Now in German stores is the new issue of that country's edition of Classic Rock magazine (cover date September 2022), with their cover story: "Pink Floyd - the journey to the dark side".
In the article, '50 Years: The Songs - The Tour - The Myth', they look at what lead to what is probably the band's best known album. The publishers say: "In early 1972, Pink Floyd were toying with ideas for their next record without any real direction in mind. Only one thing was certain: songs were to be written before a planned UK tour, so that they could then be tested and worked out live. A year later, they came out of Abbey Road studios with an album that would overshadow everything they had done before. CLASSIC ROCK tells the story of their journey to THE DARK SIDE OF THE MOON - and why this milestone nearly
a different, far less associative title.
Elsewhere in the magazine are articles on Kate Bush's Hounds Of Love, ZZ Top, The Rolling Stones and more.
The magazine is in German stores now, and can be ordered from ClassicRock.net. Our thanks to Michael Nickel for the information!
The first dates have been released for the 2023 Roger Waters This Is Not A Drill tour of Europe, with tickets tending to go on pre-sale this coming Wednesday, September 14th, with the general sale of tickets following on Friday, September 16th.
Important: please check the individual show(s) you are interested in for confirmation of the exact ticketing details for that event, as they might differ from the majority.
This European tour announcement is on the back of his current tour of the US and Canada, which is 27 shows in, with 15 still to play. The new staging sees the band playing "in the round", with Roger prowling the stage to present to all sides of the arenas. Above is a new screen, arranged in a kind of cross. We don't want to say too much for those who are trying to avoid spoilers!
You might also notice from this new graphic to support the European tour, that it refers to "his first ever farewell tour" - make of that what you will, not least as a farewell tour isn't normally referred to as that person's "first ever"! Maybe it is Roger having a little joke...
We suspect the following list will grow quickly, so please keep checking back for more details.
Each show will link off to a specific page for that event, including ticket links, directions to the venue, and - once the show has taken place - details of the set list, video from the show, and submitted reviews and pictures from kind Brain Damage readers.
Here's the dates so far, as revealed on Roger's website, along with ticketing websites in some of the countries. We're keeping an eye out for further shows as they get added to the schedule. The TICKETS link gives more information on the dates, any presales there might be, and the various VIP packages that are available for most (if not all) of the shows.
Please note that the originally revealed pair of shows at the Tauron Arena, Krakow, Poland on 21st and 22nd April are reported to have now been cancelled, although Roger has taken issue with this. Having said that, both shows have now been removed from Roger's website, and the ticketing site.
As we get further dates we will update this page - and once the entries above turn into links, our dedicated page for the show will be live, with ticket dates and links!
Just given an airing at the Rodeo Screening Room in Los Angeles, California, on August 24th as part of the Telluride Film Festival, is a new documentary from celebrated photographer, creative director and filmmaker Anton Corbijn. Squaring The Circle: The Story Of Hipgnosis, which is 101 minutes long, tells the story of Storm Thorgerson and Aubrey 'Po' Powell, the creative geniuses behind the iconic album art design studio, Hipgnosis, responsible for some of the most recognisable album covers of all time. They formed Hipgnosis in Cambridge during the ferment of the sixties and became rock royalty during the boom time of the seventies. They conjured into existence sights that no one had previously thought possible, produced visuals which popularised music that had previously been considered fringe, and were at the white-hot centre of the maddest, funniest and most creative era in the history of popular music.
During this period, record companies didn’t dictate to acts like Peter Gabriel, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin and Paul McCartney what their LP covers should look like - Storm and Po did. They made money; they lost money. They did great things; they did silly things. They fell out bitterly; they made up. They never played a note, but they changed music. The film features brand new interviews with Roger Waters, David Gilmour & Nick Mason of Pink Floyd, Jimmy Page & Robert Plant of Led Zeppelin, Paul McCartney, Peter Gabriel, Graham Gouldman of 10cc, Noel Gallagher, and many more.
As yet we don't have details of any upcoming screenings, or streaming possibilities, although we suspect such information will be available soon. In the meantime, here's a quick look at part of the documentary, with Storm, Po, David, Roger and Nick all talking about the cover to Pink Floyd's Atom Heart Mother:
The combined wishes of all of us on the Brain Damage team, along no doubt with many of you reading this, go to Roger Waters, who celebrates his 79th birthday today!
Roger was born in Great Bookham, Surrey, in 1943, moving to Cambridge when he was two years old. It was there that he met, and became childhood friends with, a number of key people in the story of Pink Floyd.
Of course, Roger has been extremely busy over the last few years, having successfully taken Dark Side Of The Moon on tour in 2006, through to 2008. On completing that, he immediately started work on a new version of The Wall - which finally opened in September 2010. That tour was spectacularly successful, wrapping up in Paris for show number 217 in September 2013. Recordings of that tour turned into the film, shown in cinemas and released on DVD/Blu-ray and as part of a mammoth Super Deluxe Edition.
More recently, he performed his highly acclaimed Us + Them world tour, which was filmed and was shown in cinemas worldwide, with the home release of it on Blu-ray, 2CD, 3LP vinyl and DVD that followed. He also released his latest solo album, Is This The Life We Really Want? as well as overseeing the release of the late Nick Sedgwick's book about the band, and in particular, the 1974 tour of The Dark Side of the Moon.
Plans were in place (and tickets went on sale for) a 2020 North American tour, called This Is Not A Drill, with the stage presentation being "In The Round". Of course, because of Covid-19 the shows were postponed, and delayed until this year, with the tour (potentially Roger's final tour, going by comments he's made in interviews) eventually starting in July 2022. The powerful presentations, with the unique staging which sees Roger wandering around, addressing attendees on all sides of the arenas, have already thrilled 25 audiences across the US and Canada, with more shows to come, including tonight's gig in Denver, Colorado, where we wonder if the audience will sing "Happy Birthday" to Roger?
We hope you have a great day, Roger. Many happy returns!
Today we have some more new music from respected guitarist Chester Kamen, for all those of you who have been patiently waiting for his next creation. We know that a good number of you have been enjoying these songs. Amongst many other artists, Chester has toured with Roger Waters, joining his band in 2002 and playing on subsequent tours, and with David Gilmour on his 2016 Rattle That Lock tour. He first played with David back in 1985 during the Live Aid show - David and Chester were both part of Bryan Ferry's band for that show (as was Jon Carin).
Chester has, like many musicians, kept himself busy whilst lockdowns and restrictions due to Covid-19 have called a halt to many things - in particular, live performance. In October 2020, he shared his new piece of music called Take This, that runs for over 23 minutes. Chester told us that Take This is the first side of an album he is currently working on - following, or inspired by, the old Floyd blueprint of one long piece and several songs on the flip side. Since then we've seen the first songs on the second side of the album: Brand New Day, Swimming, I'd Love To Turn You, Lover's Lane, Come The Revolution, Child Of The Damned, Stories, The Wife Of The Spy Who Came In From The Cold, Coat Of Many Colours, and a cover of the 1961 song by Tommy Cooper, Don't Jump Off The Roof, Dad. As albums go, we suspect Chester is starting to look at a double!
Chester told us that the new song, Made Up My Mind, features "a very stripped down approach to this one. I didn’t think it needed anymore." On the YouTube description, Chester notes that it is "essentially a sorry tale of the difference between deciding and doing. Rhythmically inspired by a poem by my dear friend Gerald Kenny. Kept this one simple just because I could." It's a lovely, gentle song, and we hope you like it.
We'll update you as he progresses with the rest of the album, as we know from feedback we've had that the songs are proving very popular.
Older News Archive 
Now in German stores is the new issue of that country's edition of Classic Rock magazine (cover date September 2022), with their cover story: "Pink Floyd - the journey to the dark side".
The first dates have been released for the 2023 Roger Waters This Is Not A Drill tour of Europe, with tickets tending to go on pre-sale this coming Wednesday, September 14th, with the general sale of tickets following on Friday, September 16th.
The combined wishes of all of us on the Brain Damage team, along no doubt with many of you reading this, go to Roger Waters, who celebrates his 79th birthday today!
