Capacity: 250

Concert starts: 8pm

Address of venue: 93 Lower Richmond Rd, London SW15 1EU. MAP

Website: www.halfmoon.co.uk

COMMENTS

When Nick Mason made comments in Italy about heading out to small venues, to play early Pink Floyd songs, few took the remarks seriously. As unlikely as it seemed, Nick was entirely truthful and in the initial announcement a set of four shows in London were announced for his new band.

Nick Mason's Saucerful Of Secrets brings together some familiar names, all great musicians: joining Nick are Gary Kemp and Lee Harris on guitar, Guy Pratt on bass, and Dom Beken on keyboards. Kemp is best known for his work with Spandau Ballet, Harris as having played guitar with The Blockheads (Ian Dury's band), Pratt needs no introduction, and Beken is principally known for his work with The Orb, and Transit Kings (with Pratt). The band will be playing early Pink Floyd songs.

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 regular sale of tickets started on TUESDAY, APRIL 17th at 10am (local time), via TheSaucerfulOfSecrets.com. Inevitably the tickets sold out almost instantly. All ticket holders will require photo ID with their ticket for entry to the shows.

WARNING - SPOILERS AHEAD!

Do not read on if you don't want surprises to be spoilt, regarding what the band played!

This review of the second night of Nick Mason's Saucerful Of Secrets "global tour, playing both Camden AND Putney" (as Nick amusing put it) should be read in conjunction with the review of the first night at Dingwalls. Most of the comments within that, apply equally to this show. Rather than repeat ourselves, if you've not read that one, scamper over and take a look now.

The second night of any new endeavour, such as this, will always have a different vibe to the first. That applies equally to the audience, as well as the band. Factor in a change of venue (albeit still in London) and you have all the ingredients for an amazing pudding (sorry, couldn't resist the food/Floyd analogy there!). Dingwalls featured a crowd buzzing for the unique nature of the event, with a number of ideas but no real hard conviction on what the setlist would actually turn out to be. Aiding this, printed setlists for the crew and band were on the whole hidden or obscured, adding to the air of mystery and heated discussion beforehand.

Being the second night, much of the heavily reduced (in headcount) crowd in Putney had a good idea of what songs would be performed, either from seeing the setlist in various places, including Brain Damage, or from word of mouth. Also, printed setlists were this time more accessible before the show, a number of people manoeuvring their phones overhead as best they could to take pictures of it. For some, discussion would have been concerted before the show started, talking about what they'd heard about the show, or seen on YouTube. Others had done their best to avoid hearing anything about the previous night, and whilst had good guesses about what the night would bring, went in with some degree of nervous anticipation.

For the band, too, the show would have had a notably different feel. The first night of anything, you'd have a lot of nervous energy, and adrenaline; added to this was the fact that the press were in attendance - despite it being the Saucers' first ever public show. Not many acts tend to be under that sort of pressure. The second night you imagine the band will have had the relief of getting through the first, successfully, and the pressure must be off. The nervousness of how the set will be received, how the presentation and song selection will work, will have eased. That can sometimes affect the quality of performances, but thankfully not in this case!

The differing dynamic, coupled with the dramatically reduced size, of the audience, led to a much quieter wait until showtime, with quiet contemplation taking the place of the Dingwalls audience's loud discussions, which seemed partly alcohol-fuelled in places. The much smaller stage at the Half Moon held the attention - seeing the wide array of equipment concentrated on the very small corner stage, in an equally small back room of a pub (literally!) led some to wonder if they were dreaming, and pondering if the chalkboard outside promising Nick's appearance was all some sort of joke. Certainly that understated advert for the show gave many a chuckle or two...this really was taking things back to the Floyd's origins in the 60s when similar venues would be used, with similar advertising.

The quieter nature of the audience also had a benefit when it came to the intro soundscape, which runs for over half an hour, and brings in sounds old and new to great effect. Younger fans will possibly be unaware that this was a staple of Floyd shows, to set a certain mode. A superb job was done with this, for the Saucers, and unlike Dingwalls one could clearly hear it all as it played through.

To the main event though. From the word go, it was clear that each performance would be different, unique, special. The opening pairing of Interstellar/Astronomy seemed longer on this second night, as the improvisational sections went their own way. This is something fans of earlier Floyd will love, as it is just how they were performed in the early years of the band. As did the Putney audience. Lucifer Sam lead to Nick's intro, with an amusing suggestion of a possible alternate band name, and details of a text he'd received from David Gilmour, which he mentioned to cover the current state of play with relationships. He also again revealed the extent of his own Pink Floyd knowledge, based on an online quiz he'd undertaken...

Without wanting to reveal too much about how the show then proceeds, it's a great romp through the band's early catalogue. The band are clearly having a great time - a tangible sense of camaraderie and genuine fun as the show unfolds, with minor glitches being laughed off. There's a definite sense that they are growing as a proper band, with the benefit of an audience making the difference over the rehearsal sessions they would have undertaken in the months running up to these four shows.

The audience seemed much more attentive this evening compared to Dingwalls - by which I mean they seemed quieter, and to be taking things in carefully. Dingwalls to a fair degree seemed more of a celebration for many in the audience, revelling in the performance with the set giving surprise after surprise. Inevitably, the Half Moon crowd didn't have that, broadly speaking, the surprises being the interpretation and delivery of the songs which many of them had heard were played the night before. It was also generally a more restrained audience - would that be the case on show three? Certainly the halving of the audience size would have a hand in that anyway.

So, show two done, fifty percent through the aforementioned global tour, and a further 250 very happy souls thankful that they were there at this most unexpected of venues to catch a member of Pink Floyd, and his excellent new band, performing. Some of course will be lucky enough to be at one or both of the remaining two nights, also at the Half Moon. If you are, enjoy (we're sure you will!) and let us know your thoughts on it.

We'd love to know from those attending how they felt the concert went. How was the show for you, if you were one of the fortunate ones to attend? Let us know what YOU thought!

CONCERT PICTURES by BD CONTRIBUTOR, Jon Harris

YOUR HELP NEEDED! We want to cover Nick's concerts the best we can, to share the experience with everyone, especially those who won't be able to attend the shows. We'd love to see ANY pictures, tickets scans, reviews, newspaper reports, and anything else you come across for this show - we look forward to hearing from you!