For Floyd fans, a visit to the Victoria & Albert Museum in London by October 1st is a must. For any music fan of any generation, even if you are indifferent to output of Messrs Barrett, Waters, Wright, Mason & Gilmour, I urge you to make the effort to fully appreciate the influence the group has had on music in particular and art & theatrical performance in general.
The exhibition is a journey from their humble psychedelic beginnings in 1965, Â through 15 studio albums & countless live performances to their last ever appearance together at Live 8 in 2005.
Throughout the band’s career they pushed the boundaries with ground-breaking concept albums like ‘Dark Side Of The Moon’, stunning live shows like ‘The Wall’ and iconic album artwork like that for the album ‘Wish You Were Here’.
You are handed noise cancelling headphones at the start and then find yourself fully immersed in the sounds, interviews, videos and memorabilia of the band.
In another superb touch, there are public phone boxes dotted about containing newspapers, magazines & books highlighting the political, social, innovative, topical and fashionable environment of the times to frame the direction the band were taking at that particular moment.
Allow three hours to do it all justice.
My boyfriend is a big fan; he’s been considering this one! Thanks for writing this article; I’ll have to let him know it’s worth it! 🙂