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Happy Halloween! It's 2026's Pink Floyd pumpkin... Print E-mail
Written by Matt   
Thursday, 29 October 2026

Happy Halloween to you all! Regulars to Brain Damage over the years will know that our friend Joe Ringus is a hugely talented pumpkin artist, and each year crafts a Pink Floyd themed pumpkin for Halloween (which is celebrated by many, principally on October 31st, but in a number of places it covers a number of days).

Those regulars will no doubt be as keen as we have been to see if Joe would be continuing the tradition this year, and if so, what design would be picked. The great news is that, after some thought, Joe had some inspiration for a design he'd not yet done, so has been hard at work yet again, and has done a lovely job yet again! We're delighted to share his incredible carving with you. Joe: "I was pretty excited to do this one and think it transferred to the pumpkin well." We agree!

 

The 2026 Pink Floyd pumpkin, on Brain Damage - carver, Joe Ringus

 

Thanks Joe - we think you've done another superb job! It's a great tradition and we know many of our visitors love to see them.

If there are any other pumpkin artists out there who have created Floyd designs, we'd love to see them.

 
Roger Waters and G.E. Smith performing next month in New York State Print E-mail
Written by Matt   
Thursday, 29 October 2026

An Intimate Evening With Roger Waters & G.E. SmithJust announced is "An Intimate Evening With Roger Waters & G.E. Smith", being held on Sunday November 22nd, 2026, at 7pm.

It is billed as an "acoustic evening with Roger Waters playing his originals joined by G.E. Smith sharing two decades of music and friendship". Some of you will recall that a similar event took place on October 30th, 2015, at the Bay Street Theatre in New York, as part of Smith's then series of shows called Portraits. Smith, of course, played guitars, bass and mandolin on The Wall Live tour.

The show takes place at The Suffolk, a 1930's art deco theatre in Riverhead, New York, and tickets are now on sale from TheSuffolk.org.

 
Cambridge United FC unveil Syd Barrett football shirt Print E-mail
Written by Matt   
Saturday, 24 October 2026

Syd Barrett inspired Cambridge United football shirtAs part of October's Syd Barrett celebrations in Cambridge - as a reminder, this year would have marked his 80th birthday - the local (League One) football team Cambridge United have unveiled a special-edition fourth shirt for the season inspired by the life of Syd.

It was first worn at the team's game against Blackpool on World Mental Health Day, and was created in collaboration with the Barrett Estate and supported by Sony Music and Pink Floyd.

Rosemary Breen, Barrett's sister, said: "We are delighted and honoured to collaborate with Cambridge United on this initiative which helps highlight World Mental Health Day through the legacy of Syd."

Mental health initiatives will benefit from the shirt, with a proportion of replica shirt sales and proceeds from an auction of match-worn shirts being donated. Produced with Umbro and Kitlocker, it features a diamond pattern inspired by Shine On You Crazy Diamond, with an orange and blue colour scheme inspired by Barrett's solo album cover, The Madcap Laughs. On the bottom of the shirt is a diamond logo as shown to the right above.

Here's the club's announcement video for the shirt:

Orders are now being taken in adult short and long sleeve designs, and a child's short sleeve design, through CambridgeUnited.com. Deliveries will begin in November.

 
Mark Blake's Pink Floyd Shine On: The Definitive Oral History book in paperback Print E-mail
Written by Matt   
Saturday, 24 October 2026

Pink Floyd Shine On: The Definitive Oral History book by Mark BlakeA year after the hardback was published, the paperback of another fascinating and essential book from acclaimed author Mark Blake is now available. Blake is best known in the Floyd community for his excellent book, Pigs Might Fly: The Inside Story Of Pink Floyd (known as Comfortably Numb in the US) which originally came out in 2007, and subsequently updated. Other books worth searching out by Blake include titles covering Queen and Freddie Mercury, Peter Grant (Led Zeppelin's manager) and The Who.

Pink Floyd Shine On: The Definitive Oral History, which is now available as a paperback, hardback (with HMV - link below - having signed copies) or in Amazon's Kindle format, and is well worth getting your hands on. Here's how the publishers have described it: "The definitive oral history of Pink Floyd as told by friends, associates, family members and the band themselves through exclusive, never before published interviews.

"Bestselling music author Mark Blake has been an associate and collaborator of Pink Floyd for over thirty years. Shine On takes on the behemoth task of capturing the most comprehensive history of the band ever compiled, drawing on huge amounts of new, archive and unpublished interview material with Gilmour, Waters, Mason and Wright. No other writer has interviewed the members of Pink Floyd as often nor as thoroughly, which is candidly apparent in this textured, gripping and consistently surprising biography. For the first time, the band's story is told as an oral history with each chapter presented through the words of the band, their friends, contemporaries and supporting musicians. The accessible structure and high level of detail means that the narrative is both approachable to casual readers and magnetic to the committed.

"Shine On is comprised of a significant amount of previously unpublished material, including a rare interview with Rosemary Breen lamenting that her younger brother Roger, aka Syd Barrett, should have never become a musician as well as exclusive new interviews with Pink Floyd's Nick Mason and Guy Pratt, reflecting on their enduring legacy and rather more complicated recent twists and turns in the bands story.

"Shine On is a forensic retelling of one of the most turbulent and enduring groups in rock music history, a complex history that only someone as skilled and insightful as Blake can navigate."

Mark's new book is another fascinating, accessible and in-depth (some 400 pages) look at the band, and we definitely recommend it.

ORDERING INFO:
As we participate in their affiliate programme, ordering any item after entering Amazon through our links helps with BD's ongoing running costs, and we really appreciate it. You can order the book - also as a hardback, or in Kindle format - from Amazon.com, Amazon UK, Amazon Canada, Germany, France, Italy and Spain. Not all stores are showing it yet at time of posting this, so please keep trying until they do!

You can also order it from HMV.com which has a limited number of hardback copies signed by the author, and has free delivery (to the UK).

 
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