NickMason’s Saucerful Of Secrets – O2 Apollo, Manchester – Wednesday 19th June 2024

The evening is off to a splendid start with several celebs are in the building tonight. At the box office, we encounter a couple who it turns out through earwigging their conversation, are old friends of Nick. One of them used to share a bath with him (in their infant days obviously!). Their party piece was to use an orange to plug the overflow and cause a flood! Once inside, we then encounter Hen & Les – musical duo of Les Glover (aka Loved Up Les) and Henry Priestman (oh! you must know him as a songwriter and musician with The Christians…Forgotten Town, Hooverville etc) cradling a couple of pints of Guinness. Like Nick and the band they’re on a time tunnel trip too, it being 45 or so years since they were in this very same room, Hen on stage with The Yachts and Les in the audience. Les even still has his autographed beer mat from an encounter in the pub but that’s another story …..

Just about two years on from their last appearance in Manchester (we were there – naturally) SoS return for a third appearance in this format that sees Nick Mason and cohorts continue to celebrate the early days of the Floyd – All Syd and the Dark Side Of The Moon deflected to…the dark side of the moon..,

With tours around the world over the past six years, you could say that the quintet are getting good at this. SoS instigator, as the rest of the band, Lee Harris has the Floyd blood coursing through his veins and shows his mettla and more with a series of guitar parts that have him ripping into everything from heavy metal riffing to ‘close your eyes and it’s Dave Gilmour’ solos. In one of his stood up behind the drum kit chats, Nick is also keen to stress how Gary Kemp too has grown from New Romantic and one of the Krays into a “Prog Rock God.” And none are more engaged than Guy Pratt; full of life and loving his visits to Manchester, Nick points out that he’s worked with Guy for “about 37 years,” whilst reminding the audience that making videos is ok as long as the spotlight is off as it annoys Guy (as we’d fully appreciate). One of only two bass players he’s ever worked with, he deadpans his association with “tricky bass players” – cue the sketch where he then receives a call from someone called Roger looking for his gong…

And then there’s Dom Beken perched behind his bank of keys; a man able to instigate mass applause by initiating the single bleep that starts Echoes and whose spadework contributes to one of the evening highlights. It follows the opening flurry and excitement of Astronomy Domine, all lime and limpid green, doing what it did back in the days of Piper At The Gates Of Dawn and open the door to a mind altering new world. Dusting off Arnold Layne and Se Emily Play, he’s set up Syd’s vocal track to Remember Me and curated a slideshow of images from a personal archive that flickers as the band play along. It might be a bit of a straightforward Bob Dylan R’n’B shuffle, but is a touching part of the set that’s seen a few more tweaks to reward the permanent offenders who habitually attend. Well worth checking out some of the audience videos on Youtube

Also new to this tour, The Scarecrow opens the second half, switching from rustic charm and quirkiness to a dreamy sparkled landscape and the heavy side crosses swords with the experimental on Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun that ends the first half. Both Mason and Pratt bash the gong as the relaxed yet ominous gives way to the experimental and frankly violent freak out. A small indulgence that pepeprs the set.

Old faves see the Atom Heart Mother medley kicked off by a Pratt/Kemp acoustic guitar/bass duet. “We’re right out of orchestras,” explains Nick, thinking back to early performances of the grandiose piece – “Brexit and budget cuts,” he adds, but the delight is in the Harris solo on the Gold Fender that’s very Gilmour-esque. There’s also a significant balance towards the heavier moments of the legacy. The Nile Song verges on Metal, remaining Hard Rock enough to appreciate Nick’s Bonham 4/4 beat and a clutch of solos passing stage right to left and back again and the Obscured By Clouds/When You’re In section with slide guitar soaring above the bubble of the bassline has been a highlight and remains so, of the SoS shows.

With no Liverpool date on this tour – like Paul McCartney, one of the music capitals of the UK getting by passed – any Liverpudlians in the crowd make themselves known as the Kop’s You’ll Never Walk Alone eases in at the end of Fearless. A couple even rise, arms wide in the traditional fashion to belt out the tune…naturally, a few are less enamoured…but Echoes restores peace – all it takes is a sonic bleep.The Spontaneous ovation at the close of Gary Kemp’s first solo justifies its place as the epic set closer. He purses his lips and nods, knowing he’s nailed it.

So, Syd, yes – we remember you. So do these bright ambassadors of morning. With their portrayal of such a box of musical delights, how could we ever forget?

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