As we told you back on April 12th, part of EMI's current fundraising efforts for the people in Japan are a range of special auctions. One of these, signed and framed pictures of David Gilmour taken in Gdansk on 26th August 2006 during the "It Started in Gdansk – The Space of Freedom" concert, is in the auction on eBay and finishes today.

On offer are a set of three beautiful framed photographic prints from David's special concert, held at the invitation of Lech Walesa to celebrate the 26th anniversary of the founding of Solidarity, the Polish trade union. The photographs taken by Anna Wloch show David Gilmour during sound check, along with a selection of his guitars.

The auction runs until later today (April 21st, 2011), at 7:13pm BST, and can be seen through this direct link. Artists and songwriters from across the EMI family have been supporting the Red Cross to raise funds for the people affected by the earthquake and tsunami in Japan. Over three weeks, incredible auction items from more than 200 of the world's biggest stars will be available to bid on to help this important cause. EMI will match all funds raised from the auction.

UPDATE: The auction attracted 35 bids, and closed at a very respectable £1550.

Roger Waters management have announced that due to an opportunity to film The Wall in Greece in early July, they have found it necessary to reschedule two concerts in Milan originally planned for July 6th and July 7th 2011.

Tickets for the July 6th show are now valid for the July 3rd show, and tickets for the July 7th show are now valid for the July 4th show. Tickets will only be valid for these rescheduled dates as above, it will not be possible to exchange dates or seats. They apologize in advance for any inconvenience that the change of dates may cause.

Existing tickets are automatically valid for the new dates, but if you are unable to attend your new date, then please apply for a refund at the point of purchase, not later than June 15th 2011. We hope that not too many BD visitors are inconvenienced by this, and of course it sounds like great news for our Greek visitors, who have been desparate for a Wall show...

Newly designed, 2011 Roger Waters The Wall Live merchandise is now available for the European tour, although for those elsewhere who want them, don't worry - the new items are available to fans worldwide through this special link to the official merchandise store (which also gives a little, much-needed help to BD funds!)

In other Waters news, Roger, Bon Jovi, and U2 have all been nominated for this year's annual Billboard Music Awards, in the Top Touring Artist category. The awards ceremony takes place on May 22nd at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

William Shatner, Star Trek's original Captain Kirk, is releasing a new album. One of the tracks to receive his unique delivery is Pink Floyd's "Learning to Fly". The track listing for "Searching For Major Tom", which will be released later this year (2011) by Cleopatra Records, reveals some interesting choices.

Guest performances on the likes of Space Trucking, Rocket Man, Space Cowboy, Spirit in the Sky, Bohemian Rhapsody, and Space Oddity, include Deep Purple drummer Ian Paice, Steve Howe, Johnny Winter, Michael Schenker, Steve Hillage, Ritchie Blackmore, Alan Parsons, Peter Frampton, Dave Davies, Carmine Appice and John Wetton. Learning to Fly includes Edgar Froese from Tangerine Dream on guitar and keyboards.

Our thanks to Skip Hill and Ray Vawter for the info.