Floyd fanatics may note he even embraced his replacement, Pratt. He returned after the final encore to take a bow with the band. Waters sang on “Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun” (and sounded great) before retreating behind Nick’s drum kit to attack the gong, much like he did in the Pink Floyd Live at Pompeii concert film. After pointing out the presence of a gong on stage, Mason quipped that Waters was never very good about sharing that particular instrument with Nick, and then on cue, Waters appeared on stage to thunderous, shocked applause. Waters joined the band near the end of the set. Pratt is a remarkable bass player, and clearly seemed to relish both propelling the tunes and acting as the band’s de facto frontman, all while adding little flourishes of his own (notably quoting The Who’s “5:15” bass riff during the bonkers instrumental section of Pink Floyd’s “Arnold Layne” or throwing in a John Lydon-esque “holiday in the sun” during an appropriate lyrical moment in “The Nile Song”). Pratt replaced Roger Waters on bass in Pink Floyd in 1987, remained with the band through its eventual death by neglect, and has since remained a fixture in David Gilmour’s live band. Joining Mason are Blockheads guitarist Lee Harris, Spandau Ballet guitarist Gary Kemp, keyboardist Dom Beken, and none other than Guy Pratt on bass. Mason, of course, remains at home behind the drum kit, and appeared to be in even better musical shape than he was on the last Pink Floyd tour 25 years ago, especially considering that the Saucerful of Secrets setlist is decidedly more uptempo and heavy than most of what constitutes Floyd greatest hits. With a repertoire that leans heavily on the work of founder (and legendary rock n’ roll casualty) Syd Barrett, as well as lesser known works from the band’s pre- Dark Side of the Moon heyday, the Saucerful of Secrets are a harder rocking, more adventurous live show than the multi-million dollar, note perfect extravaganzas that defined latter day Pink Floyd tours, not to mention the similarly ambitious scale of Gilmour and Waters’ respective solo careers. Last year, the drummer announced the formation of Nick Mason’s Saucerful of Secrets, a project devoted to performing Pink Floyd songs that have been nearly forgotten by all but the band’s most devoted fans. While Pink Floyd frontmen David Gilmour and Roger Waters have had lucrative solo careers over the last few decades, Nick Mason’s public appearances as a drummer have been incredibly sparse. Waters, who was Pink Floyd’s bassist, vocalist, and one of the band’s chief songwriters during its first 20 years, rarely makes guest appearances at other Floyd side projects, but joined Mason’s new band to provide vocals (and gong) on “Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun” from 1968. Pink Floyd fans attending the Nick Mason’s Saucerful of Secrets concert at New York City’s Beacon Theater got an unexpected surprise on Thursday night, when another founding member of the legendary psychedelic rock band appeared on stage: Roger Waters.
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