Legendary Pink Floyd cover artist Storm Thorgerson's "Taken by Storm" exhibition is continuing around the US, and Saturday night was the premiere of the Los Angeles show. Brain Damage's Michael Soucy sends us this report from the show...

I attended the Opening Reception of "Revolutions: Artists Who Rocked the World of Music Industry Graphics" last night (July 30, 2005). It was a special private reception for artists and music industry personnel to preview the artwork, and enjoy a free concert by Michelle Shocked.

I was lucky enough to obtain an invitation from a good friend in the record store industry, and was most excited to see that the evening featured a special showing of "Taken By Storm: Album Art of Storm Thorgerson". The actual event is open to the public from July 31th, 2005 to October 9th, 2005 at the Forestlawn Museum (1712 South Glendale Avenue, Glendale, CA 91205).

I was hoping to meet Storm at the event. Unfortunately, I was told by one of the hosts that he was not well enough to make the trip. However, they had signed postcard books and signed prints available for sale (I drooled over them for a while, but the prints were a bit too pricey for me).

Most, if not all, of the same items are available to buy through the event website: www.takenbystorm.us, which will also soon be updated with details of other venues to come on the tour.

There was a nice "Taken by Storm" banner as you walked in to the room (photo included with me standing next to it, holding the limited edition 54 page Revolutions program which contains only 4 pages dedicated to Taken by Storm). There were many wonderful presentations of his Pink Floyd covers as well as other artists.

My favourite item was the beautiful stained glass Dark Side of the Moon panel that was set in a wall and backlit (photo here with me standing next to it, holding a couple of Revolutions posters that were given out when guests signed in). Apparently, it is the actual panel that Storm commissioned for the 30th anniversary CD cover. As you can see, it is quite a size - certainly much larger than many people expect.

We'll have more news about the tour as it moves around the country, and indeed, the world! The official site for "Taken By Storm" can be found at www.takenbystorm.us.