Review by Shawn Perry
Photos by Joe Schaeffer
If you ask the average, nondescript music fan about Pink Floyd, they’ll likely say they know about The Dark Side Of The Moon, Wish You Were Here, and The Wall — their biggest sellers. They may even be aware of the band’s colorful history before they hit paydirt with Dark Side. But if you start dropping album names and song titles, they will likely lose interest and fade into the background. Tonight’s show with Nick Mason’s Saucerful of Secrets wasn’t really meant for them anyway. It was all about the band’s early years. Anyone expecting to hear “Money” and “Another Brick In The Wall” was at the wrong concert.
As someone familiar with Pink Floyd’s entire sphere of work, I immediately recognized a majority of the material covered on this St. Patrick’s Day in Los Angeles was sacred and untouched by any of the other members of Pink Floyd since before The Dark Side of The Moon. Nick Mason, the only one to appear on every Pink Floyd album, was about to offer up a splendid glimpse into the past, when the British quartet was young, hungry and striving to leave their mark. Without this unique and varied foundation, Pink Floyd would have likely been relegated to an anonymous pile of forgotten bands left for dead in the late 1960s.
As it was, Mason — joined by longtime touring Pink Floyd bassist Guy Pratt, Spandau Ballet guitarist Gary Kemp, guitarist Lee Harris, and keyboardist Dom Beken — broke out the goods, covering a vast cross-section of prime Floyd tuneage spanning 1967’s The Piper At The Gates of Dawn right on through to 1972’s Obscured By Clouds. Anyone who favors the Syd Barrett years got seven numbers, including the night’s first three songs — “Interstellar Overdrive,” “Astronomy Domine,” and “Lucifer Sam.”
Naturally, a sophisticated light show was expected to highlight the psychedelic nature of the music. To that end, cool late 60s-style liquid lighting effects were employed to take everyone in the room on a virtual acid trip. That and hearing and seeing a band that has the music down cold goes a long way. What was most noticeable at the Wiltern was Mason’s playing — out in front and surprisingly powerful. During those Pink Floyd tours in the late 80s and early 90s, his drums were often shrouded in a wall of reverb and overcome by an additional percussionist competing for space. Tonight, it was all Mason, with plenty of space, and he was magnificent.
Kemp and Pratt traded off on the lead vocals, while Harris and Beken piped in on the backgrounds. Any misgivings one might have about the guy from Spandau Ballet singing and playing guitar like David Gilmour immediately faded as he nailed each and every part with thought and precision. Kemp’s performances on “Fearless” (complete with football chants), “Obscured Clouds,” and “Childhood’s End” were especially poignant.
Pratt, an integral part of the Pink Floyd camp since the 80s, was equally superb, and, of course, as a known comedian in England, offered up a couple of humorous anecdotes between songs. After suggesting “The Nile Song” to David Gilmour when he toured with him in 2006, Pratt said the Pink Floyd guitarist “suggested” he find a new band. Fortunately at tonight’s show, the bassist got his way and played the song, which originally appeared on the 1969 More soundtrack.
Two more Barrett songs — “Arnold Layne,” the bizarre tale of a cross-dresser, and “Vegetable Man,” a self-confessional that revealed the madness that would soon drown Pink Floyd’s original guitarist, songwriter, singer, and, to many, the true essence of what the band signified (!) — preceded a good chunk of “Atom Heart Mother,” neatly book-ended by “If,” a classic and sentimental Roger Waters acoustic number.
“Green Is the Colour” was all too appropriate considering the date of the show, while Mason finally got to bang the gong on “Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun.” Barrett’s playful “See Emily Play” and “Bike” lightened the mood before “One Of These Days” produced a thunderous Floydian rupture, suspended by Harris’ wailing slide work.
It might have been asking too much to expect the five-piece to come back out and do something like “Echoes.” While that would have been a staggering move on so many levels, serving up a double whammy of “A Saucerful of Secrets” and “Point Me At The Sky” was just as satisfying.
When David Gilmour and Roger Waters tour, they stick to their solo material and those surefire Pink Floyd hits. For the second night in a row, Los Angeles saw Nick Mason go deep for the best of breed from the very beginning. Thanks to the drummer and the man who lived through it all, fans and admirers alike can now experience a treasure trove of musical deliciousness of early Pink Floyd in all its glory.
