Lee Harris, guitarist and originator of the idea of Nick Mason’s Saucerful Of Secrets, recently did a guest appearance at a guitar show, to explain how he has worked on his guitar sound for the project. In particular, how he has tried to get close to Syd Barrett’s guitar sound. Our friend and contributor Kevan Porter was there to shoot the videos of Lee in action, and explain about the event, and Lee’s appearance there… The ‘Guitar Show 2023’ was held in Birmingham at The Cranmore Conference Centre over the weekend of 25th and 26th February. This annual event hosted 133 companies exhibiting everything from electric and acoustic guitars to amps, effects and accessories. Amongst those was Thorpy FX, a British effects pedal company who build professional effects pedals, including the ‘Scarlet Tunic Analogue Amp Emulator’ as used by none other than Lee Harris of Nick Mason’s Saucerful of Secrets. Lee visited the Thorpy FX booth on Sunday to give a brief explanation and demonstration of the Scarlet Tunic pedal. Playing a lot of Syd Barrett’s tunes with The Saucers, including Interstellar Overdrive, Lee said he’d previously been unhappy with the “stock 60s sound” pedals around at the time and contacted Adrian at Thorpy FX to see if he could come up with a pedal that replicated the sound of a Selmer Treble and Bass amp as originally used by Syd. Fortunately, Adrian and his business partner, Dan, have been very successful and Lee now has a pedal that really adds authenticity to the sound of such Floyd tracks as Interstellar Overdrive as can be heard in the video below. You can also hear Lee’s explanation in the second video. Our thanks to Kevan for the above – much appreciated!
Acoustic singer/songwriter Svea Lyon hails from the United States of America sharing her soulful songs with the nation. Ever since Svea started singing ‘Twinkle Twinkle Little Star’ in her first-grade class, she has had a taste for music. We spoke with her about her new single ‘Fun And Games’, future plans and remaining motivated. Why …
It has just been announced that next month, on April 30th, 2021, Pink Floyd Live At Knebworth 1990 will be released for the first time on CD, 180g heavyweight double vinyl LP, and digital platforms. The concert was part of the star-studded 1990 Silver Clef Award Winners performance at Knebworth House, in Hertfordshire, England, headlined by the Floyd. The concert, in front of around 120,000 fans, was a fundraiser for the Nordoff Robbins Music Therapy Charity, and also included Paul McCartney, Genesis, Dire Straits, Eric Clapton, Cliff Richard The Shadows, Elton John, Status Quo, Tears For Fears, and Robert Plant Jimmy Page. The Floyd set was performed by the touring line-up of the late 1980s, with a slight change to the vocalists – joining Durga McBroom was Sam Brown, her mother Vicki, and Clare Torry (original vocalist for The Great Gig In The Sky, resuming her role for this show, three years after doing the same for Roger Waters at his pair of 1987 Wembley Arena gigs). Saxophonist Candy Dulfer and keyboard player Michael Kamen also joined the band for this one-off show. The audio has been remixed by David Gilmour and Andy Jackson, and following its appearance in 2019’s The Later Years box set, is now available on CD or double vinyl for the first time as a standalone album. Nick Mason looked back at the concert, and remarked: “There is something special about Knebworth. We all still have fond memories of playing there in the 70’s, and this show was no different. As a North London boy this was almost a home game, but with the added delight of being the re-assembly of the band after a fairly mega tour that had lasted for well over a year. It was also an opportunity to get the wonderful Candy Dulfer to play - I had been a fan of hers for quite a while, and it was just a shame we didn’t have an opportunity to utilise her for more. We also had our dear friend Michael Kamen guesting. Michael had contributed so much to PF over the previous ten years, it’s great to have something of his playing on the recording.” To order either physical edition, you can do so from the following Amazon stores (thus helping Brain Damage with a much needed contribution towards site running costs, at no extra cost to you!): Pink Floyd Live At Knebworth 1990 – 2LP 180g double vinyl: Amazon UK (http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B08Y4HCFYV/braindamage-21)Amazon.com (https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B08X7W9J2J/braindamage-20)
Amazon Canada (https://www.amazon.ca/exec/obidos/ASIN/B08X7W9J2J/braindamageon-20)
Germany (http://www.amazon.de/exec/obidos/ASIN/B08Y4HCFYV/braindamage0f-21) France (http://www.amazon.fr/exec/obidos/ASIN/B08Y4HCFYV/braindamageon-21) Italy (http://www.amazon.it/exec/obidos/ASIN/B08Y4HCFYV/bradamonl-21) Spain (http://www.amazon.es/exec/obidos/ASIN/B08Y4HCFYV/braidama01-21) Pink Floyd Live At Knebworth 1990 – CD: Amazon UK (http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B08Y4RQGXJ/braindamage-21) Amazon.com (https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B08X7S43KV/braindamage-20)
Amazon Canada (https://www.amazon.ca/exec/obidos/ASIN/B08X7S43KV/braindamageon-20) Germany (http://www.amazon.de/exec/obidos/ASIN/B08Y4RQGXJ/braindamage0f-21) France (http://www.amazon.fr/exec/obidos/ASIN/B08Y4RQGXJ/braindamageon-21) Italy (http://www.amazon.it/exec/obidos/ASIN/B08Y4RQGXJ/bradamonl-21) Spain (http://www.amazon.es/exec/obidos/ASIN/B08Y4RQGXJ/braidama01-21)
An update for those of you who have been wondering about some of the dates on the upcoming UK and Ireland Nick Mason's Saucerful Of Secrets 2020 tour. Whilst most of the shows had been rescheduled due to the coronavirus pandemic, there were still three shows where revised dates hadn't been declared.One of those three – the May 7th show at London's Royal Albert Hall – has been moved to October 20th. Tickets remain valid for the revised date, and ticket holders are (as ever) advised to keep hold of their tickets and confirmations for this show.There are two other postponed shows from this leg of the tour which are yet to be announced – Dublin on April 29th, and Southampton on May 4th. Hopefully work is ongoing on getting new dates for these events and once we have the information, we will let you all know. It must be a difficult logistical exercise to come up with revised touring schedules which work with spare dates at the venues (some will have bookings, even if not yet announced, for next year already) whilst not turning the tour into a completely illogical journey!We're also expecting the European tour, due to start in Brussels on May 18th, to be postponed as well with the current global situation, and again, once we have the relevant information, we'll let you know.
