Now published and shipping is a new French language book, Pink Floyd en France. Pink Floyd and the band's individual members have enjoyed a long relationship with France. From their early appearances on French TV, to their eventual spectacular arena shows - not forgetting the recording of landmark albums such as The Wall - the book traces the band's historic "French connection"!
France embraced Pink Floyd's music right from the very first album, The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn, in 1967. Nick Mason was quoted in Muziq Magazine in November 2016 as saying that "Pink Floyd may never have survived without the French audiences. We toured a lot in France and appeared in many TV shows. It was our home from home in a way. France responded to our music quite rapidly, as opposed to England where our fan base was not always very reliable". The group performed on more than 60 occasions in France between 1968 until 1994. Roger Waters and David Gilmour also toured extensively in France to promote their solo albums. Nick Mason's own band Saucerful Of Secrets has also played a few shows there.
Author Patrick Ducher tells the band's story from several different angles: firstly reviewing numerous French rock magazines of the times, including long discontinued and forgotten publications, and secondly his many personal concert recollections. Next, Patrick invited a number of fans to review essential bootlegs, one from each of the band’s French tours, along with solo performances by individual band members in France. Finally, the author posed the simple question "Why Pink Floyd?" to almost a hundred French fans, passionate followers of the band, and interviewed musicians from several tribute bands, all devoted to keeping Pink Floyd's music and legacy alive.
Pink Floyd en France is a 435 page, French-language hardback book with many rare pictures. The 250 illustrations include magazine covers, adverts, posters, and tickets. It's now available to order direct from the publishers, at pinkfloydenfrance.com in standard or limited edition, priced at respectively at €45 and €85 plus shipping. The limited edition includes a copy of the book signed by the author, a 2-track 7" by a French Floyd cover band, 2 prints, 4 coasters, and 2 plectrums, all in a special box. The website has full details...
To give an idea of its presentation and contents, Patrick has put together a short look - in English - for those who don't speak French:
In a surprise move, with no official announcement or fanfare, a dozen recordings of Pink Floyd live during the years 1970 - 1972 have quietly been released to the various streaming services.
Whilst the sound quality in places leaves a little to be desired, much of it sounds great, and more importantly the recordings document a wonderful period of the band in concert. They find the band in fine form, having honed their craft so that many of the pieces performed enjoyed some extended improvisation and exploration. With one of the recordings coming from March 1972, there's also an early rendition of The Dark Side Of The Moon. As many of you will know, that was an album which changed quite considerably from its initial outings, so an interesting one to listen to if you haven't yet heard it.
The full list of albums the band released as part of their surprise drop is as follows:
They Came In Peace, Leeds University 28 February 1970 & Washington University 16 November 1971
Live At Grosser Saal, Musikhalle, Hamburg, West Germany 25 February 1971
Mauerspechte, Berlin Sportpalast 5 June 1971
Lyon & Tokyo, Lyon 12 June 1971, Tokyo 16 March 1972
Palaeur Rome 20 June 1971
Amsterdamse Bos Free Concert 26 June 1971
Live In Montreux 18 & 19 September 1971
KB Hallen, Copenhagen, Vol I, 23 September 1971
KB Hallen, Copenhagen, Vol II, 23 September 1971
Over Bradford Pigs On The Groove, Bradford University 10 October 1971
Embryo, San Diego, 17 October 1971
The Screaming Abdabs, Quebec City, 10 November 1971
Visit various streaming services, including Apple Music, Spotify, and Amazon Music, to hear the recordings. Our thanks to those who wrote in about the release of these live gems.
On February 18th, 2022, the Restored and Re-Edited version of Pink Floyd's P.U.L.S.E. concert film (shot on 20th October 1994 at London's Earls Court) is set to be released as a 2 Blu-ray or 2 DVD deluxe box set, with the return of the flashing LED on the spine (as seen on the original 1995 CD release) powered by replaceable AA batteries! These deluxe packages include music videos, screen films, documentaries, rehearsal footage and more, along with a 60 page booklet.
On Pink Floyd's social channels, they mention that, in an interview from 1995 with Mojo Magazine, Nick Mason talked about the flashing LED. "Essentially, it's a device which we thought was entertaining. It's an idea of Storm Thorgerson's which related to Dark Side and the pulse, and it's a live album so the box is "alive". After that, in terms of seriously deep meanings, one might be struggling a bit."
The original flashing LED package is much loved by the fans, and the initial announcement video leads with the blink of the light. The new box sets will be designed for easy replacement of the 2 AA batteries; the UK release in 1995 was powered by one AA, but the packaging wasn't designed in such a way that it was easy to change without some damage, albeit internally, to the sleeve. This time there shouldn't be the same problem!
TRACK LISTING: DISC 1 - CONCERT FILM (which includes The Dark Side Of The Moon)
Blu-ray - Stereo PCM 48/24, 5.1 dts Master Audio 96/24
DVD - Stereo PCM 48/16, 5.1 dts Master Audio 48/16 DISC 2 - EXTRAS all in stereo Music Videos (BD 48/24, DVD 48/16): Take It Back 1994, High Hopes 1994, Marooned 2014
Tour Rehearsal 1994 (BD 96/24, DVD 48/16): A Great Day For Freedom (2 takes), Lost For Words Concert Screen Films 1994 (BD 96/24, DVD 48/16): Shine On Parts 1-4, 7, Speak To Me, Time, The Great Gig In The Sky, Money, Us And Them (black & white), Us And Them (colour), Brain Damage/Eclipse (North American dates), Brain Damage/Eclipse (European dates), Brain Damage (Earls Court, London dates) Documentaries & Additional Material (BD 48/24, DVD 48/16): The Division Bell Album Cover Photography (Ely, Cambs) 1994, PULSE TV ad 1995, The Division Bell Airships 1994, Behind The Scenes Interviews with the lead technicians for the tour Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame Induction 1996 (BD 48/24, DVD 48/16): Wish You Were Here with Billy Corgan Audio-only Live Recordings (BD 96/24, DVD 96/24): One Of These Days live in Hannover 1994, Astronomy Domine live in Miami 1994.
ORDERING LINKS: Not all these are live yet but please keep trying if your chosen store doesn't have it available yet. All purchases made after using one of our links make a small but vital contribution toward the site running costs, and we really appreciate it!
Back in August, we told you that the eighth series of 'Portrait Artist of the Year' would be returning to the UK's Sky Arts channel and streaming service NOW in August - and yes, there's relevance to Pink Floyd fans!
The series 'Portrait Artist of the Year', with hosts Stephen Mangan and Joan Bakewell, brings together a batch of amateur and professional artists as they battle it out to impress expert judges Tai Shan Schierenberg, Kathleen Soriano and Kate Bryan.
On Wednesday, December 8th, it is the semi-final, where each heat winner will paint none other than Nick Mason, taking a break from the preparations for the Saucerful Of Secrets tour next year. The three best portraits will see their artists progress to the grand final.
The long-running publication Radio Times previewed the episode: 'A pink background with a gong centrepiece tips us off that the semi-final sitter is drummer and Pink Floyd co-founder Nick Mason. It makes a change for the musician to be foregrounded: “Finally after 50 years!” he says, with a wry smile.
As the competitors brandish gold foil, fabric and polaroid photos, their styles are described variously as “master of melancholic”, “pure imagination” and “bonkers”. It's a bewitching watch, and the competition is so tight there’s not a sheet of paper between the artists. “It’s everybody’s to lose,” judge Kate Bryan says about the usual temptation to tinker… A momentary lapse of reason could make the difference.
Portrait Artist of the Year will air on Sky Arts, Sky Arts HD, Sky Showcase, Sky Showcase HD, Freeview Channel 11, and streaming service NOW, from 8pm - 9pm on Wednesday, with repeat screenings on December 9th, 11th and 12th, at various times.
The following tweet also gives a very quick glimpse of Nick and the gong!
As normal, we have set up a specific page on Brain Damage for this show - there's a page for EVERY upcoming concert, which before the show will have details of ticketing, maps, web links, and more; after the show, it is there for your reviews and pictures, and we welcome (and really appreciate) every contribution however large or small!
Should any further concerts be added to the tour, we will let you know. At present, the tour is ONLY taking in venues in the US, Canada and Mexico. If (and it's a big if) any dates are added elsewhere we will let you know. We've had a lot of emails asking if Roger will be playing in Europe or the UK, and at present, there is no indication that he will. Hopefully that will change, but at the moment, we are suspecting this unlikely.
Older News Archive 
In a surprise move, with no official announcement or fanfare, a dozen recordings of Pink Floyd live during the years 1970 - 1972 have quietly been released to the various streaming services.
On February 18th, 2022, the Restored and Re-Edited version of Pink Floyd's P.U.L.S.E. concert film (shot on 20th October 1994 at London's Earls Court) is set to be released as a 2 Blu-ray or 2 DVD deluxe box set, with the return of the flashing LED on the spine (as seen on the original 1995 CD release) powered by replaceable AA batteries! These deluxe packages include music videos, screen films, documentaries, rehearsal footage and more, along with a 60 page booklet.
Back in August, we told you that the eighth series of 'Portrait Artist of the Year' would be returning to the UK's Sky Arts channel and streaming service NOW in August - and yes, there's relevance to Pink Floyd fans!
Some great news for those of you in (or able to travel to) Mexico - another date on the 
