Pink Floyd were, for me, the highlight of Live8. I expected them to turn up with about 37 session musicians whilst they went through the motions. But no, they were playing for real, as a band (with a few long-serving back-ups). It was nice to see Nick Mason as the only drummer; I saw a woefully poor concert on TV a few years ago where Mr Mason tapped away at an (effectively) un-miked kit, leaving another drummer and an entirely unnecessary percussionist to help over-egg every song.

For a while, I thought Rick Wright wasn't on stage, there were so few shots of him - not a single close up (which was odd, as he had a cameraman directly in front of him). I am aware he was pushed out of the band in the early 'eighties, and has since returned as a 'contract' member. It doesn't reflect too well on the personalities of the other three that he is marginalised so much - he was also low in the mix. Like Dave Gilmour, Rick Wright isn't a 'flash' player, (both aim for 'feel' rather than speed and power) and the band isn't the same without him. The same is true of Roger Waters. I didn't like The Wall (except a few tracks) and have never heard subsequent albums - but I've seen a few late-era concerts and it seems that without Waters, they have turned into a bloated showcase for Dave's admittedly fine guitar playing.

Anyway - does anyone know why the rest of the band seem to treat Rick Wright as a second-class member, while never missing an opportunity to pay (deserved) tribute to the long-lost Syd?

You may have a point there, Snooty re the relative marginalisation of Wright. I've always loved his keyboard sound , and consider it to be the very centre of Floyd's best material. It is a pity that he seems to be 'on the outside looking in' as a contract player. I've suspected sometimes [not that Wright's position within Floyd keeps me awake at night..] that he has a quieter, less confident personality in comparison to the others, who are all fairly 'strong' characters. Perhaps he has always been on the peripheries, with Mason and Gilmour as the closest friends in the band?

Re Waters' 'tribute' to Syd Barrett, it is unlikely that the latter saw it, according to his sister Rosemary Breen nee Barrett. She said in the press that Syd showed no emotion when told of the reunion, and would probably 'not bother' watching it on tv. He, apparently, does not want contact with them, and is 'well' and 'happy' painting, listening to music and doing DIY in his Cambridge home.

As you may recall, Rick Wright was sacked from Pink Floyd by Rogers Waters (with the reluctant approval of Mason and Gilmour) after The Wall album.

Following the big bust-up with Roger Waters, Gilmour and Mason took joint control of the name Pink Floyd. They then hired Wright to play on the next album (A Momentary Lapse Of Reason) as a session man and paid him wages to tour. If you take a look, Wright's name is much smaller in the album credits than that of Mason and Gilmour.

He has since been re-instated to full member status, but I'm sure the ignominy of the post-Wall events still rankles with the keyboard player and could be the reason why he is not featured nearly as much as Gilmour and (to a lesser extent) Mason.

Interesting replies, chaps! It's good to hear, Mojo, that Rick Wright is 'back in the fold', so to speak - perhaps somebody should have told the vision mixer.

Timo - you are a man of taste. I also love Rick Wright's keyboard sounds - he was very much a 'texture' man and, to my knowledge, never besmirched a recording with a tiresome, powder-puff moog solo mixed four miles in front of everything else. He does seem a gentle, melancholic sort of man - not a ego-warrior like Waters and Gilmour.

As for Syd? If he's happy, I'm happy.

hm i think you lot are looking at it in too finer detail...lol

just enjoy it for what it was, en excellent few songs, showed they still have it.........it raaaawked :)
and roger back was a bonus :)

Thanks for the advice Mel! I'll try and keep my interest in the minutiae of Rock History in check. It's one up from trainspotting, I suppose. Don't worry, I did thoroughly enjoy it for what it was. And yes, they rocked!

Mel,
Yes, the main point is that the Floyd performed marvellously well. I was thrilled to see them again, to be honest, and I thought they blew away the younger acts. I suppose a new studio album with Waters included is too much to expect. A few 'live' shows, it is rumoured, might be on the cards though. I can see how that might mean an eventual 'live' album.

The thing is, how many 'live' Floyd albums do we need? One side of Ummagumma is 'live', plus we have Delicate Sound of Thunder and Pulse [let me know, Mojo, if I have missed any others]. There is only so much re-hashing I personally can take.

I saw a documentary a few years back that interviewed the all the members (seperately of course). It turns out that the split affected Rick Wright very badly. Dave Gilmour had to coax him back into playing (studio & live) but his self confidence was all but shattered, largely to Roger Waters bullying etc. Nick Mason was similarly lacking in confidence when they started touring again in the late 80's, hence the doubling up of the drums and the keyboards.
Great to see them back though.

Thanks for your contribution, Cols. I feel a bit bad now - I thought they had loads of drummers/keyboard players with them live because they were being lazy!

Even with the original line-up, I think the world needs another live album from Pink Floyd as much as it needs another studio album from Elton John, that is, not at all. A new studio album would be great, but I very much doubt they could fuse their creativity to anything like the extent required - not without some extremely heavy duty relationship counselling first.

I'm just pleased to have seen them play, openly and honestly as a band, sounding fantastic.

Talking of Floyd....
Gilmour is the only guitarist that I think I would pay good money to see. He did a show at the London Meltdown festival a couple of years ago (in aid of Robert Wyatt). Did anyone else catch on it TV. I thought he was fabulous. No rock histrionics, just man and guitar on stage. Eat your heart out Slash ....

Originally posted by timo
The thing is, how many 'live' Floyd albums do we need? One side of Ummagumma is 'live', plus we have Delicate Sound of Thunder and Pulse [let me know, Mojo, if I have missed any others]. There is only so much re-hashing I personally can take.

That about covers it as far as the official live albums go timo. But let's not forget that with the exception of Dylan, the Beatles & the Stones, Pink Floyd are possibly the most bootlegged act in history, with dozens (if not hundreds) of concert recordings in circulation.

Mojo,
I wish I'd hung onto the bootleg I had of Stars [Syd Barrett's last attempts to play live, featuring 'Twink' and I think, Jack Monck] live at Cambridge Corn Exchange. The only half-decent track was Lucifer Sam, and the rest was near-chaos. Despite the debacle that is the musical content, it is probably worth a few bob now.

There are rumours that the half-finished tapes of Syd's last musical offerings to EMI in 1974 still exist deep in the vaults. Rumoured also to exist are further out-takes from Syd's albums, and a few sessions, in Gilmour's possession. Additionally, there are claims that a long-lost Syd Barrett/ Mickey Finn [T. Rex] tape still exchanges hands. One thing is for certain, tapes of 'Scream thy last scream' and 'Vegetable Man', which I and thousands of others would love to hear, are still unreleased. I hope to see another Barrett compilation [we've had Opel and Wouldn't You Miss Me? in recent times] that includes the previous two criminally unreleased tracks plus other legends like 'Ramadhan'. The demand is still considerable for Barrett material.