥ Atom Heart Mother (1970)
® Relics (1971)
≅ Meddle (1971)
© Obscured By Clouds (1972)
⊄ unreleased until Early Years collections in 2016.