by Nick Mason
I had a brief flirtation with a perspex drum kit made by the American company Fibes.
I was captivated by the idea of an ‘invisible’ kit, but in fact they were
very difficult to record successfully.
Peter Dockley’s huge inflatable octopus makes a tentacular entrance as it gatecrashes
the Crystal Palace Garden party in May 1971.
Discussion backstage at the Brighton Dome, January 1972.
The might of the Pink Floyd Football Club First XI, and cheerleaders, ready to take on,
and draw 3-3 with, a team from the band Family in January 1972.
Rick and (left) Tony Howard in Japan, playing with
newly acquired cameras.
Steve O’Rourke, sheltering from the elements at Hakone Festival,
Kanagawa, Japan in August 1971.
Group portraits from the Dark Side era.
Rick with Mini-Moog synthesiser on top of his faithful Hammond organ.
In performance with Roland Petit’s Ballet de Marseille, November 1972.
Close to the volcanic crater of Etna, during the filming of
Live At Pompeii.
Lighting director Arthur Max prepares to debrief, or possibly behead,
another team of follow-spot operators.
One of the comic-book spoofs from our Winter 1974 tour programme,
in which Steve O’Rourke was always depicted as the baddie.
The Dark Side tour road crew and stage set-up.
Storm Thorgerson with David.
David and Roger on the Winter 1974 tour of the UK.
With David and Roger is Aubrey Powell, aka Po,
Storm Thorgerson’s partner in Hipgnosis.
Robert Wyatt, Soft Machine drummer, songwriter, raconteur,
rock’n’roll’s answer to Lenin…
David and Rick on the steps outside the front door of the
Abbey Road Studios during the Wish You Were Here sessions.
Roy Harper with David at Abbey Road, during the period Roy volunteered to
handle the vocals on ‘Have A Cigar’.
Syd Barrett at Abbey Road Studios, 5th June 1975.
Britannia Row studios, inside (with sound boffin Bill Kelsey) and out.
The pyramid stage in various phases of assembly, 1975
Algie rises over Battersea Power Station in December 1976 while (opposite)
the marksman takes aim.
On this particular occasion, Roger was, unusually,
at the end of the queue for T-shirts.
On stage during the Animals tour, 1977.
Portrait by Bob Jenkins.
Early proposal for the Wall show, by Mark Fisher.
Gerald Scarfe (left) and Mark Fisher, rigging the Mother, one of the
Wall show’s inflatable characters.
During the interval at the Sports Arena, Los Angeles, February 1980,
with the wall fully constructed.
The Wall: the hotel sequence (left) and the minstrels closing the
show with ‘Outside The Wall’.
The movie of The Wall: the troops on Saunton Sands (above), and Bob Geldof as Pink.
At Le Mans in 1984, driving in a Porsche 956 and (left)
with little compunction about sporting tobacco sponsors’ logos.
Steve O’Rourke at Le Mans in the Ferrari 512 BB, in its
original Ecurie Nationale Belge livery.
Portrait by David Bailey for the release of
A Momentary Lapse Of Reason.
Recording session on board David’s houseboat, with Bob Ezrin on bass.
Announcing the Momentary Lapse tour in London (the inflatable bed a reference
to the album cover image).
Serious fandom on the loose. Somehow I managed to resist adding
this particular vehicle to my car collection.
Rick entertains the troops on the Momentary Lapse tour.
David Gilmour and Polly Samson – they married during the
Division Bell tour in July 1994.
Performing in Venice, 15th July 1989, tethered offshore from the Piazza San Marco.
Moscow, June 1989 – the McBroom sisters and Rachel Fury
do their bit for glasnost.
With my daughter Chloe before the show
at Versailles, June 1988.
My sons Cary and Guy take over sound-check duties.
Daughter Holly on the Division Bell tour.
Nettie and I about to embark on the Division Bell airship (below).
The Division Bell tour, 1994 – one of the pigs emerges from its sty, and the mirrorball
rising up and opening in the middle of the auditorium.
Touring band members – clockwise from top left: Scott Page, Gary Wallis, Guy Pratt, backing singers Lorelei and Durga McBroom and Rachel Fury, Jon Carin, Tim Renwick.
The Division Bell tour in full swing.
With Roger at the rehearsals for our Live 8 reunion.
The band perform at Live 8.
Live 8, Hyde Park, London, 2nd July 2005.
Copyright
A WEIDENFELD & NICOLSON EBOOK
First published in Great Britain in 2004 by Weidenfeld & Nicolson.
First published in ebook in 2011 by Weidenfeld & Nicolson.
Text Copyright © Nick Mason 2004
Edited by Philip Dodd
Picture research by Emily Hedges and Stephanie Rodgers
Pages 4-5 of picture section 3 designed by Storm Thorgerson
Editorial by Jo Murray, Claire Wedderburn-Maxwell and Jennifer Condell
Original hardback design direction David Rowley
Original hardback design David Eldridge at Two Associates
The moral right of Nick Mason to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior permission in writing of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published without a similar condition, including this condition, being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN: 978 1 780 22175 5
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