A band with a very long history with Brain Damage, having travelled to the UK especially for our first International Fan Convention held at Wembley in 1993, the Australian Pink Floyd Show are old friends. The band's major 2011 European tour starts later this month, and thanks to the band and their management we have a very special opportunity for some lucky Brain Damage visitors and their guests.

We have five pairs of tickets to attend the Aussie Floyd's final pre-tour rehearsal on Monday, January 17th 2011, at a special venue in London. The evening will start at 6pm with a glass of champagne on arrival, some pre show food, the full show rehearsal (including the brand new 3D graphics) and then a chance to meet the band afterwards.

Following the rehearsal, the tour heads off to Poland for a string of dates there, before hitting the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Austria, Germany, Switzerland and Norway, before arriving in the UK for the dates listed below. Following the UK dates, the band move on to France, Switzerland (again!) and Italy. Full details of the dates and venues can be found at www.AussieFloyd.com.

The new issue of Classic Rock Presents Prog (issue 13) recently published in the UK, should be of interest to Pink Floyd fans. Whilst the main feature is heavy coverage of Genesis, there are other artists covered in some detail within its pages, in particular Nick Mason, who is interviewed at length in a five-page, nicely illustrated piece.

In the interview, Nick shares his views on Roger's tour of The Wall, saying he won't be doing a guest spot, and praises Graham Broad ("...a terrific player. He'll take what I did and add to it." He talks about some of his influences, peers at the time Pink Floyd turned professional, but the majority of the interview has a focus towards his cars, inspired in no small part by the recent publication of Passion For Speed. The interview even answers the question on our lips, and the lips of many Top Gear viewers - why has Nick never been the "Star in a Reasonably Priced Car", doing a timed lap of the show's circuit in a vehicle more normally seen in a supermarket car park rather than a track! As expected, the subject of another much wished-for reunion is put to Nick, especially in light of the better relations between David and Roger. "We're not all hugging and going out on world tour together, but we can do the sensible things... I'd hope we could do something again in the future. I think there could be an appetite for it..." 

The magazine is not cheap at £7.99 but does include a ten-track CD of various prog artists. It's now on sale in the UK, and is available in selected locations worldwide as an import, or via MyFavouriteMagazines.co.uk for international mail order of this issue.

Pink Floyd and EMI have signed a new five-year deal and ended their legal dispute. The band have been with EMI since turning professional in 1967, and since then have sold over 200 million albums worldwide.

"Pink Floyd are one of the most important and influential bands of all time and I know I speak for everyone at EMI when I say that it is a privilege to have the opportunity to work with them," EMI Group CEO Roger Faxon said in a statement.

"We're looking forward to continuing to help the band reach new and existing fans through their incredible body of work". EMI added that "All legal disputes between the band and the company have been settled as a result of this new deal".

The dispute centred around the band's last record deal, which was signed before the days of legal downloads and said individual songs could not be sold without the band's permission. The band argued that the rule should apply to download sales in stores such as iTunes as well as CDs, saying their seamless albums should not be split up. The Judge sided with Pink Floyd, despite EMI appealing the judgement.

Our very best wishes go to Guy Pratt today (January 3rd), who is celebrating his 49th birthday. Born in London in 1962, son of the actor Mike Pratt from Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased), Guy took to a career in music, which lead to his first world tour whilst still a teenager!

Working with the likes of Bryan Ferry and Robert Palmer lead to him being noticed by David Gilmour, who invited Guy to play for Pink Floyd in 1987. This lead to work with other major artists such as Madonna and Michael Jackson, but Guy has stayed loyal to David, performing alongside him up to the most recent tours.

Life as a musician on the road, and in the studio, inspired Guy to write his hilarious "My Bass And Other Animals" book, an essential read for any Floyd fan. He has toured his memories in a tour of the same name, and has now developed a new show, "Wake Up Call", which sees a couple of dates coming up this month.

Many happy returns, Guy, from all of us at Brain Damage!