A joy – mostly: Nick Mason’s Saucerful of Secrets, at Usher Hall, reviewed

Drummers are patient chaps, in the main. Think of Ringo in Peter Jackson’s recent Beatles docuseries, Get Back. Lolling around peaceably for days on end as Lennon and McCartney bash about, looking for clues. Drummers twiddle their thumbs behind their kit while the musos fret over chords and key changes, waiting for the moment when they will be called upon to hit skins with sticks and make a song worth hearing.

In 2018, admirably urbane Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason finally lost patience. The band has effectively been finished since 1994, and following the death of keyboardist Rick Wright in 2008, Mason was caught between Roger Waters and David Gilmour, the two rutting stags of the group’s legacy. Growing tired of polishing his Porsches, he resolved to dust off the gong and beaters and embark on a bit of active curation. Hence, Nick Mason’s Saucerful of Secrets, formed with the intention of revisiting the earliest years of the band, before Dark Side of the Moon and Wish You Were Here made them a (rather dull) super group; the days of Syd Barrett, half-hour psychedelic freak-outs and ‘happenings’ swathed in dry ice. The connoisseur’s choice, in other words.

That said, Mason is no one’s idea of a flashy drummer. Considering his passion for cars, a motoring analogy seems appropriate: he’s more family saloon than Ferrari, happiest locking down a head-nodding groove. The rest of the band comprise session bassist extraordinaire, Guy Pratt, who played in the latter stages of Pink Floyd and has a bouncy, mischievous energy; Spandau Ballet guitarist and songwriter Gary Kemp, on lead vocals and guitar; former Blockhead Lee Harris on multidimensional second guitar; and Dom Beken on (lots of) keyboards.

This unlikely grouping works fantastically well.