Freshly Hatched – 12/11/2019

Nick Howe – Wide Awake

In ‘Wide Awake’, Nick Howe has penned the anthem for the lockdown insomniac. Labelling the pop ballad in that way, however, may feel as if it narrows the song’s vast scope, as this isn’t simply an ode to the sleepless nights of worry we’ve all experienced at some point in our lives. It feels pure, …

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Nick Mason’s Saucerful of Secrets: Beacon Theatre, New York City, April 18th, 2019

As the Saucerful of Secrets approach the end of their North American tour, the band plays a more relaxed yet tighter sounding set… and host a special guest. Saucerful of Secrets has finally arrived in New York City and, as guitarist Lee Harris reminds us, it has been 13 years since Nicholas Berkeley Mason has pounded the skins in Gotham. As far as when he played here with Pink Floyd the first time, even Harris and Mason debate this on stage. All that matters to the crowd though, is that an actual member of Pink Floyd is here to play classic Pink Floyd, digging deep into the Syd Barrett era, and with a cast of musicians supporting Mason that even a former member of Pink Floyd swears sounds better than the original – but more on that later. As Mason says: this is not a tribute band but the real thing: Nick Mason’s Saucerful of Secrets. Although the set list for the Saucerful of Secrets shows hasn’t really changed much since the first handful of pub shows in London last May, each venue and each audience impart a unique vibe. The band feeds off of that. This evening, the set kicks off as usual: with Interstellar Overdrive and Astronomy Domine. The two songs drench the audience in a sonic atmosphere The Beacon Theatre has served well over many years. The audience responds in kind: clapping, singing, and swaying to every note blissfully. But by the time the band starts playing Lucifer Sam, something takes over (considering the title, that might spook you out… but it’s a totally benign possession): they sound simultaneously relaxed and tight, their performance flowing through an undercurrent of muscle memory and collegial comfort while the smallest ad libs and accents on specific parts of the song begin to shape the performance into its uniqueness. Venues serve as different vessels for sound in such diverse ways too… during Lucifer Sam it’s hard to ignore Dom Beken’s keyboards: they really fill this theatre and weave the rest of the show together in a magical way that only the Beacon can afford to.

Nick Mason interview in new Reader’s Digest magazine

For many, the long running pocket-sized magazine Reader's Digest is something they'd tend to come across in waiting rooms and other places, with a mix of articles that prove diverting while you are waiting to be called. It started back in 1922, and is read in localised editions all around the world. The April 2020 issue of the UK edition, however, has proved a definite surprise…The cover alone features someone you'd not tend to associate with Reader's Digest – the actor, Samuel L Jackson. Next to his right ear, though, is the headline for the article that Floyd fans in particular will be interested in: an eight page interview with Nick Mason on patience, parenting and Pink Floyd .The principal thrust of the article is Nick looking back at his life, from the very early days of family holidays, and being introduced to the world of cars (including a picture I'd not seen before of a 13-year-old Nick admiring an old Rolls Royce), through to the development of the band. This covers the very early days, right up to his current project, Nick Mason's Saucerful Of Secrets (although there is little about this).You can purchase this issue online for despatch worldwide (https://www.mymagazinesub.co.uk/readers-digest/latest-issue/details/readers-digest-april-2020-issue-89/), rather than having to venture out to try and find a copy in one of the few stores still open at the moment.