AFG wish to send our best wishes to Phil Manzanera who celebrates his 72nd birthday today.
Starting with the song ‘One Slip‘ from the Pink Floyd’s 1987 A Momentary Lapse Of Reason album, Phil was a key person behind Pink Floyd’s The Endless River, as well as being a long-term collaborator with David Gilmour on his On An Islandand Rattle That Lock albums.
Fresh from their 2022 European tour, Nick Mason’s Saucerful of Secrets just announced that they are getting ready for even more shows in 2023.
Hot off the press is the announcement of more shows on “The Echoes Tour.” There are also new dates in Poland, the Czech Republic, and Italy, with tickets going on sale tomorrow at 10 a.m. CET (apart from Poland, which is on Wednesday).
For the last couple of years, it has been tradition for Nick Mason and his wife Annete to host an open garden event at his very historic Middlewick House estate.
The event will take place on June 3 and 4, 2023, and will include plants for sale, stalls to browse, and farm animals to see. Tea, coffee, cakes, and a selection of food stalls, from BBQ to smoked salmon, are available throughout the day.
The event is all in aid of charity, and with Roger Waters’ This Is Not A Drill European Tour 2023 arriving in the UK around the same time, it’s the perfect way to round off a month of Floydian related activities.
Our compadres over at Pink Floyd Collectors have just brought to light an interesting revelation from the latest book, ‘Through the Prism,” by Pink Floyd Art Director Aubrey Powell
Pink Floyd appears to had planned a greatest hits compilation release to coincide with the official Pink Floyd: Their Mortal Remains Exhibition, which opened in London in 2017.
The article reports that this release was described as a double CD and four LP release that would offer a review of Pink Floyd’s catalogue up to that date. Sadly, Roger Waters felt that the artwork wasn’t up to modern-day standards, and ultimately, this meant it was scrapped. The cover image is a Storm Thorgerson concept, that Aubrey felt would fit the release.
For this edition of Brain Damage, The doctor explores the notion that we forge on to another year as we all get older. This is a twist on a topic of many Pink Floyd songs, a collection of songs that all mention the inevitable of getting older, gotten older and being old.
Due to popular demand the Official Pink Floyd : Their Mortal Remains Exhibition Montreal has been extended, In a statement released today
” We are delighted to announce that, by popular demand, Pink Floyd: Their Mortal Remains Exhibition has been extend until 5th March 2023. This will allow more visitors to discover this great retrospective of Pink Floyd, their music, and the band’s major impact on art and music! ”
The popularity of this exhibition has made it a must-have experience in the cultural scene this season.
Durga McBroom, best known for her work as backing vocalist / collaborator for Pink Floyd (between 1987 – 2014), is featured as the guest star on the upcoming single and album by Finnish prog rock group 5th Season. The single ‘Desparate Measures’ will be out on streaming platforms on November 4th and the album early in 2023.
Desperate Measures is ‘mini-epic’ of a prog ballad that takes its musical cues from bands like Procol Harum and (obviously) Pink Floyd. Guest star McBroom’s input is significant as the song develops from a tender ballad up to stadium rock hights. Her beautiful vocal harmonies and the world class vocal solo by the end of the song is very much reminiscent of her classic performances on the Pink Floyd live album PULSE.
5th Season is a prog quartet combining the talents of top musicians in the Finnish rock scene. Bassist and songwriter Mikko Löytty toured Europe in the 80’s and 90’s with blues-rock outfit Q.Stone and has been a stalwart in the Finnish rock scene ever since. Guitarist, composer and award winning producer Tapio Ylinen is well known in Finland from his work with the Pink Floyd tribute act PULSE as well as the Finnish Grammy (Emma award) nominated prog/jazz group Mortality. Keyboardist Arto Piispanen has played with numerous top selling rock artists like Dave Lindholm, Tuomari Nurmio and Ismo Alanko, and drummer Jani Auvinen is also a sought after session man and live player. His credits include audience favourites Uniklubi and folk-rock top seller Pekko Käppi & KHHL.
Formed in 2017 5th Season was originally a live outfit for songs from Ylinen’s and Löytty’s previous solo albums and made it’s recording debut in 2018 playing two tracks on Löytty’s solo album “Höyhen”. The group’s upcoming debut album solidifies them as a true band and recording unit. The album is a labour of love that pays deliberate tribute to prog legends such as Pink Floyd, Yes, Genesis and Procol Harum (with influences from The Band and Little Feat thrown in the mix for good measure) while, at the same time, maintaining their own unique sound through strong and original songwriting.
“The original idea of the album was to make music deliberately in the footsteps of all that wonderful classic prog rock that all of us in the band know and love, but through original songwriting and a multiplicity of influences and thus avoiding the trap of becoming a carbon copy of the previously mentioned bands. We combine old and new technology. A 1973 analogue Minimoog and modern digital instruments and plug-ins are there side by side, and so we get a modern sounding album with a recognisable 70’s vibe”, says producer Ylinen.
The upcoming album will feature original compositions by Ylinen and Löytty as well as collaborations between the two, epic length pieces and impressive guests such as the aforementioned Durga McBroom.
The album will be available on CD, Double LP, Special Edition color 2LP (transparent green, 75 units only) and digital download / streaming.
The double vinyl LP includes two exclusive bonus tracks.
Mick Fleetwood’s all-star salute to Peter Green will be available to watch on Sky Arts 9pm on 27th January 2023. The concert event, originally held Feb. 25, 2020 at the London Palladium, was created to honor Green’s contributions to Fleetwood Mac’s early years.
“The concert was a celebration of those early blues days where we all began,” Fleetwood explained via statement. “It’s important to recognize the profound impact Peter and the early Fleetwood Mac had on the world of music. Peter was my greatest mentor, and it gave me such joy to pay tribute to his incredible talent. I was honored to be sharing the stage with some of the many artists Peter has inspired over the years and who share my great respect for this remarkable musician.”
Pete Townshend, Steven Tyler, David Gilmour, Billy Gibbons, Noel Gallagher and Kirk Hammett were among the many rock luminaries to perform at the event. Green died just five months later.