Well, hopefully in mid-April many of you were able to get your hands on a copy of Nick Mason's Saucerful Of Secrets 2025 Record Store Day release, of Echoes live. Produced as the band's contribution to this annual event that celebrates and supports independent record stores, it brings a superb Steven Wilson mix of the song, recorded in Germany last year, to the band's many fans. The performance matches the quality of the mix, and the presentation of the record matches as well. For those who haven't yet seen it, there's an etching on the B-side of the record, and Echoes itself plays from the inside out to maximise the sound quality.

From today, Thursday May 22nd, digital versions of Echoes have now been released for those of you who prefer this less tactile, but eminently more portable, format, and these include a Dolby ATMOS mix by none other than Steven Wilson.

As it is such a significant part of the Saucers live show, we wanted to know a bit more about Echoes from the band's perspective. How did it get included? How do you learn and rehearse such a large, multi-section piece as Echoes? What's it like to play? And why does the record play from the inside, outwards? Read on for the thoughts of the three members of the band who hadn't played it live before - Lee Harris, Gary Kemp and Dom Beken - and with thanks to Lee, we also have an exclusive clip of the band during a rehearsal of Echoes that you can see in the article below...

How did the inclusion of Echoes in the set happen?

LEE HARRIS: It would have been the elephant in the room if we didn't play it. If you think of a Saucers show as a book telling the story of Pink Floyd's early years and how they became what they did then leaving Echoes out would be like leaving the last chapter of the book out.

DOM BEKEN: It took a while… Echoes seems to live a sort of half-life in between the "early years", which is what The Saucers exist to explore and what we like to call Floyd's "Imperial Phase", so for a while we weren't certain we should go there, but the band developed to a point where we really felt there was no excuse not to tackle it. The close musical relationship between David and Rick on it was also a concern until we really felt we could do it justice.

GARY KEMP: It took a while for Echoes to be included. I think we were all slightly aware that it was "imperial Pink Floyd" and did we - could we - go near that, given that we started off with the Syd Barrett period very much, and Echoes seemed to be drawing to that later period of Dark Side Of The Moon? Also, it's a massive piece so it's very daunting.

Just announced is the great news that the digital versions of Nick Mason's Saucerful Of Secrets superb live recording of Echoes, which was released as part of this year's Record Store Day, are being released on Thursday, May 22nd. The performance was mixed by Steven Wilson, and for those who weren't able to get hold of the RSD release - or who have nothing to play it on - it is excellent news that all the normal digital music services should have it, including as a Dolby Atmos mix!

As an additional treat, check back here to Brain Damage as we have an exclusive interview on its way too...

You will recall that last week, there was a very special, and limited offer, concerning the newly released (and spectacular) Pink Floyd at Pompeii MCMLXXII.

The official Pink Floyd store had an exclusive for UK customers only - a special, hand signed, double-sided card by Nick Mason showing him in action during the filming. The card, which measures 5.5 inches x 8.5 inches, accompanied the double CD, and the offer ended when the supplies were exhausted.

If you weren't fortunate enough to secure one of these signed cards, here's an additional opportunity for you. Fresh from Nick's signing session, and courtesy of his management, we had three of these beauties to give away in the latest Brain Damage competition!

To be in with a chance of winning a signed card (the CD is shown in the picture just to give a sense of size of the cards, and isn't part of the prize), you needed to simply tell us the following:

• Who directed Pink Floyd Live at Pompeii?
• Which album did Roger Waters refer to during the film as having issues with its initial mastering/pressing?
• In which song(s) did Nick drop a drumstick?

The competition is NOW CLOSED and winners have been selected and notified. Our congratulations to Rouven Meier, Germany, Charles Marsh, Malta, and Chris Leith, England! Your prizes will be sent to you as soon as we can. Sorry if you weren't a winner this time, but keep an eye out for our future giveaways!

Some of you will recall that in January 2024, the UK's National Space Centre (which is located in Leicester) hosted the fulldome planetarium show of The Dark Side Of The Moon. With full 360 degree visuals, and the latest audio remastering being used, it sounded a great evening.

Due to the success of that, they've arranged for another couple of screenings to take place. Both occurring on Friday, May 30th, 2025, they are at 7pm and 8:30pm, and tickets are now on sale through this direct link to the National Space Centre which also gives more information about the event, along with pictures of how it might look.

The following video also gives a taste, but of course won't be anything like seeing it on the planetarium ceiling!

Some magazine news for you this morning: just published is the latest issue (number 44 - cover date May 2025) of the Pink Floyd fanzine "Heyou" run by our friends over at the Italian website of the same name. The 52-page dual language magazine (in Italian and English), which is published every six months or so, catches up with things in the Floyd world. The images within are all in black and white, within the full colour cover.

The first section is devoted to the lyrics of David Gilmour's recent album, Luck and Strange, presented in the original English, and translated into Italian, accompanied by pictures of various things related to the project. These include studio and rehearsal shots.

The central chunk of the magazine is a translation of a lengthy piece from 1998 interviewing Storm Thorgerson, coinciding with the publication of Mind Over Matter. This fascinating book is focused on the imagery created for the Floyd, and the interview finds Storm in typically amusing form!

The reissue, in lovely remixed and restored sound and vision, of Pink Floyd in Pompeii MCMLXXII, sees the press release shared in English and Italian, giving details of the background to the release. Again, this is accompanied by a range of pictures from the film, along with memorabilia.

Finally, there's a look at the three recent releases for 2025's Record Store Day - David Gilmour with Romany Gilmour's Between Two Points 12" in clear vinyl, Roger Waters' Redux LP of The Dark Side Of The Moon in pink vinyl, and Nick Mason's Saucerful Of Secrets performance of Echoes live, on 12". As with elsewhere in the issue, there's some distortion of the images used, and there's also an error in the layout of the Echoes description, with the text off the top of the page. This is an unusual error as they normally seem to take good care of such things.

The Heyou website can now be found through this link at www.heyou.it, where you can get individual copies (including back issues), and subscription enquiries (four issues costing 35 euros within Europe, and 45 euros outside Europe) should go to This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it - make sure you mention Brain Damage when you write!

Just announced, a very limited edition of Pink Floyd at Pompeii MCMLXXII is available while the very limited stocks last.

It's an exclusive from the official Pink Floyd store, for UK customers only - a special, hand signed, double-sided postcard by Nick Mason showing him in action during the filming. The postcard, which measures 5.5 inches x 8.5 inches, accompanies the double CD, and this very special offer ends at 4pm tomorrow (8th May) or while supplies last. It appeared on the site late last night and sold out almost instantly, although more have now become available to order.

The 2CD set contains the live performances from the film as well as two additional tracks, including a previously unreleased extended version of A Saucerful Of Secrets. Those who have heard Steven Wilson's new mix from the original reels will know just how good it sounds now! The reaction to this new version of Pompeii has been superb, and the album is on track to be Pink Floyd's seventh number one in the upcoming charts.

If you aren't fortunate enough to secure one of these signed editions, you can of course order Pink Floyd at Pompeii MCMLXXII on Blu-ray, DVD, 2LP and the 2CD from retailers worldwide - details in that link.