Early Pink Floyd concert memories sought
Written by Matt   
Saturday, 05 February 2005

Since late 2003, long-time fan, collector and contributor to Brain Damage Chris Leith has been undertaking the exhaustive task of conducting extensive research concerning all Pink Floyd concerts and any other related activity in his home county of Kent, located in south east England, with the ultimate intention of compiling and publishing a book in the future.

Chris has approached Brain Damage to ask for fans who may attended and have first-hand (or even second-hand !) knowledge of the following concerts, and are willing to share any memories (however small!) of the concerts and/or venues concerned to contact him at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Further, anyone who is happy to either sell or provide scans of Kent concert related memorabilia, such as tickets, flyers, handbills, posters or photos (for which full credit will be given in the finished book) this would be very much appreciated.

Throughout 2004, Chris, who is carrying out the project's sole undertaking, successfully placed features in all newspapers local to where the concerts took place to appeal for any persons whom may still happen to live in the area to come forward, and this provided overwhelming responses.

As well as tracking down and interviewing the journalists who wrote the original concert reviews, local support band members have been identified and have willingly recalled their memories and Chris has visited the location of every venue.

The research has so far resulted in the unearthing of hitherto unseen photographs and concert memorabilia and promises to be a treat for all fans who study and follow the history of the band. Chris says, "Fans who follow the band's concert history, will no doubt be aware that Pink Floyd first played in Kent in November 1966, at Canterbury's Technical College, but I've uncovered details of a concert, in which other artists also performed, that has never been documented, and which took place in Canterbury on Monday 31st August 1970 solely as a part of a 'mock festival' for the express purpose of being filmed by director Francois Reichenbach for his 'Medicine Ball Caravan' movie which was eventually released in 1971".

"Any help which can be provided to this project will clearly go towards helping updating Pink Floyd's concert history. Inspiration came from reading great books like Povey/Russell's 'In The Flesh', Priston/Hodges' 'Embryo', as well as Vernon Fitch's publications on the band's history over the years, and wishing to tap into the band's history around my home county to give fans more knowledge on their favourite band".

The concerts which Chris is concentrating on are as follows:

19th November 1966 - Canterbury Technical College, Canterbury, Kent
11th March 1967 - Canterbury Technical College, Canterbury, Kent
19th April 1967 - 'Bromel Club', Bromley Court Hotel, Bromley, Kent
24th May 1967 - 'Bromel Club', Bromley Court Hotel, Bromley, Kent
17th June 1967 - 'Dreamland Ballroom', Margate, Kent
18th June 1967 - 'Radio London Motor Racing & Pop Festival', Brands Hatch, Kent
1st December 1967 - 'Central Hall', Chatham, Kent (Hendrix Package Tour)
8th December 1967 - 'Caves Club', Chislehurst Caves, Kent (Hendrix Package Tour)
25th February 1969 - 'Marlowe Theatre', Canterbury, Kent
26th April 1969 - Bromley Technical College, Bromley, Kent
31st August 1970 - Charlton Park, Bishopsbourne, Kent (hitherto undocumented performance in Pink Floyd's concert history)

Since its inception, Nick Mason has been aware of the project following Chris's offer of help for Nick's own book, making passing reference to it in the Mojo Special in September 2004, as well as an on-air reference during a radio interview (for his book, "Inside Out") with Danny Baker on BBC London 94.9FM in October 2004.

Chris adds, "In my mind, my research is now about 80% complete, and I think it's now time to ask for fellow fans help if they can".

Chris was recently fortunate enough to personally present a copy of the as-yet unfinished copy of the research to Nick Mason and it appears that an exclusive Mason interview may appear in the finished version.

Given that this is Chris's first venture into the written word, he has asked that if any publisher is interested and wishes to discuss further, to feel free to contact him either via Brain Damage, or at the email address above.