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Pink Floyd Drummer Nick Mason Plans U.S. Tour in 2019

NEW YORK (AP)

Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason is planning to tour North America next year to perform some classic Floyd songs, but don't expect "Comfortably Numb" or "Another Brick in the Wall."
Mason instead will be digging deep into the Pink Floyd archives to offer tunes not heard live in America for a long time, if ever. Nick Mason's Saucerful of Secrets will be jamming to pre-"Dark Side of the Moon" material.
"I really wanted to find something different and a bit quirky," Mason told The Associated Press by phone from London. "I think, for me, what's most interesting is to revisit the thinking behind some of these pieces."

BMW PGA Championship - Previews
VIRGINIA WATER, ENGLAND - MAY 22: Nick Mason of Pink Floyd perfoorms during An Evening With Mike Rutherford, The Mechanics and Friends at the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth on May 22, 2018 in Virginia Water, England. (Photo by Andrew Redington/Getty Images)

The band — which includes Spandau Ballet guitarist Gary Kemp, longtime Pink Floyd touring bassist Guy Pratt, guitarist Lee Harris and keyboardist Dom Beken — formed this year in the United Kingdom after bandmates nudged Mason to make music again.
The name of the new band comes from "A Saucerful of Secrets," released in June 1968. Some of the songs they play live include "See Emily Play," ''Arnold Layne," The Nile Song," ''Bike," ''Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun" and "Obscured by Clouds."
U.S. and Canadian audiences can expect those and more. "Frankly, we feel there's still more to do and can be explored," Mason said. "The set list that we've done in Europe will almost certainly be the basis for what we do, but we certainly intend to add a few more tracks."
Mason said he's not worried that Floyd fans will turn up and expect to hear hits from such later albums as "The Wall" or "Animals." He cites social media for making it clear what will be played, something he noticed after the band's first concert."Almost two hours after doing the very first pub gig, everything was all over the web and everyone had a pretty good idea of what they were going to get," he said. "So if it wasn't what they wanted, they didn't turn up."

Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason (L) and fo
Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason (L) and former Rolling Stone Bill Wyman take part in a charity recording of a Children in Need album at Abbey Road studios in west London on September 7, 2009. The group including Sir Terry Wogan, singer Midge Ure and many others will be recording a version of the Beatles' classic "All You Need Is Love" for the forthcoming "Bandaged Together" album. AFP PHOTO/Leon Neal (Photo credit should read Leon Neal/AFP/Getty Images)
Isle Of Man Music Festival - Day 2
DOUGLAS, ISLE OF MAN - JUNE 19: Gary Kemp of Spandau Ballet performs at the Isle Of Man Bay Festival on June 19, 2010 in Douglas, Isle Of Man. (Photo by Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images)

The new 25-date tour will kick off March 12, 2019, in Vancouver and take the band to Washington, California, Arizona, Colorado, Texas, Florida, Georgia, Minnesota, Illinois, Michigan, Indiana, Wisconsin, Missouri, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York, and Washington, DC.
Mason is the only member of Pink Floyd who has performed on all of the band's studio albums. He said he isn't trying to compete with Floyd alumni Roger Waters and David Gilmour or any Floyd tribute bands.
"The world is absolutely stuffed with Pink Floyd tribute bands, let alone Roger and David. So I think it's very important to say, 'This is not version No. 297. This is something a bit weird and a bit different.'"

Pink Floyd
Members of the psychedelic pop group Pink Floyd. From left to right, Roger Waters, Nick Mason, Syd Barrett and Rick Wright. (Photo by Keystone Features/Getty Images)

 

Pink Floyd
British musicians Richard Wright (1943 - 2008), Roger Waters, and Nick Mason of rock group Pink Floyd at Heathrow Airport before leaving for a 22-date US tour, London, UK, July 1968. (Photo by George Stroud/Daily Express/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

 

Live 8 London - Stage
LONDON - JULY 02: (L to R) David Gilmour, Roger Waters, Nick Mason and Rick Wright from the band Pink Floyd on stage at "Live 8 London" in Hyde Park on July 2, 2005 in London, England. The free concert is one of ten simultaneous international gigs including Philadelphia, Berlin, Rome, Paris, Barrie, Tokyo, Cornwall, Moscow and Johannesburg. The concerts precede the G8 summit (July 6-8) to raising awareness for MAKEpovertyHISTORY. (Photo by MJ Kim/Getty Images)

The tour will mark Mason's first performances in North America since Pink Floyd played Giants Stadium in New Jersey in 1994 as part of the Division Bell Tour. The 74-year-old musician said he's having more fun behind the drum kit that he initially expected.
"I had no idea how much I was going to enjoy it. This is not a grand scheme that I created. This is me being nudged into it by the rest of the band. That's my entire career — not leading so much as being gently prodded."

Pink Floyd play on stage together for th
London, UNITED KINGDOM: Pink Floyd play on stage together for the first time in 24 years at the Live 8 concert in Hyde Park, Londonv 02 July 2005. AFP photo Paul Barker (Photo credit should read PAUL BARKER/AFP/Getty Images)

 

© 2018 Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

 

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