Last night, David Gilmour made his scheduled guest appearance at Richard Thompson’s 70th birthday concert, held at London’s Royal Albert Hall. Held in front of a sell-out audience, in thrall to the variety of musicians who joined together in wishing Richard a great day, the show was a 34-song mix of Richard’s material, Fairport Convention songs, and the odd cover version (more often than not, originally performed by the guest themselves in earlier days). David’s segment came at the end of the second half, and saw him perform a superb Dimming Of The Day, followed by Fat Old Sun (see below). The encore which followed – Meet On The Ledge, a Fairport song – included what appeared to be all the guests, including David. A memorable night was had by all! Here’s a taste of last night:
Wish You Were Here – A Peopleâs History of Pink Floyd is the title of a new book about the Floyd, although author Richard Houghton readily admits that the book isn’t entirely new, as it’s an update of an earlier work from 2017. The book tells the story of Pink Floyd through more than 500 eyewitness accounts, mixing concert memories with other encounters with the band. As well as stories from the beginnings of the band’s career and accounts of arena shows, there are a number of more intimate encounters. One example is the story of Norman Whitehall, who travelled with a friend to Bridgend in Wales to see Pink Floyd at the tiny Kee Club in March 1969, only to be told that they couldn’t get in because it was a members-only club. A disconsolate Norman wandered the streets with his friend until they bumped into the band themselves, who took pity on them and escorted them into the club and through to their dressing room, where band and fans shared a joint. Richard said: “I had a book entitled Pink Floyd – I Was There published in paperback, but that book has been out of print for a few years. I’ve managed to acquire the rights to the book and decided to republish it through my own company, Spenwood Books, and give the material in the book the treatment it deserves. The new book is coming out in hardback in a larger format, with full colour photos on high quality paper. I’ve also collected over 100 new accounts of seeing the Floyd live that weren’t in the original book. This includes several tales from the period when Syd was in the band. So it’s a fascinating look back at Pink Floyd as it’s their history told in the words of fans, and it provides a very different take on a story that’s been told many times before. Richard is still interested in hearing from anyone who saw Pink Floyd, particularly if they have a concert memory from the Sixties, and he can be reached at isawpinkfloyd@gmail.com. The deadline for fresh material is 31st May. Wish You Were Here – A Peopleâs History of Pink Floyd is published by Spenwood Books and is available to order now at SpenwoodBooks.com (https://spenwoodbooks.com/product/wish-you-were-here-a-peoples-history-of-pink-floyd/). Orders placed by 14th July will receive a 20% discount on the RRP of £30 and early bird purchasers will also be named as sponsors in the book.
As hinted at on the official Pink Floyd social media channels last week, this week London’s Battersea Power Station, which has been undergoing major renovation and rebuilding, was lit up to mark the release of the Floyd’s superb Animals 2018 Remix on LP, CD, DVD, Blu-ray and Super Audio CD (SACD) (https://www.brain-damage.co.uk/latest/now-announced-pink-floyds-animals-2018-remix-on-multiple-for.html). With a test run on Tuesday night working well, it was full steam ahead for last night as you will be able to see from the short video below. On the first night, there were a variety of different colour projections and chimney colours. If you fancy taking a look yourself, it is running again tonight (Thursday) between 8:30pm – 11pm. With the Battersea Power Station site a lot more open these days, there will be various vantage points you might want to take, but clearly there’s also a good view from across the River Thames as well.
Revealing his brand new single, Kilkenny’s adopted son, John Murry is back with his latest offering, ‘Ones + Zeros’, which sees Murry deliver a characteristically personal and introspective track in melodic, proto-country American style. As the follow up to ‘Oscar Wilde’ (Came Here To Make Fun Of You), John Murry drops ‘Ones + Zeroes’, the …
