Here at Brain Damage we always encourage visitors to share their thoughts, views and more, about Pink Floyd. Often these come in the form of concert reviews, or comments about releases (be them new releases or reissues), but sometimes they come in the form of memories. If you have a desire to write something about the band, or individual members, we’re always delighted to hear from you! In the following case, it’s in the form of feelings – Pink Floyd’s music has a big effect on people, and Paul Kelly, a BD visitor, has written a poem about the band and how the music has
been an important part of his life as he grew up: Discovery – by Paul Kelly
Four young men met in Cambridge.
They decided to form a band
setting off on a journey
of discovery
through a sonic land. From songs about a bike
and a gnome and
Granchester meadow too.
Every so often, some vintage Pink Floyd surfaces when you least expect it. In the last day or so, some incredible footage of the band playing live in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, on June 28th, 1975, has surfaced. This gig was the final show on the 1975 North American tour, showcasing The Dark Side Of The Moon and selections from Wish You Were Here, along with Raving And Drooling and Gotta Be Crazy (both to appear later on Animals), with an encore of Echoes. The footage which has just appeared was shot on Super 8, which allows for around 3 minutes on each cartridge of film. Thus, during the 70s if people were using Super 8 cameras to record shows, they’d grab snippets and highlights, rather than have the camera rolling for entire sequences. The footage, which you’ll see below, features highlights of the band’s performance throughout the evening, showing some of the stage effects well. The footage has also been restored and tidied up, and syncronised with an audio recording of this show (Super 8 film at that time was normally just picture, no sound, although larger cartridges had recently been developed allowing a magnetic sound recording). Enjoy!
Happy Halloween to you all! Regulars to Brain Damage over the years will know that our friend Joe Ringus is a hugely talented pumpkin artist, and each year has crafted a Pink Floyd themed pumpkin for Halloween (which is celebrated by many, principally this evening, but in a number of places it covers a number of days). Those regulars will no doubt be as keen as we have been to see if Joe would be continuing the tradition this year, and if so, what design would be picked. The great news is that Joe has been hard at work yet again, and has done another lovely job! We’re delighted to share his incredible carving with you. Thanks Joe – we think you’ve done another superb job! It’s a great tradition and we know many of our visitors love to see them. If there are any other pumpkin artists out there who have created Floyd designs, we’d love to see them.
Floydstuff (https://www.floydstuff.com) had lined up a show for those of you in or near Amsterdam in The Netherlands. He is hosting Guy Pratt at the beautiful Hard Rock Hotel Amsterdam American, following the incredible 2022 tour with Nick Mason’s Saucerful Of Secrets, for an evening of chatter and some music too. The event takes place at 8pm, at the hotel’s intimate setting of the ‘Mata Hide Away’ named after the infamous courtesan and convicted spy Mata Hari. The Hard Rock Hotel Amsterdam American is featured in the legendary photo shoot by Nico van der Stam during Pink Floyd’s first visit to the Netherlands in April 1967. Whilst tickets for this event are very limited, a few extra tickets have just been released and are available NOW from Floydstuff.com (https://www.floydstuff.com/product/9018818/in-conversation-with-guy-pratt-hard-rock-hotel-amsterdam-american-18-march-2023). Talking of limited things from Floydstuff, those who haven’t bought their copy of Pink Floyd – Any Colour You Like: The Dark Side Of The Moon on Vinyl (https://www.brain-damage.co.uk/latest/pink-floyds-the-dark-side-of-the-moon-collectors-book-anno.html) yet, don’t leave it too long – Floydstuff have advised they are down to the last few boxes of this fascinating book, a guide to some 700 different versions of the album! In other Guy Pratt news, it’s been announced that Guy will be appearing in a new film, planned for release next year, called The Monk, The Mermaid & Molise. Guy will appear as a fictionalised version of himself, alongside Raffaello Degruttola, Sally Phillips and Ronni Ancona. The basic premise of the film is that Guy accepts an invitation to spend five days playing a series of bass clinics in a remote Italian region, Molise, run by a super fan, and must face up to decisions from his past. In the Screen Daily (https://www.screendaily.com/news/film-soho-gears-up-for-road-trip-comedy-the-monk-the-mermaid-and-molise-exclusive/5179244.article) announcement, it notes that Guy will write the music, with contributions from his previous musical collaborators.
