Backstage Details and Hi-Res Video of Floyd "Reunion" Emerge

As discussed earlier and known by any Floyd fan who has had their ear to the ground this week, David Gilmour and Nick Mason shared the stage with Roger Waters at a recent Wall show in the UK last week.

Waters has been pretty transparent about posting high-res video clips of the appearances (below), and now Rolling Stone has published a short article with an interview with Mason, here. Some of the more interesting tidbits:

When Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason got to London's O2 arena last week, he had no idea that he'd be walking into David Gilmour and Roger Waters performing "Comfortably Numb" in a soundcheck for Waters' show that night. "It hadn't ever been quite finalized – there'd been talk about maybe playing in Paris or something else," Mason tells Rolling Stone. "So it was very nice to get there and see that [David] was there."

After soundcheck, the three took seats at a table in a backstage room and had a light dinner. "We were all just a little bit nervous, because it was a pre-show moment so it wasn't that sort of totally relaxed, 'Let's all chat about everything.' Since [David] hadn't played the track in so long, he was probably worried about the technology of lifting him up on the Wall. It's quite scary up there – I've been up there once and it's a long way up."

Next, Mason retreated to his seat on the floor of the arena, where fans greeted him enthusiastically, and watched The Wall for the first time as a spectator. "It was mind-blowingly good," he says. "It's a shame in a way . . . if you could turn the clock back and have access to that sort of technology, 40, 30 years ago, it would've been fantastic. I mean, it's interesting because I think The Wall has been brought up to date. When you look at the stage sets and the lighting that goes on now, it so eclipses what we used to do."

This is all great but it really made me miss Richard Wright because you know he would have been a part of this too. It would have been so cool for the original four guys to get together one more time, and in front of that giant Wall. Makes me all that much more thankful for Live8 (also below).

Enjoy:

Outside The Wall


Comfortably Numb


Live8:

Paul McCartney Reissues His Crappiest Albums

I was surprised to see all the promo around Paul McCartney reissuing his two solo albums McCartney and McCartney II. Both albums were put out as transitional exercises and were really Paul blowing off steam between formal recording projects.

I know there are a lot of people who hold McCartney close to their hearts, but as much as I have tried to enjoy that album, I still think it's mostly garbage. And don't get me started on McCartney II. A total piece of crap.

But I guess Paul is trying to save up for honeymoon number three, so he is putting out major packaging options around these reissues, such as double-disc Special Editions and Deluxe Editions, with DVDs and more bonus content. They will also be available on vinyl and digitally. Both versions come with all sorts of bonus tracks, including live material and B-sides.

The packages look gorgeous but you can't polish a turd. Hell, even in the below promo videos, Paul admits these were fun projects and were not supposed to be consumed as real top-notch recordings.

Unlike Pete Townshend's Scoop series, which offer loads of raw, unpolished noodlings and Who demos, Sir Paul is basically reissuing dross.

Paul is almost apologetic in the below but you tell me - are you going to buy any of this? Am I smoking dope here?

Gilmour, Waters and Mason Unite at Wall Show in London

Well it happened! David Gilmour joined Roger Waters at the Thursday night Wall show in London. Atop The Wall, he sang the chorus and ripped the solos, while Waters mugged some 50 feet below.
 
Of course this was expected, as Gilmour had promised an appearance at one show in return for a favor from Waters.

But the surprise of the night was Nick Mason showing up, along with Gilmour and Waters after the bricks fell and the dust was settling, for Outside The Wall. How very fucking cool. Closest thing to a Floyd reunion we’ll ever get, due to the death of Richard Wright a few years back. And I’d bet it’s the last time, too. These guys don’t have many reasons to do it, really, except charity.
 
This is obviously a hugely exciting thing. But how did it sound? Based on the videos, Gilmour’s voice was a bit pitchy, and his middle solo was great but standard. The end solo? Not the best I’ve ever heard but pretty goddamn good, and it gets better and better towards the end.
 
Of course due to the magic of YouTube, lucky motherfuckers in attendance have posted these for us to enjoy. Sweet!
 

 

The Wrecking Crew Film Tells Story Behind Huge String of 60s Hits

The Wrecking Crew was the name given to a group of session musicians in Los Angeles in the 60s who played on hundreds and hundreds of songs (Mr. Tambourine Man by the Byrds is one of the most famous, and they were on loads of Beach Boys tunes too) but never got credit by any of the artists.

Now there is a film that tells the whole story. Trouble is, it's not being released broadly yet as the producers need to raise funds to secure the proper rights for broad distribution. In the meantime, check out the trailer below. This film looks awesome!

Flat Stanley Video Journal - Eminence Front

Been working on some new songs with Flat Stanley (my power trio cover band) and put together this video from last week's rehearsal. Basically, we found the backing keyboard track to a few classic Who tunes and have decided to do two of them at our next show, which is this Friday.

It's a short clip but you get the point! Enjoy: