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Well, that was fun! The Majestic is a great little theatre with a simple load-in, helpful crew, and a wide stage that allows Garry, Gerard, Dale, John and Gordon to stretch out across the front. Most important of all, it also has an enthusiastic audience who joined in and sang along to make it a great evening. We weren’t sure beforehand whether we could bring our largest circular screen, but we now know that we can, so watch out Retford. Next time, the show will be even bigger!
Following an early summer break in June, our next trip will be on 8th July to the famous Tavistock Wharf. We previewed They Told Us What To Dream there in 2022, so we’ve changed the set for our return this year, with several different tracks for your delectation. This will also be the first time we've played there with Dale wowing audiences with his solos and all-round Gilmouresqueism. (Don’t tell us that there’s no such word as Gilmouresqueism… there is now!) In the meantime, we hope that you enjoy the next few weeks, and we'll look forward to seeing you again soon.
"Retford?", we thought when we first heard that we were booked to perform at The Majestic Theatre Retford. "Where’s that?" But it turned out to be a great place and somewhere that we really enjoyed playing. We were last there in 2019 on our Wall Around The Moon tour, so it’s high time that we returned, as we’re doing on Saturday 13th May. This will be our last performance of They Told Us What To Dream until mid-July, not least because one of us is buggering off to the States for a while. So we hope that you’ll be able to join us because, if we’re not going to play for a couple of months, we’ll do everything that we can to make this a good one! See you there...
Exmouth in the Spring sunshine looks like a really nice place. Unfortunately, we didn't have time to take a wander around the town (let alone have a paddle or a game of frisbee) because there was a huge amount to do to get the show ready for 'doors' at 7pm. Happily, the gremlins were banished to the dark places from which they invariably come, and everything was ready in time. It would be naughty to claim that the venue was full - unfortunately, it wasn’t - but the audience was fantastic, and we would never have known that there were empty seats given the singing, the banter and (thank you Exmouth!) the applause. Consequently, we had a great time, and we loved the reception given to some of the more obscure tracks such as Careful With That Axe Eugene and Parts 6 to 9 of Shine On You Crazy Diamond. Hopefully, we'll see you all again soon. Hmm... Tavistock isn't that far from Exmouth, so maybe we’ll see some of you there on 8th July! Until then...
We've never been to Exmouth, but what a fab place to start! The Pavilion is a premier venue for touring bands, so we can't wait to play there. Located right in the middle of the Esplanade, it's literally across the road from the beach, and no doubt we'll be taking advantage of this if the weather's good and there's time to chill before the show. Will the rhythm section roll up its collective trousers and go for a paddle? Will the Floydettes be playing frisbee on the shoreline? Will the guitarists be discussing how a couple of extra effects pedals would improve the view? Why not join us to find out? Even if there's no time for this, it should be a great evening with two complete Pink Floyd albums and much more to enjoy. We look forward to seeing you there.
Following the pandemic, we returned to the live circuit with our most ambitious tour to date. This highlighted not one, but two complete Pink Floyd albums – indeed, the two that are considered by legions of their fans to be the band's most important works: Wish You Were Here and Dark Side Of The Moon, both of which continue to speak to people across three generations like no other music from the past five decades. Today, we're expanding upon this and are taking the tour to a new level with Perchance To Dream Another Dream, which features both of these albums plus additional tracks from Meddle and The Wall, as well as a nod in the direction of Pink Floyd's earlier psychedelic roots. We'll be premiering this at Tavistock Wharf on the 8th July. See you there!
There's a temptation to think of provincial theatres as merely the settings for local am-dram and childrens' shows. But they're not all about shaky Shakespeare and wonky Widow Twankies. Bands such as The Floyd Effect couldn't survive without them, and some of our finest moments have occurred in venues such as the Opera House in Buxton, The Castle Theatre in Wellingborough and the McMillan Theatre in Bridgwater. But there are also many smaller theatres that are vital to keeping live music alive in the UK, often run by volunteers who understand the value of a local venue. They are at the hearts of their communities, and they make it possible for The Floyd Effect (and everyone else on 'the circuit') to play to audiences who would otherwise have to travel long distances for live entertainment. So please join us in a round of applause for the theatres, large and small, and all of their staff – technical crew, house, ticket office, marketing and even the management (!) – who make it possible for us to play for you. They've earned it. #WorldTheatreDay
Hello all... let's begin by extending a huge "thank you" to every one of you who joined us and helped to sell out the venue for both Friday and Saturday nights' shows at the Arts Centre in Colchester. You were superb company, with lots of banter and silliness, and you filled the Centre with sound as you sang along to tracks like Wish You Were Here. Also, of course, our thanks go out to all of the theatre staff and crew for making us so welcome for two days, and we can't write this without thanking Anne and Susan who did such a fab job manning (or should that be 'womanning'?) our all-too-rare merchandise stand. Oh yes... and we all had a great time too, so we can't wait to see you all again. Until next time!
It's rare that we get to spend two nights in the same town, but we love 'double-headers' because there's no uprooting from hotel to hotel and no travelling between shows. So our two concerts at the Colchester Arts Centre this month will be a luxury for the band, no doubt with lashings of pizza and bevvies after the first because we won't have to load up the bus. Mind you, it's even more of a treat for our production company because, while the musos just have a couple of dozen guitars, amps and synths to carry, the road crew will be able to leave all of the PA, lighting and projection equipment in place for 24 hours and get a proper night's sleep. Bliss! We'll be performing the whole of They Told Us What To Dream on both Friday 24th and Saturday 25th, so we hope that you'll be joining us at one of the shows. Or… why not come to both? As you know, a Floyd Effect show is a genuine live performance, so there are bound to be unique moments in each. We understand that both shows are sold out, but there may be some returns so you might be lucky! Either way, we very much look forward to seeing you there.
Thank you to Legends Of Rock for once again granting us the privilege of headlining Friday night and thank you too to the audience who sang, whooped, and applauded all the way into the wee small hours of Saturday. We don't know about the audience, but we got to bed at around 4am. Rock'n'Roll baby! It was lovely to meet many of you again over the weekend, as we stayed on to watch the other bands, and we loved hearing all your comments first hand. We hope to see you at one of our forthcoming shows where we'll be playing the whole of They Told Us What To Dream.
Some time ago, we were asked whether we thought that the music of Pink Floyd was as meaningful or important as the classical music of the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries. We suggested that listening to Dark Side Of The Moon in 2023 is little different from listening to some of the other great music of the 20th century fifty years after its first performance – say, enjoying Stravinsky's Right Of Spring in 1963, Holst's Planets in 1968, or even Britten's War Requiem in 2012. What's more (we pointed out), it probably holds a place in the hearts of a wider audience, and it remains as relevant today as it was when it was released. Consequently, it's hard to argue against it being one of the great musical accomplishments of the 20th century. We're proud to have performed Dark Side Of The Moon in its entirety at almost every concert we have played since we formed the band in 2007, and we'll continue to do so for as long as people want to hear it. As we look out from the stage at the children and even the grandchildren of those who bought the original LP in 1973, we think that it will be popular for at least another five decades and, who knows, maybe even longer than that.
Legends Of Rock, huh? Wouldn't it be great if they were referring to The Floyd Effect. (We're pretty certain that they mean Pink Floyd.) But, despite that small, semantic uncertainty, Yarmageddon 11 promises to be great fun. In addition to us, there will be tributes to Led Zeppelin, Bon Jovi, Fleetwood Mac, Black Sabbath, Creedence Clearwater Revival and dozens more. And to put the icing – and possibly even the cherry – on the cake, it all happens indoors; nobody has to stand in the p***ing rain in a soggy field and end up covered in mud from head to toe. So why don't you join us on Friday 3rd March, and we'll play you as much of They Told Us What To Dream as they'll let us. We'll be taking to the stage at 11:30pm, so you can sit back and enjoy Pink Floyd's finest as we think it was always intended – late at night, mellow, with friends, and with a couple of pints of the finest single malts in your hands. (OK, we probably shouldn't be suggesting the last of those, but you get the idea.) It promises to be a great night, and we'll look forward to seeing you there.
A big "thank you" to everyone who came to see us in Northampton last night. We realise that you had been queuing since the original date in 2020 was postponed, and we hope that you enjoyed the gig. We would also like to thank the Roadmender, which stood by us through Alpha, Delta, Omicron, and everything else that the world could throw at us, and the theatre crew who helped our guys to cram as much of our lighting and other equipment onto the stage as was humanly possible. Next, we're off to Great Yarmouth to headline the Friday night at Legends Of Rock. Maybe we'll see some of you there again.
After the Edwardian grandeur of The Opera House last week, we have a very different experience lined up you on for Saturday. The vibe at the Roadmender in Northampton is energetic and (dare we say) bouncy, not least because the venue is as well-known as a nightclub as it is as a venue for bands. We'll be squeezing in the largest screen that the stage can accommodate and performing our complete They Told Us What To Dream concert, so why not join us for another night of Pink Floyd's finest? With two complete albums and tracks from four more, there's lots for everyone. We'll look forward to seeing you there.
Wow... thank you Buxton! The theatre crew were great, the audience was fab, and we then bumped into lots of you again in the pizza house and the hotel bar - and what nice people you are! We have to admit that playing to a full house at the Opera House is a privilege as well as a pleasure, and to be told (until 4am when we finally crawled up to our rooms) how much you enjoyed the show was the icing on a particularly flavoursome cake. So we'd like to thank you all, and we very much look forward to seeing you again next year.
First of all, we would like to offer a huge "thank you" to everyone who came to see us at The Point, Eastleigh last night. The first concert of the year can often be a nervous affair, but you were a fantastic audience and we had a great time playing for you. We're loving They Told Us What To Dream, and we hope that you're enjoying hearing it as much as we're enjoying playing it. Secondly, those of you who have seen us before may have noticed a new face in the band. So please everyone (drum roll…) welcome Dale Taylor to The Floyd Effect. Not only a fabulous guitarist and singer, Dale sometimes even looks a bit like Dave Gilmour circa 1972, and we are delighted that he has joined us as our permanent front man. Finally, we would like to take this opportunity to thank Paul Andrews, who joined us in our hour of need immediately after the pandemic. Paul offered to help us out for a few gigs when we unexpectedly had to look for a new guitarist, but he stayed for 18 months, for which we would like to thank him profusely. Right… it's now time to start preparing the show for our concerts in Buxton next week, followed by Northampton and Brierley Hill, as well as headlining at Legends Of Rock in a few weeks' time. It's going to be great fun, and we hope to see you there.
Buxton Opera House - yay! Our favourite. There's something genuinely exciting about a venue with four tiers, swirly decorations, and a huge wodge of history. And how can you fail to be inspired when you've just used the same loo as Noël Coward, the man who described the theatre as "a wonderful place, a house of strange enchantment, a temple of illusion". Mind you, he also said, "The only stars I can blame for my failures are those that walk about the stage", but we don't think that he meant The Floyd Effect because he died 34 years before the band was formed. Anyway, we'll be bringing our latest show to Buxton in just a couple of weeks, and we're looking forward to treating you to two complete Pink Floyd albums, half of another, plus tracks from three more. Hopefully, that will be both wonderful and enchanting in the temple of illusion, so we hope to see you there.
The Point, Eastleigh, holds a special place in the hearts and the history of The Floyd Effect; one that sits somewhere between great affection and abject terror. This is because, since time immemorial, it has hosted the first concert of the year - in other words, the venue at which we've unveiled our latest tour and played it to an audience for the first time. Thanks to the pandemic (boo!!) we haven't performed there since January 2020, which was when we unleashed The Dark Side Of Reason on an unsuspecting world. But now - precisely three years and three days later - we're returning with the first "official" performance of our 2023 tour: They Told Us What To Dream. Happily, we previewed this before Christmas, so we'll be able to concentrate on the affection rather than the terror. But - who knows? - there could still be a surprise or two to share with you. Eastleigh, here we come... We can't wait!
Welcome to 2023. We hope that you had a great New Year, and that this will herald a much better year for all of us, not just in the UK, but everywhere in the world.
While contemplating 2023, it occurs to us that this marks the 50th anniversary of the release of one of the greatest albums ever recorded. Sure, this could refer to Selling England By The Pound, Quadrophenia, Aladdin Sane, Houses Of The Holy, Tubular Bells, Brain Salad Surgery or dozens of other classics (what a year 1973 was!) but we're referring, of course, to Dark Side Of The Moon. We hold this in such high esteem that we've performed it in its entirety at every theatre concert since we formed The Floyd Effect in 2007. We've even played it when headlining various festivals and, perhaps best of all, when we closed Cyprus Rocks on the beach in Protaras in 2019. Obviously, we're not going to stop now because we love playing it and you never seem to tire of hearing it. And why should you? It's timeless and wonderful. Coupled with the whole of Wish You Were Here and tracks from Animals and The Wall (and even a couple resurrected from our Early Years tours) we suspect that We Told You What To Dream is our best concert yet, so we hope that you'll join us in 2023. An end to the war in the Ukraine, the demise of extremism, the end of the cost-of-living crisis and no more pandemics would also be nice, but that's out of our control. So let's look forward, share the music, and keep hoping for good things to come…
All the best for 2023.
After the seemingly endless gloom that was 2022, we all need some festive cheer and the hope that next year is going to be better than this one. In The Floyd Effect, we've navigated illnesses (and not just from the sodding Covid-19 pandemic), numerous rescheduled concerts with all of the difficulties that that entails, the inevitable financial difficulties, and more. Yet the one thing we've always been able to rely upon is your warmth and good wishes. It's not only our shared love of Pink Floyd; you're just lovely people, and you've supported us through thick and thin. Perhaps 2023 will be the year when the world starts to come to its senses but, in the meantime, let's echo John and Yoko, who sang…
A very Merry Christmas
And a Happy New Year
Let's hope it's a good one
Without any fear.
Wise words indeed!
We hope that you have a great holiday, and look forward to seeing you in January.
Love and best wishes from all of the band and crew.
Many years ago, we were booked into venues during the #WorldCup, and then wondered why nobody turned up. Well... that's not quite true. Those of us in The Floyd Effect who would happily have swapped six hours in a tour bus for a warm sofa, a couple of bevvies and the footie on telly knew exactly why. But even those who would rather watch the BBC Parliament Channel in preference to England's (or Wales') latest bid for footballing glory learned the folly of their ways, which is why we have taken a break in late November and the first half of December. "Ah-ha!", we hear you say, "but your next gig is on 16th December and the World Cup final is on the 18th". That's true, but there's no match on the 16th, and therefore no excuse to miss They Told Us What To Dream when we play at the Tropic at Ruislip that night. And, in the unlikely event that England have reached the 3rd place play-off on Saturday or even the final on Sunday, an evening of #PinkFloyd beforehand will be the perfect hors d'oeuvre. So... no excuses. We'll see you there!
Somehow, we almost always manage to play in North Wales late in the year when the nights are drawing in. So here we are in November, the clocks have gone back, and, in a week's time, it'll be time to travel up the M6 to play for the good people of Colwyn Bay. The Theatr Colwyn is a lovely little venue – not too small, but intimate so that we have a real feeling of connection with the audience. Hopefully, you'll be there to join us for our second performance of They Told Us What To Dream. We were delighted with how smoothly the first show went in Tavistock, and we're really looking forward to performing it for you on Saturday. Two complete Pink Floyd albums, tracks from three more, great company, a few bevvies and no gremlins. What could be better on a Saturday night?
Have you noticed something weird about saxophones? OK… something ELSE weird about saxophones? They can only produce one note at a time, but get the same amount of attention – if not more – than guitars that can produce six, and keyboards that can play dozens simultaneously. The strange breed of humans who play them also receive the same amount of adulation as guitarists, and far more than keyboard players. All for just one note! It hardly seems fair, does it? But tracks such as Shine On You Crazy Diamond, Money and Us & Them wouldn't be the same without a bit of gratuitous sax, and we imagine that there are other bands that benefit from the weird brass pipe too. So let's say thank you to the common as muck alto and tenor, the squealing soprano and the farty baritone, the little-known C-melody and bass, and the truly scary sopranino and contrabass saxes that lurk in the shadows of obscure jazz ensembles. Just one note at a time, but it's often the best one there is.
We were delighted when we learned that our first performance of our new tour was to be in Tavistock. The audience at Tavistock Wharf is unfailingly good natured and enthusiastic so, despite the inevitable teething problems, they gave us a fantastic reception singing along and joining in the banter. Thank you Tavistock. We look forward to seeing you all next year.
There's just a week to go, and we're nearly ready. Well... there's just a week to go, anyway. We had a great rehearsal last weekend and put the finishing touches to the arrangements for They Told Us What To Dream, so everyone has now gone away to practice before taking to the stage at The Wharf. Meanwhile, John and the technical team are rushing to get all of the new projections and the revamped light show ready in time. We suspect that they'll still be working on it late into the night before the show but, when it's done, it's going to be fab. Two classic Pink Floyd albums, all of side 1 of another, and tracks from two more... it's not just going to be fab, it's going to be epic! (For our younger listeners, side 1 refers to the original vinyl album. Please don't attempt to turn your CD players or streaming systems upside down.) So why not be a TFE guinea pig and come to see us in Tavistock. The first show of any tour is always a mélange of mayhem, mishaps and magic, so we'll look forward to seeing you there.
There seems to be a fashion for bashing the BBC, but we don't agree with it. Auntie Beeb has been a tremendous force for good for rock bands and their music, whether making The Sex Pistols famous by banning them, energising Meatloaf's career by broadcasting the whole of Paradise By The Dashboard Lights or, of course, by making it possible to watch your favourite artists mime badly in fuzzy black-and-white decades before the advent of MTV (let alone YouTube). The Floyd Effect has been featured on numerous BBC local radio stations, and even played live on BBC Three Counties Radio, and it has always been fun, exciting, and impeccably handled. Our respect runs very deep indeed, and if we had to choose between the Beeb and those who want to do away with her, Auntie would win every time. So let's wish her a very happy 100th birthday, and hope that she has at least another 100 ahead.
Singers, huh? The raison d'être within a band, or just a bunch of noisy buggers who get in the way of the guitar and keyboard solos? The answer, of course, is both. Great singers can entrance an audience, whether belting out the libretto from Tristan and Isolde or the chorus of I Love Rock'N'Roll. When you get several on stage at the same time, the results can be magical… although probably not if they attempt to sing Wagner and Joan Jett simultaneously. We are very lucky in The Floyd Effect to have several great singers, including our wonderful Floydettes, whose renditions of The Great Gig In The Sky are a high point of every concert. So, let's offer a round of applause for singers everywhere. Whether soloing in the shower or performing at Wembley Stadium, the world would be a lesser place without them.
There are so many people behind the scenes who make a TFE concert possible; promoters, tour management, drivers and roadies, lighting programmers, video creators and, on the night, the live sound engineers and lighting engineers. We thank them at every concert but let's give them another round of applause here. Techies do an incredible job in often difficult circumstances, moving and erecting tonnes of gear on the day of a show, finding and fixing the problems, then making sure that you can see and hear the band before taking it down, driving a couple of hundred miles on very little sleep, and doing it all over again. Without them, the show wouldn't go on.
So... goodnight DSOR, and good morning to TTUWTD (They Told Us What To Dream). The necessary bits of gear arrived back at our studio in the depths of rural England at around 1am on Sunday morning, and by 11am we were programming new sounds, practising guitar solos, sorting out vocal harmonies, and whipping into shape everything else that will be necessary to unveil our next show in Tavistock on 29 October. There's a huge amount to be done; in addition to the music, we're creating some new projections and a new light show to try to make 'Dream' the best concert we've ever played for you. The music certainly deserves it. Two complete Pink Floyd albums, plus extras? We're going to love playing it for you, and we hope that you're going to love hearing it just as much.
Thank you, Bedford! Even in these financially blighted times you turned out in style and helped us to give The Dark Side Of Reason the send-off it deserved. To everyone who cheered, whistled, joined in the banter, sang along and even danced… we can't thank you enough. In fact, we would like to thank everyone who came to see our concerts in 2020, 2021 and 2022. It was a labour of love to keep the show on the road and, without your support, it would have been impossible. But you kept us going throughout, and we can't tell you how much we appreciate it.
Can it really be that time already? Although our first performance of The Dark Side Of Reason was in January 2020, we can't quite believe that Saturday's concert at the Corn Exchange in Bedford will be the last time that we play it. To be honest, we weren't certain how A Momentary Lapse Of Reason would be received by audiences up and down the country, but tracks like Dogs Of War, On The Turning Away and Sorrow have become firm favourites, and we'll be rather sad to see them shelved for the foreseeable future. So we'll be giving our all on Saturday to make this a fitting send-off for the longest tour in the band's history. We hope to see you there.
A big "thank you" to the Mitchell Arts Centre and the good people of Stoke-On-Trent who came to see us on Saturday. This concert had been postponed at least twice before due to the lockdowns and other Covid restrictions. Then, out of respect toward the Queen's funeral, we weren't sure until the last minute that it would be able to go ahead this time. But once we received the 'all clear' everyone pulled together and we were delighted to be able to perform our penultimate show of the Dark Side Of Reason tour. Understandably, there were some empty seats, which makes us all the more appreciative of everyone who came, who sang along, and who shared their evening with us. Now we're preparing for our last performance of The Dark Side Of Reason, which will be in Bedford's Corn Exchange on Saturday. This will be a great venue in which to say "goodbye" - if only temporarily - to some of Pink Floyd's lesser-known tracks that have become firm audience favourites over the past two (well... nearly three!) years. We hope that you'll be able to join us and we look forward to seeing you there.
Sometimes we fantasise about writing a book recounting the story of The Floyd Effect. To be fair, nobody has ever thrown a television out of a hotel window, but the stories we could tell…! If we were to do so, last night's concert at The Stag Theatre would probably deserve a chapter. There were myriad technical problems at the theatre, and Gerard and Fi were stuck on the M6 in Lancashire, moving just six miles between 11am and 7:30pm. But the crew worked their magic and, after some rapid backstage musical decisions, we began what was probably the scariest gig in our fifteen-year history. But this was where the good stuff began because the audience was fantastic, supporting us throughout the whole concert. With Paul, John and Gordon covering for Gerard's missing saxophones and guitar, and with Tiff singing her heart out in Fi's absence, everything worked out in the end. Also, we can't fail to mention the audience's immaculate observation of a minute's silence to honour the memory of Queen Elizabeth II. Thank you Sevenoaks and thank you The Stag Theatre. You were superb, and we very much hope to see you again next year when things will (we hope) be noticeably less scary!
We've been travelling around the UK for fifteen years, but we've never been to Sevenoaks. Royal Tunbridge Wells – tick! East Grinstead – tick! Maidstone – tick! Dartford – tick! It's almost as if we've been circling the good people of Sevenoaks, waiting for the ideal time to strike. But next Saturday we'll be setting off for the Stag Theatre to play the pen-penultimate concert of the current tour. You might think that we would have gotten bored of The Dark Side Of Reason by now – after all, it's three years since we started to put it together – but nothing could be further from the truth. It features a fab mix of classic and '80s Floyd, and it's great to play… and, hopefully, to see and hear! So we'll look forward to meeting you there. Don't forget to shout out and say hello!
We're afraid that this month's concert at the Roadmender in Northampton has been postponed. The venue and the band have agreed that this will now be scheduled for 18th February 2023. Ticket holders have already been informed, and existing tickets are of course valid for the new date, or will be refunded if requested. We're very sorry if this has caused any convenience, and we remain committed to putting on the best show that we can for you in February.
Well... That was quite something! You've never heard the tour bus so quiet as on the trip back from Workington on Sunday morning - apart, perhaps, from someone (who shall remain nameless) snoring as Paul, our tour manager, guided us down the A1 and back to the hot, muggy bit of the country. We've already thanked the venues in Yarm, Hexham and Workington, but it bears repeating here. The technical staff at all three were amongst the best we've worked with, and they helped our own crew from Dolphin Productions immensely. We had a few teething problems but, when you take a show as complex as this one to new theatres on three consecutive nights, there's always the chance of something weird happening. Nevertheless, by 7:30pm each evening the lights were lighting, the lasers were lasering, the projector was projecting, and the sound system was sounding very good indeed. Of course, we also have to thank the audience in each of the towns for their enthusiasm and banter, which always help us to raise our performance levels. So we hope that everyone enjoyed themselves as much as we did and that we'll get to do it all over again next year!
In just a week's time we'll be setting out on our mini-tour of the north of England, taking in Yarm, Hexham and Workington. For at least some of the trip, we'll be paralleling Hadrian's Wall - which would be great to visit - but we hope that this won't be an impediment to our Scottish friends. It's the closest that we'll get to them this year, and it would be great to see (and hear!) some of them in the audience. We played in Workington for the first time in 2019 and were very much looking forward to returning in 2020 and 2021 but, of course, that couldn't happen. So we're delighted to be going back now, and even more so because the concert on 30th July has been sold out for many weeks. In contrast, the concerts on 28th July at the Princess Alexandra Theatre in Yarm and 29th July at the Queens Hall in Hexham will be breaking new ground for us, and tickets are still available for both of these. We love to play in this part of the country because we really enjoy the enthusiasm and banter of northern audiences. It going to be a great few days (even if we have to spend so much of them in a tour bus!) and we hope that you'll be able to join us somewhere along the route. See you there...
What a weekend that was! We started out on Friday in Runcorn. We knew that some people were unable to join us as planned because of the rearranged date and, with the current economic uncertainties keeping others at home, we would like to say how grateful we are to everybody who turned up to join us. Fortunately, you generated three times as much noise and banter per person as usual, so we had a great atmosphere and really enjoyed playing for you. Hopefully, we'll see you again soon when things are back to normal. We then dashed down to Norwich, which had been a sell-out for many months. As we've mentioned before, The Playhouse is like a home away from home for us and we always love to play for you there. Happily, the weather was kind, so the crew and the band were able to get everything in and then out again without melting! Talking of the crew, please welcome Dolphin Productions back to the TFE family. Their late night driving skills may not be the best (don't worry - that's an 'in joke') but it was great to work with them again after a break of many years. Now we're planning for our Great Northern Tour of 2022, playing in Yarm, Hexham and Workington on consecutive nights on July 28th, 29th and 30th. Workington is sold out, but Yarm and Hexham are new venues for us so there are still tickets available. Let your friends in the North East know... we would love to meet them.
The second half of July may be the busiest two weeks in The Floyd Effect's history, kicking off with a return to the rather splendid Brindley Theatre in Runcorn on Friday. Our first visit was in 2015 and was memorable for at least two reasons. Firstly, there was the great audience, who really knew and loved their Floyd. But then there were the guys who appeared in our dressing rooms before the show and proceeded to drink copious amounts of beer while we were trying to get ready. It was one of those strange moments that would undoubtedly make it into The Memoires Of The Floyd Effect were we ever to write them. The following night we'll be playing at almost the other end of the country at The Playhouse in Norwich. Some of you may have been there in 2008 when we played what was only our fourth concert, and we've been returning nearly every year since - so much so that it feels like our home away from home. Tickets for The Brindley are still available, so please come along and join us if you can. In contrast, The Playhouse has been sold out for some time, but it's always worth contacting the venue for returns. Whichever concert works best for you, we look forward to seeing you soon.
Are you aware that there's a signed TFE T-shirt to be won via our social media in June? If not, head over to our Facebook page and join in the fun. It may not be Euromillions but, who knows, you may still win something this month!
It seems that things are still not quite back to normal because, for a combination of reasons, we've had to defer our concert at The Brindley in Runcorn by two weeks from 1st July 2022 to 15th July 2022. We hope that this won't cause anyone any inconvenience and that everyone will still be able to join us on the 15th. All of your tickets will be valid on the new date but, if there's a problem, the theatre will take care of those who can't. To be honest, the date change may be a blessing in disguise because it gives John a chance to recover further from his recent excitement. The other consequence is that, after playing in Runcorn, we'll be performing in Norwich at The Playhouse the following night (Saturday 16th July). We love playing consecutive nights because it reminds the old farts among us - which, let's face it, is most of the band - what it was like to tour in the 1970s. Good times! So whether you can join us Oop North or in the land of the six-fingered guitarist, we look forward to seeing you soon.
We have two pieces of very good news today. Firstly, John is now at home recuperating and - despite being bored out of his mind - is recovering well. (We imagine that the surgeons must have found a mind when they went in, although many in the band remain sceptical.) We know that he has been trying to thank you individually for your good wishes, and everyone else in The Floyd Effect would like to thank you too. Your love and support for John mean a lot to all of us. Secondly, the good folk at the Princess Alexandra Auditorium in Yarm have been able to reschedule our postponed concert, and we'll be there to play for you on 28th July 2022. Yes… you read that date right, it will be one of the vanishingly rare concerts by The Floyd Effect on a Thursday evening. These are collectors' items, to be treasured by your children and your children's children, who will be able to say that Grandma and Grandpa were there! And let's face it, you were looking for an excuse to enjoy something in the middle of the week. Friday morning will feel so much better if you see us playing Pink Floyd's wonderful music on Thursday evening. (Hangovers notwithstanding.) So we hope that you'll be able to join us. The concert in Yarm will now be the first leg of our "ten go crazy oop north" mini-tour, which will then take us to Hexham on Friday 29th and finally to Workington on Saturday 30th. In fact, why not join us for all three? It's going to be great!
It's with huge disappointment that we have to announce the postponement of our concerts in Sevenoaks and Yarm this month. John was rushed to hospital on Monday night with life-threatening symptoms and has since had surgery – one of the consequences of which is that he will be unable to perform for at least a month. Thankfully, his prognosis is excellent and we look forward to being back on the road after our planned summer break in June. We are already rescheduling with both venues, and expect all tickets to remain valid. But we realise that the new dates may not be convenient for everyone so, if you can't join us, please contact the theatres and we're sure that they'll take care of you. We're so sorry about this… we can only hope that we'll meet you all in a few months rather than this one.
P.S. We would like to thank both the Stag Theatre in Sevenoaks and the Princess Alexandra Auditorium in Yarm for their understanding and for being so supportive. We really appreciate it.
The times being what they are, with an unaccountable war in Europe contributing to cost of living increases, crazy fuel prices and all sorts of other economic uncertainty, we appreciate everyone who comes to see us more than ever. This was especially true in Bacup on Saturday, when a smaller than usual audience cheered and sang along twice as loud to create a great atmosphere in the Bacup Royal Court Theatre. Special credit must go to the lad at the front (aged around twelve maybe?) who seemed to know every line of every song. It's great to see younger people understanding and appreciating Pink Floyd's wonderful music, especially when albums like Dark Side Of The Moon and The Wall seem more relevant than ever. So thank you all. Let's hope that things start to improve soon, and that we'll see you all again next year. And don't forget to bring your children… or even your grandchildren too!
Bridgwater, huh? Whatever happened to that damned “e”? As we pointed out on Saturday night, if we adopted the same policy, we would be Th Floyd Ffct, and that's not something that would go down well in polite society! But despite their paucity of vowels, the sell-out audience at the excellent McMillan Theatre was in fine voice and made us feel more than welcome. Hopefully, we'll be back soon. Next, we're off to the Bacup Royal Court Theatre, which was where we played our last gig before the lockdown in March 2020. It's taken more than two years, but now we're back, and we really hope that this is a sign that the Covid crisis is finally about to draw to a close for everyone. Strangely (because gigs up north usually tend to sell out quicker than those down south) there are still tickets available for this one, so please follow the links if you would like to join us. Since there are only eight more outings for The Dark Side Or Reason, this may be your last chance to catch our recreation of A Momentary Lapse Of Reason, so we hope to see you there.
We in The Floyd Effect enjoy both types of music - Prog and Rock - and, a few days ago, a number of us had the opportunity to go to see the last ever Genesis concerts. They were quite poignant, especially when Phil Collins said, "you'll have to make your own entertainment now". So that's what we'll aim to do, starting at the excellent McMillan Theatre in Bridgwater on Saturday. The stalls and circle appear to be sold out, but there are still some central seats available in the upper circle. Please don't hesitate to grab a ticket and join us if you fancy an evening of Pink Floyd's finest. After that we'll be travelling 'oop north' to Bacup on 23rd April. This will be quite a significant concert for us because the Royal Court Theatre was the last venue in which we played before the first lockdown in 2020. Returning in 2022 will feel like we've finally closed the circle and put the worst of Covid 19 behind us. Let's hope that that's true!
We love the good people of Wimborne. (Or should that be Wimborne Minster?) They braved the elements to come to see us on Saturday night and filled The Tivoli with their goodwill, banter and appreciation of Pink Floyd's wonderful music. So a huge "thank you" to everyone who was there, and for all of the kind comments you sent us afterward. We will definitely look forward to seeing you again in 2023. In the meantime, we'll have a bit of a break until the start of April, when we'll be taking The Dark Side Of Reason south-west again - this time to Bridgwater in Somerset. But the time won't be spent idle because we'll be taking the opportunity to work on the music for our next tour. What will it be? Ah... that would be telling. But it's going to be great!
Following our headlining appearance at Legends Of Rock last Friday, we're heading south and west to The Tivoli Theatre in Wimborne, Dorset. Having performed there for many years before that damn virus appeared, we're delighted to be returning now that life is trying to return to normal. It was so disappointing to miss the opportunity to play there in 2020 and 2021, but the venue rescheduled on both occasions so we have to thank everyone involved. It's one of our favourite trips of the year - we love the town, we love the theatre, and we love the Wimborne audience. This year, we'll be performing The Dark Side Of Reason, highlighting the seminal albums A Momentary Lapse Of Reason and, of course, Dark Side Of The Moon, together with more classics from Meddle, Wish You Were Here and The Wall. We hope that you'll be able to join us and, as always, look forward to seeing you there.
Oooh… that was fun! The spirit of the '70s was alive and kicking as we took to the stage a little after 11:30pm on Friday to a packed venue at the Legends Of Rock, and what a great reception everyone gave us. Thanks to our sound engineer, Liam, the sound was immense, and the Yarmageddon Choir was in full voice as the front rows belted out Wish You Were Here, Another Brick In The Wall, Us And Them, Brain Damage and more. They even had impromptu help when one of the guys from Hi-On Maiden joined Tiff and Julia on stage to add his voice to the backing vocals! But all too soon it was over and, after packing up and loading the vehicles, we headed off to find something to eat before getting back to the hotel at around 3:30am. Rock'n'Roll, baby! But that didn't stop us from attending the festival the following day to see Julia performing again with the superb Fleetwood Bac. With so many excellent bands to catch, 'Legends' almost literally lives up to its promise of five days and no sleep! We love playing for you there, and hope to see you all again next year.
Now it's time to turn our attention back to the Dark Side Of Reason tour because, next Saturday, we'll be returning to The Tivoli Theatre in Wimborne. This appears to be heading toward a sell-out, but there are still a handful of tickets left, so grab one if you can and we'll look forward to seeing you there.
As always, stay safe and well.
Legends Of Rock was our penultimate show before the pandemic and, of course, we all had to miss it in 2021. But now it's back (whoo-hoo!!) and we're ecstatic that we'll be headlining on Friday night as in recent years. It's always a special event for us, and this year will prove to be even more interesting because the whole band and crew are forgoing the convenience of the park or a nearby hotel and staying on the sea-front. If the weather's nice, it should be fab but, if it's horrendous, you may see various band members and flight cases floating out to sea! Whatever happens, Legends is always great fun for everyone, so try to come along. Where else will you see Dire Straits, Def Leppard, Gary Moore, the Sex Pistols, Rainbow, Iron Maiden and Pink Floyd on the same stage in a single day?
The following week, we're off to The Tivoli Theatre in Wimborne and that's followed at the start of April by a return to the McMillan Theatre in Bridgwater. These are two of our favourite venues – they always give us a great reception – so if you can't make it to Gt Yarmouth (after all, living in the West Country is the only possible excuse) maybe we'll see you at one of these.
Stay safe and well.
POSTPONED: Mitchell Arts Centre, Stoke-On-Trent, Saturday, 19 February 2022
We're absolutely gutted to have to write this but we're afraid that, due to 'unforeseen circumstances', we have to postpone this Saturday's concert at the Mitchell Arts Centre in Stoke. We already have a new date - Saturday 17th September 2022 - and all tickets remain valid for this, but we realise that it may not be convenient for everyone. If you can't make it on that date, please contact the Centre, and we're sure that they'll take care of you. We're so sorry about this… we can only hope that we'll meet you all in seven months rather than on Saturday.
Apologies to all, The Floyd Effect.
P.S. We would like to thank the Mitchell Arts Centre for their understanding and for being so supportive. We really appreciate it.
It's with great sadness that we have to report that Kevin Woodard, our lighting designer and engineer from 2013 to 2017, died unexpectedly at the weekend. Hugely liked by all in the band, Kevin was especially close to our guitarist and vocalist John, and was best man at his wedding to Tiffany in 2018. One of life's characters, he had the driest sense of humour imaginable (possibly a defence mechanism developed as a consequence of being a life-long QPR supporter) and his creativity was a great asset at an important time in the band's development. From lighting design meetings to the ubiquitous chasing down of DMX issues at venues and the inevitable after-show discussions over a beer or two, he not only developed the light shows for five of our tours, but also helped us to improve many other aspects of our show. But he will probably be best remembered by the band for his short movie, He Dreams Of Wembley, which he sprang on us back in 2015. That was Kevin - amongst many other things, silly, funny, and talented. He was one of The Floyd Effect's family, and he will be missed.
On 19th February, we'll be travelling to the Mitchell Arts Centre in Stoke On Trent for the first time. We've been touring for fourteen years, and in that time we've covered the whole country. But somehow we've never played in Stoke, so this is our opportunity to put that right. It's always great to perform in a new town, in a new venue, and to a new audience, so we're really looking forward to this one. We were due to play at the Mitchell Arts Centre back in 2020, but the pandemic scuppered that, so we're very grateful that they (and our management, of course) were able to reschedule – first for 2021, which was also postponed, and now in 2022. We hope that people are becoming more comfortable going to the theatre again for the evening, and that we'll make lots of new friends on the night.
See: https://mitchellartscentre.co.uk/the-floyd-effect-dark-side-of-reason
Hello Maidstone, and thank you everyone for coming to see us on Saturday. As has been the case at every concert since the end of the lockdowns, you were great… singing along in all the right places, and groaning in all the right places at Gordon's terrible (and terribly delivered) jokes. But this week's Special Thanks must go to our crew and the theatre technicians who managed to replace a failed speaker WHILE we were playing Dogs Of War and One Slip. As Gordon said on the night, that's equivalent to servicing a car successfully while the engine is running, so kudos to all of them.
Now we move from The Garden Of England to The Potteries, with our next concert on 19th February at the Mitchell Arts Centre in Stoke On Trent. This will be our first visit to Stoke, so we're really looking forward to it; discovering a new venue and meeting a new audience is always exciting. We hope to see you there!
If there's a single message that we would like to leave today, it's a huge THANK YOU to everyone who came to see us at the Castle Theatre in Wellingborough on Saturday. With so much uncertainty surrounding the latest variant of Covid-19, we completely understand why there were empty seats – let's face it, not all Pink Floyd fans are in the first flush of youth, and health comes first – so we're doubly grateful to everyone who came. And what a great audience you were, joining in and singing along! We had great fun on stage, and hope that you all enjoyed it as much as we did.
Our next show will be at the famous Hazlitt Theatre in Maidstone on 29 January and, as always, we'll be pouring our hearts into playing some of Pink Floyd's wonderful music. We hope that you'll be able to join us, and we look forward to seeing you there.
Some of you have been contacting us to find out whether our January concerts are happening or have been postponed (again!). We're very happy to be able to report that, as far as we know, everything is going ahead as planned. Of course, we don't know what the government's next move will be, but all of the noises coming from Downing Street at the moment suggest that, for the moment at least, we can look forward to performing for you at all of the concerts on our current tour as well as a few more that we're lining up for 2022. So please come to see us in Wellingborough and Maidstone. Sales have been slower than usual because of everyone's uncertainty revolving around Covid-19 but, unless we're told otherwise, we would love to share some of our favourite Pink Floyd music with you.
It's been a strange and difficult year hasn't it? The pandemic has had an impact on almost everybody's life and, in addition to the illness itself, many musicians have been hit hard because they have been unable to perform and earn a living as in years past. But perhaps even harder hit have been the sound engineers, lighting technicians, road crews, drivers, hotels, restaurants, and everyone else who would have supported the bands on the tours that never happened. So you can imagine how delighted we were to be able to return to the stage in September. While people were understandably cautious about returning to the theatres at the start, we were soon playing to full houses again, and we would like to thank everybody who came to see us in 2021 and indeed, who has travelled to see live music anywhere.
Your support is hugely appreciated by all of us. We hope that you have a wonderful Christmas and New Year, that the pandemic will eventually recede, and that 2022 will prove to be a much better year for everyone. Best wishes and sincerest thanks from all the band and crew of The Floyd Effect – we hope to see you again very soon.
With a stage the size of a stadium drum riser and a ceiling too low for our circular screen, it's always a squeeze to get ourselves into the Tropic At Ruislip. But once we've overcome all of the technical problems, it's a joy to play there because the audience – replete with all manner of Pink Floyd T-shirts – is so welcoming and enthusiastic. Last Friday was no exception and, despite nationwide concerns about the latest COVID-19 news, an almost sell-out crowd gave us a fabulous reception for our last concert of 2021. (We don't think that anyone this year has sung Wish You Were Here louder or more passionately than you did.) So now everything is being packed away until we hit the road in January for our concerts in Wellingborough and Maidstone. Until we see you there, please stay safe and well, and have a great Christmas and New Year. Best wishes from all of the band and crew of The Floyd Effect.
We had to wait until we received confirmation following the emergence of Omicron, but this Friday's concert in Ruislip on Friday is... ON. The venue has confirmed that all systems are Go, so we'll be looking forward to seeing you for our annual late-evening soirée at the Tropic. This will be our last performance of The Dark Side Of Reason in the strange, truncated year that has been 2021, so let's make it a good one, with a full house, lots of fun, and some of Pink Floyd's finest music to start the weekend. See you there...
Despite seating that's reminiscent of a Las Vegas hotel, the audience at The Harlington is always excellent, and we were very grateful for their support on Saturday because we were fighting technical dragons for much of the concert. Furthermore, for reasons that we haven't yet determined, the crew was unable to install much of our lighting rig, so we're sorry that many of our projections and lighting effects were missing. Fortunately, this didn't seem to dampen anyone's enthusiasm for the music, and quite right too! It's always a privilege to play for you, and we would like to thank everyone who came to the show and helped turn what could have been a bit of a disaster into a great evening of Pink Floyd's finest. So now we look forward to out last concert of 2021, at the very intimate Tropic at Ruislip. See you there!
In the past, we've tended to arrive in Colwyn Bay in darkness but, after a quicker than expected journey from the wilds of East Anglia, we finally got to see a bit of the North Wales coastline (well... the mud flats, anyway) as well as some of the town. It seems that you have a nice place there, you Colwynians! Maybe living somewhere like that accounts for the friendliness and the great response we always get from you but, whatever the reason, we have to admit that your enthusiasm was infectious on Saturday. We were pretty confident that we also saw some of our friends from St Helen's at the show and, if so, a special thanks to them too for travelling to see us. So now we're off to Fleet before tying up the first half of the Dark Side Of Reason tour in Ruislip. But we're looking forward to seeing you in Wales again soon.
Due to circumstances beyond the band's control, we have a new date for the Bedforn Corn Exchange concert. Most recently scheduled for Friday 25 March, this has been moved back to Saturday 24th September 2022. All existing tickets remain valid, and the venue will be in touch with all ticketholders shortly. If you can't make the new date you can obtain a refund from the point of purchase. We're sorry for any inconvenience, and hope that we will see you all there in September.
We've noticed that, when the number of available tickets dropped close to zero last week, The Harlington in Fleet added about 25 extra seats for our concert on Saturday 20 November. So if you've been unable to book before, you should be able to do so now. Visit our tour page for the ticket link. See you soon!
On Saturday we're off to North Wales for the first time since 2019. We're delighted to say that the concert in Colwyn Bay has been a sell-out for several weeks but, if you're keen to see us there, please contact the venue to see if there are any returns. If not, maybe you'll be able to join us in Fleet or our traditional December visit to the Tropic in Ruislip. We'll be playing The Dark Side Of Reason at all of these, featuring A Momentary Lapse Of Reason and, of course, Dark Side Of The Moon plus extras tracks from Wish You Were Here, The Wall and more. Wherever it happens to be, we look forward to seeing you again soon.
Thank you Colchester, you were fab. From the chap at the front who yelled out that every Pink Floyd album was his favourite Pink Floyd album to the lady at the back who wanted more, your enthusiasm was infectious, and we had a great time. Next stops? Colwyn Bay and then Fleet before tying up the first half of the rescheduled Dark Side Of Reason tour in Ruislip. We can't wait! By the way, we can't write this without thanking our lighting engineer, Ed who stepped in at a few hours' notice to ensure that the show did indeed go on. Learning and controlling all of the lights, videos and effects for a Pink Floyd show normally takes weeks, and he did it in an afternoon. Hats off to you, sir!
Thank you Buxton, you were fantastic! What started out as a very stressful day (we wondered whether we would even be able to reach the venue) ended on an unbelievable high as you let us know how much you had enjoyed the show. We've always loved playing at the Opera House, and this just makes us even keener to have the opportunity to play for you again next year. So, a big thanks to all of the staff and crew at the Opera House, but most of all to every one of you who was there on Saturday. We hope to see you all again very soon.
Now it's time to set our sights on what may be the highlight of this autumn's schedule... our return to the Opera House in Buxton. It's a fabulous venue, and it would be great if you could join us there. We'll be playing tracks from A Momentary Lapse Of Reason and Dark Side Of The Moon as well as Meddle, Wish You Were Here and The Wall. Spanning nearly two decades of Pink Floyd's finest music, we're sure that there's something here for everyone. Seats for this as well as the concerts in Colchester and Colwyn Bay are now selling well, and it seems that people are starting to feel more comfortable with the idea of an evening out. But there are still a few available so we hope that you'll be able to join us, and we look forward to seeing you very soon. In the meantime, here's a cheery photo taken backstage at The Playhouse, Harlow, straight after coming off stage a couple of weeks ago. What a lovely bunch! (Clockwise from bottom left: Kerry, Garry, John, Paul, Gordon.)
We hope that you all got home safely from the Upton Country Park Festival last night. What a great day it was! We've played many festivals over the years and this one was special - the organisers were great, the backstage and front of house crews were great, the bands were great, and you were great too. We had a cracking time listening to the Beatles and Queen and then, after the fastest set up in The Floyd Effect's history, an even better time playing for you. So thank you Poole, thank you Upton Country Park, and thanks to every one of you who turned up to make the occasion so memorable. Let's hope that we get to do it again sometime!
It's been a strange old summer, hasn't it? But at least the festivals are back and, on Saturday, we'll be heading down to Poole for the Best Of British Rock at the lovely Upton Country Park in Poole. And what a day it will be! Billed as "A celebration of British rock giants who've changed the world with the power of their music", there will be tributes to The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Queen, Oasis and Coldplay all joining us (it says in the program) to "electrify the night sky". The festival invites you to bring your own picnics and drinks, but there will also be a range of food and drink vendors on site plus a Cocktail Cabin and a Prosecco & Pimms Bar. Mmm... cocktails! So let's hope that the weather holds. If it does (or even if it doesn't) why not join us for a day in a field, with street food, good friends and great music.
We look forward to seeing you there.
YES YES YES YES YES YES !!!
After 18 months of enforced Floydlessness (hmm... nice word) we're back. Or rather, we will be on 4 September, which is less than two weeks away. And what a great place to restart our 2020 tour - even if it is the middle of 2021! The Playhouse Theatre is one of our favourite venues. Fortunately, the easing of restrictions means that we've been able to get together in the past few weeks to rehearse, and The Dark Side Of Reason is now sounding better than ever. Perhaps that's not surprising. We were only able to play it once before the first lockdown, and we've had a year and a half to forget all of it, remember it again, and practice. So here we go, and we can't wait to play it for you. Understandably, there are still seats available - it's going to take a while for everyone to feel comfortable returning to gigs - but we hope that you'll be able to join us at the Playhouse to celebrate the return of live music up and down the country.
We look forward to seeing you all again very soon.
After ten months of interviews and auditions, The Floyd Effect is delighted to welcome guitarist and vocalist Paul Andrews to the band. Paul is a former student of the Academy of Contemporary Music, from which he graduated as the 'Most Outstanding Guitarist' in 1998, and his experience in singing and playing the music of Pink Floyd is second to none. "Our aim has always been to be the most authentic tribute to Pink Floyd", explains bass player and producer Garry Tyrrell, "and Paul's experience - not just as an exceptional musician, but also in staging amazing shows - takes The Floyd Effect to the next level. It's a hugely exciting step for us, and the timing couldn't be better as the UK's festivals and venues start to reopen following the pandemic." Paul continues, "When I first met the band, I was impressed with their musicianship and obvious love for the music of Pink Floyd. It was very easy to just slot into position and after an afternoon of playing a variety of different Floyd tunes it felt as if we'd been playing together for years. I'm looking forward to the next adventure with The Floyd Effect."
It hasn't been the greatest year, has it? We've missed you all more than you can know, and we hope that we can be with you again as soon as possible in 2021. In the meantime...
We are very sorry that we've been unable to perform since the start of the COVOD-19 lockdown in March, but your safety is paramount and we fully support all of our venues and festivals that have rescheduled for 2021. We hope to be back in January, and we will post any changes (as well as additional dates in 2021) as soon as we know of them. In the meantime, please look after yourselves and stay safe.
It's with huge regret that we have to postpone the next few shows in the light of the COVID-19 epidemic. But the health of everyone - the theatre staff, the audience, the band and crew, as well as everyone that they meet elsewhere - is by far the most important thing, so we'll be isolating ourselves for the foreseeable future. This means that the following concerts are definitely rescheduled:
21 March: Colwyn Bay - New date: 14 November 2020
25 April : Harlow - New date: To be advised
9 May: Wimborne - New date: 20 March 2021
30 May: Yarm - New date: 8 May 2021
Hopefully, we'll be back on 11 July to headline the Best Of British Rock festival in Poole. In the meantime, please look after yourselves and stay well. We hope to see you again soon.
We're heading to the amazing Royal Court Theatre on Saturday, the venue where you go down the stairs to the circle and say a polite "hello" to the ghost as you pass. This will be one of our last Wall Around The Moon concerts and, while we love the Dark Side Of Reason, we'll also be sorry to see this one go. (Unfortunately, we can't play both... we would all get chucked out as the clock ticked toward midnight!) The power of The Wall is remarkable as is the poignancy of some of its tracks, so why not join us on Saturday, when we can leave the real world at the door and spend a few hours in the company of some of the greatest rock music ever written?
It's amazing that, after all these years, we're still finding new towns and cities to visit. But despite dabbling with the edges of Birmingham in the past, we've never performed in the city itself. That will change on Saturday when we play The Wall Around The Moon at the Crescent Theatre, so we hope to see you there.
TFE on video: The organisers of Cyprus Rocks have posted a video of our performance of Shine On You Crazy Diamond at last year's festival, with Tim Watson on sax manfully standing in for Gerard, who wasn't able to travel with us. We'll be back on the main stage in Cyprus on 4th October this year, and we're already looking forward to playing for you on the beach at Protaras. But before then, we hope to see you sometime soon at a venue a bit closer to home.
For reasons beyond our control, our concert at the Roadmender in Northampton on 8 February 2020 has been rescheduled to 15 August 2020. We understand that, if you have a ticket for next week, this will remain valid for the new date. You should contact the venue directly for further information. Please accept our sincere apologies if this change will cause you any inconvenience. As a consequence, our next concert will be on 22 February at the Crescent Theatre in Birmingham. This will be a new venue for us, and we're very much looking forward to our first visit to the Second City. Having heard last year's tour, they have asked us to perform The Wall Around The Moon, which we will of course be delighted to do for them.
So here we are in 2020. We hope that you all had Merry Christmases and Happy New Years. We've been spending much of January putting the final touches to our Dark Side Of Reason tour, which we'll be debuting in Eastleigh on Saturday. Rehearsals have gone really well, and we're now looking forward to playing you some tracks that we've never attempted before, as well as resurrecting some from years gone by, and yet others from more recent tours. With a new lightshow and some of our best ever work on the video editor, it should all be a little bit special. The Point is showing the concert as Sold Out but there will probably be some returns and no-shows, so you might be lucky if you call the box office directly. If not, you may have to travel a bit for the next few shows because we won't be back in the south until May. Either way, we hope to see you soon.
So here we are... our final gig of the year, which will be at our oldest and most loyal venue, the Tropic At Ruislip. It's been a year with many memorable highlights - headlining the Legends Of Rock festival on Gordon's 'significant' birthday in March, closing the main stage at Cyprus Rocks in October, discovering the Lake District when we played in Ulverston and Workington, the fab theatres in towns such as Buxton, Wellingborough and Bridgwater and, above all, the wonderful reception that you all gave our Wall Around The Moon show. In fact, people liked this year's tour so much that we can now confirm that we'll be recreating it at selected venues in 2020, as well as introducing the Dark Side Of Reason, so we're looking forward to another exciting year ahead. But before then, why not join us in Ruislip? It should be lots of fun!
With 2019 drawing to a close, this will be almost the last chance to see The Wall Around The Moon, although there are rumours that there may be some Wall-based concerts next year in addition to our new Dark Side Of Reason show. OK... we admit it, with just nine tickets left for the Bridgwater concert and the Ruislip gig already sold out we've been asked to play The Wall Around The Moon a few more times in addition to the new show! We'll see what's possible. In the meantime, if you're still looking for tickets for either of the remaining 2019 concerts, please contact their respective box offices. With a few tickets remaining in Bridgwater and the usual wait list in Ruislip (which can often bear fruit) you should be able to join us.
Well... we made it through the rain and the floods as we travelled up the A1 for our concert in Castleford last Saturday, and we would like to thank everyone who also battled through the weather to join us; you were small but beautiful. Our next stop is a return to the Majestic Theatre in Retford - a wonderful old Variety venue that has hosted panto, dance, comedy and even psychic shows at various times in its history. But on Saturday it will host our Wall Around The Moon show, which we think features some of the best music ever written. As always, we very much hope that you'll be able to join us to enjoy it.
Thank you Fleet... The Harlington is far from the largest venue on the tour but you were terrific and we had a great time playing for you. We hope to see you again soon. Next, we're off to Bedford for a rare Friday-night concert at what (for us) is a fairly local venue. When we played there last year it was pretty much a sell-out, but there are tickets available this time, so you should still be able to join us. With just five dates remaining in 2019, it may be your last chance to hear and see the Wall Around The Moon which, it's fair to say, has exceeded all of our expectations thanks to Pink Floyd's amazing music and the crew's superb projections and lighting. Does that imply that we're now working on a new show for 2020? Of course it does, but we're not ready to tell you what it will be just yet. Watch this space...!
After a short break to facilitate Gordon's USA shenanigans (he says that he's working, but you can never be sure) we'll be back on the road on Saturday, heading toward Fleet in Hampshire. We played at The Harlington last year and, despite the unexpected configuration of tables and seating, the sell-out audience created a terrific atmosphere and we had a great time so we're delighted to be returning. Tickets for this year's concert have again been sold out for many weeks, but we understand that the venue may have added some more seats at the last moment, so it could be worth contacting the box office if you don't already have one. So, if you want to see whether keyboard players can perform with massive jet-lag and very little sleep, why not join us? As always, we'll look forward to seeing you there.
Some people have been calling last Saturday's concert in Buxton our best gig ever! It was certainly one of the most enjoyable, and we would like to thank everyone who came and who wrote to us and on social media for all of their kind comments. On Friday, we'll be donning our flip flops and budgie smugglers as we head over to Cyprus to close the proceedings on the main stage of Cyprus Rocks 19. Obviously, we'd love you to join us but, if that's not possible, our next UK gig will be a return to the famous Tavistock Wharf. Although Pink Floyd's PA designer, Stephen Court, is no longer with us, we hope that he'll be looking down approvingly. He was intimately involved in the live production of The Wall in 1980, and we''ll be using his amazing system to reproduce much of this for our Wall Around The Moon show.
Thank you Wellingborough for a fab night! You were a great audience, the technical staff at The Castle were top class, and their stage is a joy to perform upon, so everyone in the band had a great gig. Next Saturday we'll be taking The Wall Around The Moon to our favourite destination - the wonderful Opera House in Buxton. This is a venue steeped in history, with four tiers of seating reaching right up to a Gallery that looks down from what feels like an amazing vantage point above the theatre. Ticketing is now shown as Limited on the theatre's website, which means that there are just a handful of seats left. So don't delay if you want to join us - this show will probably sell out.