Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason will perform the band’s early psychedelic music with a new group that’s set to debut in London in May.
Nick Mason’s Saucerful of Secrets quintet includes bassist Guy Pratt (the latter-day Pink Floyd, David Gilmour’s band) guitarists Gary Kemp (Spandau Ballet) and Lee Harris (the Blockheads), and keyboardist Dom Beken.
“This is a unique opportunity to experience Pink Floyd’s celebrated and significant early body of work played live, including songs from albums ‘The Piper at the Gates of Dawn’ and ‘A Saucerful of Secrets,'” the group said in a press release.
Mason, 74, previously noted that the many Pink Floyd fans who came aboard with 1973’s “The Dark Side of the Moon” largely ignored the important embryonic works.
The British group’s first two albums include the cornerstone psychedelic-music works “Astronomy Domine,” “Interstellar Overdrive,” “Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun” and “A Saucerful of Secrets.” The albums were the only Pink Floyd works to include onetime frontman Syd Barrett. Mason co-wrote “Interstellar” and “Secrets.”
“This will be Nick Mason’s first live musical outing since Pink Floyd played at the 2005 Live 8 concert in London,” the group noted.
The Saucerful of Secrets group will play Dingwall’s on May 20, followed by May 21, 23 and 24 shows at the Half Moon. Both are small venues and tickets sold out immediately.
Update: The Mason band’s web site unveiled a string of European tour dates after the successful London shows. See Saucerful of Secrets photos from one of the London gigs. /update
Pink Floyd appears to be a dead concern, although frontmen David Gilmour and Roger Waters continue to mine the Pink Floyd catalog with their own touring bands. “The Endless River,” released in 2014, was made up of pre-existing studio tapes and is said to be Pink Floyd’s final album.
May 18 sees the rerelease of the band’s first compilation album, “Relics,” as well as a revival of the “Pulse” live album. Read more about the Pink Floyd rereleases. Also, Record Store Day brings a new mono LP of “Piper at the Gates of Dawn” remastered by Bernie Grundman and Co.