Nick Mason's Saucerful of Secrets are an English rock band formed in 2018 to perform the early music of

Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experiments ...

. The band comprises the Pink Floyd drummer and co-founder

Nick Mason Nicholas Berkeley Mason (born 27 January 1944) is an English drummer and a founder member of the progressive rock band Pink Floyd. He has been the only constant member since the band's formation in 1965, and the only member to appear on every ...

, the bassist

Guy Pratt Guy Adam Pratt (born 3 January 1962) is a British bassist. He has worked with artists including Pink Floyd, Roxy Music, Gary Moore, Madonna, Peter Cetera, Michael Jackson, the Smiths, Robert Palmer (singer), Robert Palmer, Echo & the Bunnymen, T ...

, the guitarists

Gary Kemp Gary James Kemp (born 16 October 1959) is an English songwriter, musician and actor, best known as the lead guitarist, backing vocalist, and principal songwriter for the new wave band Spandau Ballet. Kemp wrote the lyrics and music for all 2 ...

and Lee Harris, and the keyboardist Dom Beken. As many fans had discovered Pink Floyd with their bestselling 1973 album ''

The Dark Side of the Moon ''The Dark Side of the Moon'' is the eighth studio album by the English rock band Pink Floyd, released on 1 March 1973, by Capitol Records in the US and on 16 March 1973, by Harvest Records in the UK. Developed during live performances before ...

'', Mason wanted to bring their earlier material to a wider audience. The band made their debut in May 2018 at

Dingwalls Dingwalls Dancehall (original name at time of opening) is a live music and comedy venue adjacent to Camden Lock, Camden in London. The building itself is one of many industrial Victorian buildings which were put to new use in the 20th centur ...

, London, before embarking on a European tour in September 2018 and a North American tour in 2019. A 2020 European tour was postponed due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. In September 2020, the band released a live album and film, '' Live at the Roundhouse''.

Formation

, one of the most commercially successful and influential rock bands of all time, were formed in London in 1965 by

Syd Barrett Roger Keith "Syd" Barrett (6 January 1946 – 7 July 2006) was an English singer, guitarist and songwriter who co-founded the rock band Pink Floyd in 1965. Until his departure in 1968, he was Pink Floyd's frontman and primary songwriter, ...

(guitar, lead vocals),

(drums),

Roger Waters George Roger Waters (born 6 September 1943) is an English musician and singer-songwriter. In 1965, he co-founded the rock band Pink Floyd as the bassist. Following the departure of the group's main songwriter Syd Barrett in 1968, Waters became ...

(bass guitar, vocals), and Richard Wright (keyboards, vocals). In 1968, Barrett was replaced by

David Gilmour David Jon Gilmour ( ; born 6 March 1946) is an English guitarist, singer and songwriter who is a member of the rock band Pink Floyd. He joined in 1967, shortly before the departure of the founder member Syd Barrett. By the early 1980s, Pink F ...

. Waters left in 1985 and Wright died in 2008. While Gilmour and Waters continued to perform Pink Floyd material in their solo shows, Mason worked on Pink Floyd reissues and compilations. After assisting with '' Pink Floyd: Their Mortal Remains'', a 2017 museum exhibition about Pink Floyd, Mason said, "You end up feeling like you belong to

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, a battlefield, medieval castles, Roman forts, historic industrial sites, Lis ...

. Everything you talk about and do is something that happened forty years ago. It was actually beginning to make me feel a bit old." In 2018, the guitarist Lee Harris, formerly of the Blockheads, approached bassist and Pink Floyd collaborator

about Mason forming a band to perform Pink Floyd's early psychedelic material, recorded while Barrett was the bandleader. The new band was joined by the vocalist and guitarist

Spandau Ballet Spandau Ballet ( ) were an English new wave band formed in Islington, London, in 1979. Inspired by the capital's post-punk underground dance scene, they emerged at the start of the 1980s as the house band for the Blitz Kids (New Romantics), ...

and the keyboardist Dom Beken, a collaborator of Wright. Pratt and Beken previously worked together in the electronic band Transit Kings. Mason stressed that Kemp was not "taking the place" of Barrett, but that "it was to do with who had the enthusiasm for it, and Gary did". According to Mason, in early rehearsals, "The interesting thing was that it all sort of began to sound good straight away. That was mainly, I think, driven by their enthusiasm." As many fans had discovered Pink Floyd with their bestselling 1973 album ''The'' ''Dark Side of the Moon'', Mason wanted to bring their earlier material to a wider audience''.'' He did not want to perform as a tribute act similar to the Australian Pink Floyd Show or perform shows similar to those by Waters and Gilmour, and the band wanted to "capture the spirit" of the music rather than recreate it. They received the blessings of Gilmour and Waters. The band take their name from the second Pink Floyd album, ''

A Saucerful of Secrets ''A Saucerful of Secrets'' is the second studio album by the English rock band Pink Floyd, released on 28 June 1968 by Columbia Graphophone Company, EMI Columbia in the UK and in the US by Tower Records (record label), Tower Records. The menta ...

'' (1968)''.''

Performances

Nick Mason's Saucerful of Secrets made their debut at a sold-out test show at

, a 500-seat club in London, in May 2018. This was followed by three small shows at the Half Moon, Putney, a European tour in September 2018, and a North American tour in 2019. On 18 April 2019, Waters surprised the audience at the New York Beacon Theatre by joining the band to sing "

Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun" is a song by the English rock band Pink Floyd, appearing on their second album, ''A Saucerful of Secrets'' (1968). It was written by Roger Waters, taking lyrics from a Chinese poetry book, and features ...

". A 2020 European tour was postponed to April 2022 due to the

. A second North American tour was postponed from January 2022 to September.

Releases

In September 2020, Nick Mason's Saucerful of Secrets released a live album and film, '' Live at the Roundhouse''. They released a single featuring live versions of "

See Emily Play "See Emily Play" is a song by the English rock band Pink Floyd, released as their second single on 16 June 1967 on the Columbia label. Written by original frontman Syd Barrett, it was released as a non-album single but appeared as the opening ...

" and "Vegetable Man" for

Record Store Day Record Store Day is a semi-annual event established in 2008 to "celebrate the culture of the independently owned record store". Held on one Saturday (typically the third) every April and every Black Friday in November, the day brings together f ...

2020, and a live version of " Echoes" for Record Store Day 2025.

Band members

– drums, gong, bell, percussion *

– vocals, bass, guitars, percussion *

– vocals, guitars * Lee Harris – guitars, backing vocals, percussion * Dom Beken – keyboards, synthesisers, organ, piano, programming, harmonica, backing vocals

References

External links

* * {{Authority control English rock music groups Pink Floyd Nick Mason Musical groups established in 2018 2018 establishments in the United Kingdom