Buried for Eternity?
It has been close to 15 years since Roger Waters rejoined David Gilmour, Nick Mason and Richard Wright as Pink Floyd for a one-off reunion to emphasize the importance of world hunger in 2005 for Live Aid 8.
To many that hoped and prayed for a full reunion tour, those hopes were buried for all of eternity, Obscured by Clouds to reminisce possibly for one last time. One last glimmer.
Where there is hope, there is always a glimmer. When drummer Nick Mason decided to come out of retirement in 2018 for a small handful of European club dates as Nick Mason’s Saucerful of Secrets, the glimmer began to pierce the Obscured Clouds.
Let There Be Light …
A full 80-date world tour was announced in September 2018, Mason said the group were not a tribute band, but wanted to “capture the spirit” of the era, pre-dating 1973’s “Dark Side of the Moon” with a focus between 1965 to 1972.
This was Mason’s first tour in over 24 years (since The Division Bell) accompanied by longtime Floyd tour bandmates, Guy Pratt (bass/vocals), Lee Harris (guitar), Don Beken (keyboardist) and Spandau Ballet’s Gary Kemp (guitar/vocals).
Enthusiasm abounds, especially with one time-warped individual in tie-dye dancing back-and-forth the length of the venue (worth the price of admission).
Surprisingly, bandmates reminisced vividly of the deep historical connections with the city of Toronto and Floyd through the decades.
Colourful, 60’s psychedelic, lava lamp imagery merged with grayscale footage of Mason and founder Syd Barrett propelled the audience to more “free” times.
Touching upon rare gems such as “Arnold Lane”, “Bike” & “Lucifer Sam” to many, most of these “treasures” were assumed to be buried for all eternity, never to be played live ever again.
On this day, the spirit was rekindled for many from the past, present and hope for the future.
The spirit of Syd Barrett will continue to Shine On…
Set List:
Interstellar Overdrive
Astronomy Domine
Lucifer Sam
Fearless
Obscured By Clouds
Remember A Day
Arnold Layne
Vegetable Man (Unfinished, unreleased Syd Barrett track)
If / Atom Heart Mother / If
The Nile Song
Green Is The Colour
Let There Be Light
Childhood’s End
Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun
See Emily Play
Bike
One Of These Days
Encore:
A Saucerful Of Secrets
Point Me At The Sky
