106. Nick Mason’s Saucerful of Secrets / Live at the Roundhouse; movie review

NICK MASON'S SAUCERFUL OF SECRETS: LIVE AT THE ROUNDHOUSE
Cert U
127 mins
BBFC advice: Contains mild bad language

It is my eternal regret that I didn't get into either Pink Floyd or Led Zeppelin when I was a teenager.
I falsely believed that their music was the field of the heavy metal fans who spoke about them in same breath as Black Sabbath and Judas Priest.
Obviously, I now know the error of my ways but I have never managed to plug the gap between nodding appreciation and the fandom which would have developed from an open mind.
Nowadays, it feels a bit too late to spend time on back-catalogues so I still know too little about Floyd - one of the most influential bands in British music history.
Funny how it seems, it is true that I am more au fait with the chronology of Spandau Ballet - the new romantic heroes of my student days.
And, therefore, it initially seemed rather incongruous to see their leader, Gary Kemp in Floyd drummer Nick Mason's band Saucerful Of Secrets.
This is a group which was brought together by guitarist Lee Harris and bassist/singer and long-time Floyd collaborator Guy Pratt.
They persuaded Mason to take some of Floyd's early work on the road and added Kemp and keyboard player Dom Beken to the mix.
Apparently, London's Roundhouse was a key venue for Floyd so was entirely appropriate or this concert.
Sure enough, the sages among the audience lapped up the guitar solos, the precise drum work and the synthesiser which brought an air of psychedelia.
James Tonkin's film is Mason and his new mates playing to a crowd who applaud with gusto but are probably missing Roger Waters and Dave Gilmour, the only remaining Floydians along with Mason.
Actually, the gig concentrates on music before Gilmour joined the band and recalled the Syd Barrett days.
And, even though I wasn't into Pink Floyd, I found it provided pleasant background music.
However, there wasn't a lot of audience interaction and the off-stage stories told by the band weren't especially compelling.
I wanted to hear more from Mason on the history of Floyd but I suppose that would have been missing the point.

Reasons to watch: Really tight band a sprinkling of anecdotes
Reasons to avoid: depends on musical taste

Laughs: None
Jumps: None
Vomit: None
Nudity: None
Overall rating: 7/10

Did you know? Nick Mason is part of Football Ventures, a consortium that bought Bolton Wanderers Football Club out of administration in August 2019.

The final word. The whole idea of trying to slavishly do it as it exactly was done originally is frankly, just not that interesting. But to try to use those original songs as blueprints and then lay onto them something new, is really great. It’s very much closer to the original idea for some of those songs; that they are the skeleton and then you put something on top of it, something personal. The FAC

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