Charles Beterams is not only an icon of the Dutch Pink Floyd fan scene but also an author, publisher, and operator of the world’s largest web shop for Pink Floyd related items and memorabilia https://www.floydstuff.com
Ian met Charles in London and they spoke for over an hour about his love of the band, experiences as a fanzine editor, books and publishing work. Few people in Europe know more about Pink Floyd than Charles, and hardly anyone has attended more concerts or can demonstrate their passion for the band with such sincerity. Enjoy over 60 minutes of in-depth commentary from two Pink Floyd researchers and experts!
We at AFG want to wish a very happy birthday to Pink Floyd & Roger Waters collaborator Ron Geesin! Ron is best known for composing the orchestral arrangement on Pink Floyd’s Atom Heart Mother and collaborating with Roger Waters on the soundtrack to the film (and subsequent album) The Body. Happy birthday Ron, we hope you enjoy your day!
Stagehand the live production workers charity is holding its #ILoveLive 3 Christmas campaign this month to provide support to UK-based live event production workers at times of serious illness, injury, and industry catastrophe. #ILoveLive 3 launched on Friday 1st December, with tickets available HERE
Amongst one of the items you can win is an original Pink Floyd The Wall poster designed by Gerald Scarfe and donated by one-time live sound engineer Bryan Grant who has owned it since 1979. Bryan was the Managing Director of the legendary company, Britannia Row Productions, the live sound rental business which was founded by Pink Floyd.
David Gilmour and Nick Mason had previously donated a signed LP of The Delicate Sound Of Thunder reissue which helped raise £5,788 with a total of £535,840 in 2020!
To enter with your chance of winning an original Pink Floyd The Wall poster, they are holding a prize draw with each entry costing £5.
You can enter multiple times. Entries can be purchased between Friday 1st December 2023 and Friday 22nd December 2023 The winner will be announced on Friday 5 January 2024. To enter to win the poster and for more information you can click HERE
Other items included are signed set lists from a star-studded lineup including Paolo Nutini, Prodigy, Nile Rodgers, Bring Me The Horizon, Duran Duran, James Bay, New Order, Natalie Imbruglia, Everything Everything, Blossoms, Wet Leg, Maisie Peters and The 1975, plus a drum skin from Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds. Also, unsigned memorabilia from Michael Jackson’s ‘This Is It’ Tour.
Previous ILoveLive events have featured Liam Gallagher’s Les Paul guitar, Glastonbury Festival Tickets, and Dave Grohl’s signed DW ICON Snare Drum, raising over £900,000 for stage crew impacted by the pandemic.
Jonathan Higgs, frontman of art rock band Everything Everything, emphasises the crucial role crew members play in touring activities, stating, “Our crew are a vital part of our touring activities; we couldn’t do it without them. I’d encourage all live music fans to get involved and give back to the people behind the scenes.”Lighting Designer Tom Campbell of MIRRAD, who has worked with an array of high-profile bands, including Bring Me The Horizon, Thirty Seconds to Mars, and Skunk Anansie, highlights the critical need for supporting wellbeing amongst music stage and road crew, he says, “In a high-pressure industry that runs primarily on a skilled, freelance workforce, ensuring that we look after both our own wellbeing and that of our peers on the road is critical. Our sector has been through a lot over the last few years, and with support from charities like Stagehand, we have got through it. I hope people support this fundraiser and continue to acknowledge the backstage ecosystem that is part of every musical performance.” *Research has found that touring professionals are 5-10 times more likely than the general population to experience mental health challenges, facing industry-specific challenges such as irregular sleep patterns, performance pressures, and demanding travel schedules: all of which contribute to the vulnerability of touring personnel to serious mental health issues.Stagehand is at the forefront of recognising the importance of mental health in the industry and has been actively funding Mental Health First Aid Training courses since 2017. The charity supports training and retraining activities due to illness or injury, offering bursaries for freelance workers to undertake Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) training through its delivery partner, Music Support. Stagehand encourages all live event productions to have Mental Health First Aiders allocated within their crew at an ideal ratio of 1 MHFA to every 20 crew members.
#ILoveLive 3 launches through Crowdfunder on Friday 1st December, with tickets priced at £5 to remain accessible to all music fans. The prize draw is scheduled for Friday 5 January 2024, when winners will be announced. Entries will close on Friday 22nd December.
For more information on what’s on offer, and to buy your tickets, please visit: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/i-love-live
Since 2021 Pink Floyd have dropped a dozen or so recordings on Spotify and Apple Music towards the end of the year without any official announcement. To keep with tradition, this year they have dropped 18 more live recordings from 1973 showcasing the band playing The Dark Side Of The Moon on the road from March to November of 1973. Since these are sourced from bootlegs the sound quality varies but performance wise they showcase how amazing the band were on stage together during this period. From extending some of the pieces and getting really funky and experimental these are a great document of the history of the band’s live performances. We highly recommend you give these a listen! Spotify | Apple Music
HDtracks is offering all 18 recordings in 24bit high-res audio. See the full list below:
Back in October it was announced that Pink Floyd’s Atom Heart Mother will be released as a special 2-disc package in a 7-inch gatefold sleeve, containing the Atom Heart Mother album on CD and a Blu-ray disc featuring footage of Atom Heart Mother (Suite) performed at Hakone Aphrodite Festival, Japan in August 1971 – originally released as part of The Early Years box set. The film has been upgraded from a recently discovered original tape of the time. It also includes a behind the scenes mini documentary. This special limited edition is now available and can be purchased using these links: USA | UK
![Pink Floyd - Atom Heart Mother (Special Edition) [Unboxing Video]](https://www.pinkfloydz.com/wp-content/plugins/wp-youtube-lyte/lyteCache.php?origThumbUrl=https%3A%2F%2Fi.ytimg.com%2Fvi%2FCOp6okJCAqU%2F0.jpg)
For many years Nick and Annette Mason have opened up the gardens of their home, Middlewick House, for Wiltshire Air Ambulance and Wiltshire Bobby Van Trust.
Both Wiltshire Air Ambulance and the Wiltshire Bobby Van Trust are charities close to Nick and Annette’s hearts; the pair are Ambassadors for Wiltshire Air Ambulance and Annette is Vice Patron for the Bobby Van Trust.
This year the event will take place the 8th & 9th of June, 2024. You can get your tickets now at https://middlewickhouseopengarden.com Wander around the beautiful gardens and menagerie of animals, as well as seeing a selection of Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason’s classic and high performance cars.
The family-friendly weekend includes plenty of stalls to browse, with lots of items for sale, including jewellery, plants, candles and art.
Check out some of Nick’s classic car collection from this past years event which had a remarkable 8,000+ attendees and raised £88,000!
The Rockonteurs with Gary Kemp and Guy Pratt have been nominated in the Pod Bible Listener Polls for 2023! For those who aren’t familiar it is an end of year podcast awards voted by listeners all over the world. Each nominee across eight main categories has appeared in Pod Bible Magazine, on the Pod Bible Podcast, in the Pod Bible Newsletter or has been featured on the Pod Bible website.
The final Oh My Pod category is an open category for listeners to vote for their favorite independent or homemade podcast of the year.
Vote for The Rockonteurs in the Music category
There is no limit for how many podcasts you can vote for in each category and if you don’t want to vote in a category, leave it blank!
Voting will take place throughout December with all polls closing at midnight on December 31st. The results will be announced in the first week of January.
Harry Waters, best known for playing keyboards for his dad (Roger Waters) has sat down with Rolling Stone in a brand new interview. Harry talks about being let go from his dad’s band in 2016, sitting in for Brit Floyd and speaks about his musical upbringing. It’s a really good read we highly recommend you check it out! CLICK HERE
