On the day that Perth saw the 2010/11/12 Roger Waters The Wall Live tour resume with what was clearly a cracking show, the winner of the Tour Sound Production category at the 27th Annual TEC Awards was announced. The Technical Excellence & Creativity Awards recognise the achievements of audio professionals and is presented annually by the TEC Foundation for Excellence in Audio.

Despite coming up against the likes of Lady Gaga, Paul McCartney, and Robert Plant, Roger's sound production by Clair on The Wall tour triumphed, and the relevant clip from the awards ceremony can be seen here:

All of us at Brain Damage offer our heartiest best wishes to Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason, who celebrates his 68th birthday today.

The cornerstone of the band, he had his first drum kit at the tender age of 13. A member of Pink Floyd since the earliest iterations, he is the only one to have appeared on every one of their albums. Thanks to his father Bill, he has been a "petrol head" from a young boy, and cars have been - and remain - one of his major passions in life. His latest book, Passion for Speed, was recently published, as was the first of a series of DVDs focusing on his cars (with Nick heavily involved).

Nick has contributed to a number of magazines on motoring issues over the years (including a fascinating monthly column in Octane Magazine), and indeed three years ago became president of the Guild of Motoring Writers. He is a trustee of the Beaulieu National Motor Museum, and a life member and Guardian of the BRDC (British Racing Drivers Club). He has been involved in motor racing since the early 1970s and has entered Le Mans five times.

Currently, Nick is in New Zealand as we recently reported, taking part in a motoring event there. As part of his time there, Radio New Zealand have interviewed him - follow the link to hear it.

Congratulations on your birthday Nick - and many happy returns!

On January 12th, Pink Floyd's Atom Heart Mother had another live airing, with a performance in Paris. Taking place at the Théåtre du Chåtelet, the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, conducted by Jean-Jacques Justafré, was joined by Ron Geesin, who composed the piece in collaboration with Pink Floyd.

The concert was organized in partnership with the Ministry of Education and dedicated exclusively to high school students. It was recorded by France Musique and will be aired on Wednesday, March 7th 2012, at 2pm ET as part of Anne-Charlotte Rémond's Concert In The Afternoon show. More information can be found here on the show, the radio station, and how to tune in.

The two pictures here [click the thumbnails] are copyright and courtesy of Frances Geesin, with additional thanks to Joe Geesin, and to Ron too, of course.

On Friday night, Dark Side Of The Moon - A Photographic Exhibition opened at the Brighton Dome. It's a special celebration of Pink Floyd's first (and quite troubled) attempt at a performance of their best-known album, which took place on January 20th 1972 at the venue.

To start the exhibition in style, photographer Jill Furmanovsky, who took many of the pictures on display, underwent a 30 minute Q&A with an interviewer, taking questions and comments from the audience as well. Some of the attendees were at the original 1972 shows, adding their own thoughts on them. Jill's own story proved quite fascinating, taking pictures at a tender age and falling into professional concert photography almost by chance, by the sound of it.

Choice examples of her pictures of Pink Floyd adorn the various walls in the Founders Room, and the adjacent main bar of the venue - 11 in the bar, and 28 in the Founders Room. Alongside her shots are ones taken by Storm Thorgerson at various points, Tony Collins' wonderful shot of David Gilmour at London's Hyde Park in 1970, Colin Prime's 1967 Ruskin Park group shot, and one of Mick Rock's pictures of Syd outside his Earls Court flat. Particular favourites for me included a pair of 1972 Brighton shots with Roger hammering away at his gong, some of the 1974 backstage/soundcheck shots, and the terrific picture of all the band at the Live 8 rehearsals (a tantalising single glimpse of this historic practice session). The pictures below show Jill during the Q&A, along with some of the opening evening's attendees studying the walls...

The exhibition runs until March 20th, at the Founders Room at the Dome, and is open between 10am - 5pm on Tuesday through to Sunday, each week. Admission is free.