Tag Archive for "Guy Pratt" tag

As Charlie Chaplin supposedly said, a day without laughter is a day wasted, or something like that, so today’s topic is put in place to hopefully make you chuckle.

Please share your favourite comedians, their jokes, their clips.

Here’s Billy Connolly, who, as well as topping a recent Channel 4 poll to determine the British public’s favourite stand-up (the other 99 can be found here, if you’re interested) also celebrates a birthday today.

More interestingly, or perhaps not, Channel 4 had previously concocted a list of the finest 50 comedians as voted by their peers. The results are here.

As it would be easier to list five that I don’t like from each list, I’ll just respectfully tip my hat to the late, great and delightfully-cantankerous Dave Allen.

And lastly, although I receive no payment whatsoever for such a plug, I hereby declare that Guy Pratt’s last ever UK gig, a revised and updated-just-in-time-for-Christmas version of his ‘Breakfast of Idiots’ show, takes place on Wednesday 9 December at the 20th Century Theatre in London’s Notting Hill.

If you haven’t yet experienced what’s it’s like “being seated on a train journey next to the most interesting man you ever met,” according to The Sunday Times, or wish to experience it all over again, please see here for all the necessary details.

After a really good discussion about drummers a few weeks ago (thank you all very much for adding to it), how about the best bass players?

I know, I know. Difficult. Divisive. Just list your favourites, if you want to.

As today is Mark King’s birthday, here he is proving why he should rank highly on such a poll, explaining one of the techniques that puts him there.

A few more talented bass players that, I believe, should occupy positions in a suitably-titled Top Ten (strictly in alphabetical order, I’m not stupid) are:

- Jack Bruce (Cream)
- Larry Graham (Sly & The Family Stone)
- Geddy Lee (Rush)
- Lemmy (Motörhead)
- John Myung (Dream Theater)

Two of the above-mentioned, you may also have noticed (in which case, you might want to take the advice that I’ve just given myself upon such realisation and get a life!), appeared with David on that cherished French & Saunders comedy sketch.

I haven’t overlooked the many fine players with whom David has frequently shared stages, studios and session musician acknowledgements down the years (thinking mainly of Guy Pratt, of course, as well as Cardiff’s finest, Pino Palladino). Examples of what you consider to be their best work would be especially nice to read about.

By the way, if you missed them, there are a few bass-related answers from Guy in response to the questions that you put to him back in 2006 – here.

If mouse-clicking and -dragging is all your cold fingers can manage on this chilly October afternoon, here’s the NME’s latest poll, should you wish to contribute to it. As soon as you vote for one by choosing how many stars he or she deserves, another will follow. Stick with it; I don’t know who many of them are either, but the ones you’re most likely to be thinking of will appear soon enough (although, at the time of writing, there is an embarrassing misspelling of the name you’re probably waiting for with most curiosity).

You might want to do what I did: keep going until boredom sets in, then shamefully realise that you’ve ruined the results because you’ve been giving mediocre ratings to the ones you don’t know just because you don’t know them.

Sorry, NME.

If you do know some of the younger, hairier, more tattooed, pierced and masked bassists featured in the NME poll, and are familiar with their work, please recommend a track or two that best represents them for the rest of us to try.

If you don’t know of Nicky Wire, for example, have a listen to ‘Archives of Pain’ by the Manic Street Preachers; that begins with an eerie and infectious bass line.

Just to make you aware, if you’re not already, that Guy Pratt is touring Australia at the moment with his new comedy show, ‘Breakfast of Idiots’.

It’s a great gig, so do go along if you’re able to.

For details of venues, dates and ticket sales, please click here.

There’s currently an extremely generous two-for-the-price-of-one ticket deal at some theatres, so now you’ve got no excuse to miss out as well as a little left in your pocket to buy Guy a drink or three after the show, which I believe is a compulsory requirement as printed on the reverse of the tickets alongside the token blurb about cameras and recording equipment being unwelcome.

In other news, Fender would like to hear of your “first, best, worst or just overall most memorable ever” concert recollections, the best of which will be featured on their website as part of their Fender Concert Series.

Simply e-mail your memories, including your name and whereabouts, to share@fender.com. If you care to repeat them here for our benefit, please do.

Have a good weekend, everybody.

You may well have heard about this already, so apologies – not least to Nick – for not being able to mention it, and invite your feedback on it, before my break.

David’s guitar and backing vocals, along with the bass of Guy Pratt, feature on a new song by Nick Laird-Clowes (Dream Academy, Trashmonk) called ‘Mayday’.

It’s part of the soundtrack to Nick Broomfield’s documentary, ‘A Time Comes: The Story of the Kingsnorth Six’, about a group of influential environmental activists who, in a protest against government plans to construct new coal-fired plants across Britain (you can see where they want them, here), bravely scaled a 220m chimney at Kingsnorth power station, Kent, back in 2007.

In all, 50 Greenpeace volunteers took over the site. They immobilised the conveyor belts that carry coal into the plant and chained themselves to machinery.

The resulting trial was historic.

You can watch how their story unfurled in a 20-minute documentary, and download the track, here.

Naturally, I’d like to hear what you think of both, but I’d also enjoy a tasty discussion about coal’s validity in the 21st century and about ordinary people taking up their right to protest, which is what the song is all about.

One fact to bear in mind, if you please: Seven new (marginally more efficient) coal plants would wipe out half of the UK’s carbon budget, making it impossible to reach the target of reducing harmful greenhouse gas emissions by more than 80% (compared with 1990 figures) by 2050.

That target figure doesn’t take into consideration emissions from shipping and aviation, but that’s a grumble for another day.

A German report commissioned by Greenpeace and the European Renewable Energy Council claims that, by 2050, the USA could be coal-free, drawing nearly all its electricity from renewable supplies, cutting emissions by more than 80% and creating 14 million jobs in the process.

Germany, by the way, although experiencing similar resistance to the construction of new coal-powered plants, is on target to be using 100% renewable energy sources by 2050. (Germany already produces 200 times more solar, and ten times more wind, power than the UK.)

If you’d like to Give Coal the Boot, and let Prime Minister Brown know how you feel about coal (that’s give coal the boot, not Gordon; give him a break, it’s not all his fault), stamp your footprint on the Greenpeace map – it doesn’t matter where in the world you are. The same is true if you’d like to contact energy giant E.ON.

As has been said a million times before, we only have one Earth, so issues such as this have consequences for everybody.

Just as the month is drawing to a close, here’s one for September: our very own Paul Sexton with Guy Pratt.

Thanks for sharing it with us, Paul.

If you missed David talking to Guy on Planet Rock over the weekend, by the way, you can still tune in until the week is through. Simply click LISTEN NOW, followed by Last 7 Days: Guy Pratt and you’ll see details of the GdaÅ„sk special directly underneath.

If you didn’t miss it, have already said all that you wish to say about it, and have nothing much left to say about anything of relevance, the chatroom is open tomorrow – yes, that’s Tuesday – between 15:00 and 17:00 (UK).

Release date: 15 22 September 2008 (Europe), 16 23 September 2008 (North America).

Available formats (for the basics in table form, please click here):

- Two-disc version: Two CDs. Packaged in a gatefold card sleeve with 12-page booklet.

Disc One: ‘Speak To Me’, ‘Breathe’, ‘Time’, ‘Breathe (Reprise)’, ‘Castellorizon’, ‘On an Island’, ‘The Blue’, ‘Red Sky at Night’, ‘This Heaven’, ‘Then I Close My Eyes’, ‘Smile’, ‘Take a Breath’, ‘A Pocketful of Stones’, ‘Where We Start’. Disc Two: ‘Shine On You Crazy Diamond’, ‘Astronomy Domine’, ‘Fat Old Sun’, ‘High Hopes’, ‘Echoes’, ‘Wish You Were Here’, ‘A Great Day For Freedom’, ‘Comfortably Numb’. Recorded live in GdaÅ„sk, 26 August 2006.

- Three-disc version: Two CDs, one DVD. Packaged in a gatefold card sleeve with 12-page booklet.

Disc One: ‘Speak To Me’, ‘Breathe’, ‘Time’, ‘Breathe (Reprise)’, ‘Castellorizon’, ‘On an Island’, ‘The Blue’, ‘Red Sky at Night’, ‘This Heaven’, ‘Then I Close My Eyes’, ‘Smile’, ‘Take a Breath’, ‘A Pocketful of Stones’, ‘Where We Start’. Disc Two: ‘Shine On You Crazy Diamond’, ‘Astronomy Domine’, ‘Fat Old Sun’, ‘High Hopes’, ‘Echoes’, ‘Wish You Were Here’, ‘A Great Day For Freedom’, ‘Comfortably Numb’. Recorded live in GdaÅ„sk, 26 August 2006.

DVD includes 114 minutes of concert footage, plus a 36-minute documentary. Tracks on the DVD are: the complete ‘On an Island’ album, ‘A Great Day For Freedom’, ‘Astronomy Domine’, ‘Comfortably Numb’, ‘Echoes’ and ‘High Hopes’. Recorded live in GdaÅ„sk, 26 August 2006.

This DVD also includes a web pass to download 12 bonus live tracks from other concerts from the ‘On an Island’ tour – free: ‘Shine On You Crazy Diamond’ (Venice, 12 August 2006), ‘Dominoes’ (Paris, 15 March 2006), ‘The Blue’ (Vienne, 31 July 2006), ‘Take a Breath’ (Munich, 29 July 2006), ‘Wish You Were Here’ (Glasgow, 27 May 2006), ‘Coming Back To Life’ (Florence, 2 August 2006), ‘Find The Cost of Freedom’ (Manchester, 26 May 2006), ‘This Heaven’ (Vienne, 31 July 2006), ‘On The Turning Away’ (Venice, 12 August 2006), ‘Wearing The Inside Out’ (Milan, 25 March 2006), ‘A Pocketful of Stones’ (Vienne, 31 July 2006), ‘Where We Start’ (Vienne, 31 July 2006).

- Four-disc version: Two CDs, two DVDs. Packaged in a gatefold card sleeve with 12-page booklet.

Disc One: ‘Speak To Me’, ‘Breathe’, ‘Time’, ‘Breathe (Reprise)’, ‘Castellorizon’, ‘On an Island’, ‘The Blue’, ‘Red Sky at Night’, ‘This Heaven’, ‘Then I Close My Eyes’, ‘Smile’, ‘Take a Breath’, ‘A Pocketful of Stones’, ‘Where We Start’. Disc Two:
‘Shine On You Crazy Diamond’, ‘Astronomy Domine’, ‘Fat Old Sun’, ‘High Hopes’, ‘Echoes’, ‘Wish You Were Here’, ‘A Great Day For Freedom’, ‘Comfortably Numb’. Recorded live in GdaÅ„sk, 26 August 2006.

DVD includes 114 minutes of concert footage, plus a 36-minute documentary. Tracks on the DVD are: the complete ‘On an Island’ album, ‘A Great Day For Freedom’, ‘Astronomy Domine’, ‘Comfortably Numb’, ‘Echoes’ and ‘High Hopes’. Recorded live in GdaÅ„sk, 26 August 2006.

This DVD also includes a web pass to download 12 bonus live tracks from other concerts from the ‘On an Island’ tour – free: ‘Shine On You Crazy Diamond’ (Venice, 12 August 2006), ‘Dominoes’ (Paris, 15 March 2006), ‘The Blue’ (Vienne, 31 July 2006), ‘Take a Breath’ (Munich, 29 July 2006), ‘Wish You Were Here’ (Glasgow, 27 May 2006), ‘Coming Back To Life’ (Florence, 2 August 2006), ‘Find The Cost of Freedom’ (Manchester, 26 May 2006), ‘This Heaven’ (Vienne, 31 July 2006), ‘On The Turning Away’ (Venice, 12 August 2006), ‘Wearing The Inside Out’ (Milan, 25 March 2006), ‘A Pocketful of Stones’ (Vienne, 31 July 2006), ‘Where We Start’ (Vienne, 31 July 2006).

The second DVD includes a 5.1 surround-sound mix of the ‘On an Island’ album, three new Barn jams (recorded January 2007) and the following audio-visual tracks: ‘Shine On You Crazy Diamond’, ‘Wearing The Inside Out’ and ‘Comfortably Numb’ (from the Mermaid Theatre, 7 March 2006), ‘On an Island’ and ‘High Hopes’ (from the AOL Sessions, April 2006) and ‘The Blue’, ‘Take a Breath’ and ‘Echoes’ (from ‘Live from Abbey Road’, August 2006).

- Five-disc version/Deluxe: Three CDs, two DVDs. Boxed, with 20-page booklet and tour memorabilia.

Disc One: ‘Speak To Me’, ‘Breathe’, ‘Time’, ‘Breathe (Reprise)’, ‘Castellorizon’, ‘On an Island’, ‘The Blue’, ‘Red Sky at Night’, ‘This Heaven’, ‘Then I Close My Eyes’, ‘Smile’, ‘Take a Breath’, ‘A Pocketful of Stones’, ‘Where We Start’. Disc Two:
‘Shine On You Crazy Diamond’, ‘Astronomy Domine’, ‘Fat Old Sun’, ‘High Hopes’, ‘Echoes’, ‘Wish You Were Here’, ‘A Great Day For Freedom’, ‘Comfortably Numb’. Recorded live in GdaÅ„sk, 26 August 2006.

Bonus CD has 12 live tracks from other concerts from the ‘On an Island’ tour: ‘Shine On You Crazy Diamond’ (Venice, 12 August 2006), ‘Dominoes’ (Paris, 15 March 2006), ‘The Blue’ (Vienne, 31 July 2006), ‘Take a Breath’ (Munich, 29 July 2006), ‘Wish You Were Here’ (Glasgow, 27 May 2006), ‘Coming Back To Life’ (Florence, 2 August 2006), ‘Find The Cost of Freedom’ (Manchester, 26 May 2006), ‘This Heaven’ (Vienne, 31 July 2006), ‘On The Turning Away’ (Venice, 12 August 2006), ‘Wearing The Inside Out’ (Milan, 25 March 2006), ‘A Pocketful of Stones’ (Vienne, 31 July 2006), ‘Where We Start’ (Vienne, 31 July 2006).

DVD includes 114 minutes of concert footage, plus a 36-minute documentary. Tracks on the DVD are: the complete ‘On an Island’ album, ‘A Great Day For Freedom’, ‘Astronomy Domine’, ‘Comfortably Numb’, ‘Echoes’ and ‘High Hopes’. Recorded live in GdaÅ„sk, 26 August 2006.

The second DVD includes a 5.1 surround-sound mix of the ‘On an Island’ album, three new Barn jams and the following audio-visual tracks: ‘Shine On You Crazy Diamond’, ‘Wearing The Inside Out’ and ‘Comfortably Numb’ (from the Mermaid Theatre, 7 March 2006), ‘On an Island’ and ‘High Hopes’ (from the AOL Sessions, April 2006) and ‘The Blue’, ‘Take a Breath’ and ‘Echoes’ (from ‘Live from Abbey Road’, August 2006).

Memorabilia consists of: a reproduction postcard, ticket, backstage pass and artist’s pass; a large double-sided poster, a guitar pick/plectrum and seven photographs.

- Five-disc vinyl version: Five LPs. Boxed, with a 20-page booklet and web pass to download concert.

LP #1: ‘Speak To Me’, ‘Breathe’, ‘Time’, ‘Breathe (Reprise)’, ‘Castellorizon’, ‘On an Island’, ‘The Blue’, ‘Red Sky at Night’, ‘This Heaven’. LP #2: ‘Then I Close My Eyes’, ‘Smile’, ‘Take a Breath’, ‘A Pocketful of Stones’, ‘Where We Start’. LP #3: ‘Shine On You Crazy Diamond’, ‘Wot’s… Uh The Deal’, ‘Astronomy Domine’, ‘Fat Old Sun’, ‘High Hopes’. LP #4: ‘Echoes’, ‘Wish You Were Here’, ‘A Great Day For Freedom’, ‘Comfortably Numb’.

Fifth LP includes ‘On The Turning Away’ (Venice, 12 August 2006), ‘The Blue’ and ‘Echoes’ (from ‘Live from Abbey Road’, August 2006), plus two Barn jams (recorded January 2007).

Performing at Gdańsk were: David Gilmour (Guitars, Vocals, Saxophone), Phil Manzanera (Guitar), Richard Wright (Keyboard, Hammond Organ), Guy Pratt (Bass), Jon Carin (Keyboard, Lap Steel), Steve DiStanislao (Drums), Dick Parry (Saxophone), Leszek Możdżer (Piano) and The Symphony Orchestra of the Polish Baltic Philharmonic, conducted by Zbigniew Preisner.

Facts about the concert and what it commemorated:

GdaÅ„sk was the final show of the ‘On an Island’ tour: 26 August 2006. It was also David’s first ever performance in Poland.

It marked the 26th anniversary of the founding of Solidarity, the inspirational trade union.

Solidarity was founded in the GdaÅ„sk shipyard in September 1980, after strikes the previous month by shipyard workers – the first successful strike behind the Iron Curtain.

David was invited to perform in GdaÅ„sk by Poland’s former President and Solidarity leader, Lech WaÅ‚Ä™sa, and the Mayor of GdaÅ„sk, PaweÅ‚ Adamowicz.

GdaÅ„sk is the sixth-largest city in Poland, as well as the country’s maritime capital.

The Polish Baltic Philharmonic Orchestra was conducted by Polish composer, Zbigniew Preisner.

Renowned Polish pianist, Leszek Możdżer, also joined David and the band on-stage.

All of the songs from David’s ‘On an Island’ album featured orchestral accompaniment, as well as ‘A Great Day For Freedom’, ‘Comfortably Numb’ and ‘High Hopes’.

The arrangements on the Pink Floyd tracks are by the late Michael Kamen.

‘A Great Day For Freedom’, a song about the optimism which followed the collapse of the Berlin Wall (from Pink Floyd’s 1994 album, ‘The Division Bell’), was only performed once during the 2006 tour – in GdaÅ„sk.

You may be aware of the situation facing Planet Rock.

In short, the station needs to find a buyer by 28 March, otherwise it will be taken off-air.

To make it a more attractive proposition to prospective buyers, Planet Rock would like to demonstrate its considerable popular support.

That’s where you lot come into it.

As well as being able to tune in – through your DAB radio or TV set (channels 0110 and 924 on Sky and Cable respectively) – in the UK, everyone can listen online.

And many of you have done just that: both Guy Pratt and Phil Manzanera have hosted shows within the last few months, which we’ve talked about here.

It’s a great station, playing great music, and it would be a shame to lose it. So, if you want to help the cause, click here to find out what you can do.

Well done, Tom Byars.

You’ve just won yourself a pair of tickets to see Guy Pratt at Picadilly’s Pigalle Club on Wednesday night (or, if you can’t make it, a paperback copy of Guy’s book instead).

If you can make it, have a great night, and do let us know how it goes.

Thanks again to Guy for his continued generosity towards our little community.

To those who visited the chatroom today, as well as the (Ir)regular bunch who have been making use of it for quite some time now, the chatroom will be open all weekend. Check your e-mail for the password.

Sadly, the chatroom cannot be left open all weekend to every Tom, Dick and Harry – for obvious reasons. If you’d like to get your name on the invite list, please try to make it to a future chat session. Everyone’s very friendly and the chatroom is really easy to use. We’d love to see you.

Basically, you just need to show that your intention is not to muck about, then you’re in.

You’re now able to see who is in the chatroom at any given time over there, on the right, so be sure to keep one eye on that area – and drop by, if you fancy a natter.

Thanks again for the kind words this week. It’s good to be back.

Have a good weekend, everyone.

Have you heard them yet?

If, like me, you prefer not to have random sounds forced upon you, because most random sounds tend to be pretty annoying, please make sure that you have your speakers switched on and up when you visit David’s homepage from now on. You won’t want to miss these.

They’ll also be coming to the Stuff & Nonsense page every Friday night (UK time).

As was the case with the studio loops, David has kindly shared some live treats with us all.

There will be no fan fare (yes, an assortment of memories are associated with those two little words, I know) heralding each one. Nothing will be explained, no questions answered – just enjoy them.

The chatroom will be open today from 12:00 (UK).

Thanks for all your Pigalle-related rhymes. If you haven’t already submitted your entry, you have just short of two-and-a-half hours before the contest closes. Entries to be left at the previous post, please.

The winner will be announced tonight.

Guy Pratt takes his acclaimed ‘My Bass and Other Animals’ stand-up routine to Piccadilly’s oh-so decadent Pigalle Club (go on, Google it) on Wednesday 5 March.

See Guy’s site for further details.

Please note that the club operates a strict ‘over 18s only’ policy. (Sorry, kids!)

To win a pair of tickets to the show, or a paperback copy of Guy’s book, just come up with a funny rhyme using the name of the venue.

Long or short, gangsta style or risqué limerick, I don’t care, just try and make something rhyme with ‘Pigalle’.

Ideally, your rhyme shouldn’t be more than a few lines and must also include the word ‘Animals’.

Good luck.

The winner will be announced on Friday, so please have your entry in by midnight Thursday mid-day Friday (UK time).

Well, thanks to your votes, we won the BT Digital Music Awards’, er, award for Best Music Blog.

Guy Pratt and Richard Wright collected the award for us at tonight’s ceremony at the Roundhouse in Camden, highlights of which are televised on Channel 4 on Friday night/Saturday morning. Please see the calendar for details, although it’s not yet known whether this part of the event was covered by the TV cameras.

Thanks to Guy for doing the honours and, no doubt, for giving a typically-witty acceptance speech. Thanks to Richard for accompanying him. Thanks to the BT DMA folk, of course.

But, above all, thank you all very much for voting. We wouldn’t have won without your votes.

In the unlikely event of any Brazilian fans needing reminding, David’s ‘Remember That Night’ DVD is released in Brazil tomorrow. Please tell us what you think of it.

‘Remember That Night’ has just reached the top of the Music DVD charts in New Zealand, meaning that it has now reached the top spot in the following countries: Austria, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, New Zealand, Sweden, the UK and the US.

Bassist and all-round funny man, Guy Pratt, is guest hosting another show on Planet Rock this weekend – and you really don’t want to miss Saturday’s.

If you’re in the UK and have a digital radio, you can search for ‘Planet Rock’. Alternatively, you can listen through your television set: channel 0110 on Sky, 924 on Virgin TV.

Best of all, you can listen online, regardless of your whereabouts.

The chatroom is open to our ‘Irregular’* friends all weekend, so why not listen with us?

Guy’s show is on between 9PM and midnight (UK), Saturday and Sunday.

There is a scheduled chat today between 3PM and 5PM (UK), where everybody is most welcome.

Thank you for all the questions sent in for David and the North American premiere of ‘Remember That Night’. No further questions will be considered after 5PM (UK) tonight, don’t forget, so please be sure to get your question in, if you haven’t already done so. It will not be eligible after 5PM, no matter what your excuse is.

I want questions for the UK & Europe premiere next week. The floodgates open on Monday morning. So, if you’re in Europe or will be going to one of the European cinemas on Thursday 6 September, I want to hear from you. Just not until Monday.

Don’t forget that, if you’re in the UK, you have another chance to see David’s brilliant ‘Live From Abbey Road’ performance in the early hours of Sunday morning. See the calendar for details.

And while you’re taking mental notes of what you mustn’t forget, do be sure to pay the Stuff & Nonsense page a visit before the weekend is over. There are five variations of ‘Take A Breath’ waiting for you.

The answer to yesterday’s Name That Tune? ‘Fat Old Sun’. Rather fitting, once you see what I’ve got for you over the weekend…

* To be considered an ‘Irregular’, you have to be a regular contributor. Unfortunately, the chatroom cannot stay open to everyone all weekend… for obvious reasons. However, anyone can join the ‘Irregular’ ranks. You just need to make the effort to join in. To be invited to such ‘lock-ins’, all you need to do is show up at a few of the scheduled chats and play nicely with the others. Details of all chats are always plainly listed on our calendar. Everybody is welcome at these sessions. Unfortunately, because of the odd muppet, only those who are invited get into our ‘lock-ins’. Apologies for any disappointment, but I’m sure you can appreciate the situation.

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT: US CINEMA TICKETS NOW ON SALE

Tickets to the 111 104 US cinemas go on sale today.

Click here for the full list and contact the cinema’s Box Office directly, or you can order your tickets online.

Do let us know how you fare.

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT: DELAYED ON-SALE DATE (30/07/07)

Seven US cinemas have a delayed on-sale date, due to ticket system changes. Therefore, you cannot purchase tickets from the following cinemas just yet:

Tinseltown, Colorado Springs, CO
Cinemark @ Seven Bridges, Woodridge, IL
Tinseltown, Louisville, KY
Cinemark Tulsa, Tulsa, OK
Cinemark Pittsburgh Mills, Pittsburg, PA
Cinemark 24 Jordan Crossing, West Jordan, UT
Tinseltown USA, Kenosha, WI

Apologies for the inconvenience. I’ll update you as soon as I can.

Guy Pratt, bass player on David’s ‘On an Island’ album/tour, as well as undisputed Comedic Genius of Pink Floyd, is guest hosting a show on Planet Rock this weekend (and another over the weekend of 18/19 August).

If you’ve seen Guy’s stand-up show, ‘My Bass and Other Animals’, or read his recently-published book of the same name, you’ll know that it’s going to be worth tuning in.

Fans in the UK with digital radios can search for ‘Planet Rock’. Alternatively, you can listen through your television set: channel 0110 on Sky, 924 on Virgin TV.

Best of all, you can listen online. As the chatroom will be open to blog and chat ‘Irregulars’* for both weekends, you could listen with us.

I’ll remind you that the August weekender is coming up a little closer to the time.

Guy’s show is on between 9PM and midnight (UK), Saturday and Sunday.

That’s all for yet another week. I’ll have more cinemas (hopefully), more from Phil Manzanera, more Name That Tune, more DVD screenshots, more sporadic chats and more of the usual assorted nonsense from Monday. Bet you can’t wait.

Have a good weekend… not least those fans who are meeting in Florida tomorrow.

* ‘Irregulars’ are those who contribute regularly to both blog and chatroom. The chatroom will not be open to everyone. Sorry to disappoint, but anyone can become an Irregular if they make the effort to join in. Details of chatroom opening times are clearly set out on the calendar. To be invited to lock-ins, such as this weekend’s, all you need to do is show up at a few of the scheduled chats and show that you can behave. Everyone is very welcome. Unfortunately, some people show up and prove that they cannot behave. This is why the chatroom, sadly, cannot be left open to everyone all weekend.

Our Blotto winner was… BrookC, who guessed seven of the 23 ‘Remember That Night’ songs in their correct order.

Congratulations! A tour programme, signed by David (along with a unique Blotto-related message), is your prize. Please let us know where we should send it.

Well done also to Gabrielle, Graham and Marko, for totalling an impressive six, and to Chantelle, Chris Parkinson, Piergiorgio, Tim Taylor and Tomasz – who correctly guessed a slightly less impressive, but still honourable, five.

Thank you all for playing along.

Today’s picture is one of Polly’s, this one taken during rehearsals at Bray Studios last May.

Keep reading for the latest of Phil’s Q&A, which I’m glad you’re enjoying.

Lastly, thank you very much for the kind words about the new OAIPod and David’s re-vamped MySpace page. I’m glad that you like them.

You and the band seemed very relaxed during the ‘On an Island’ tour: a lot of laughing during the concerts, a lot of eye contact between you and David. He always watched over to you when you played your solo for the ‘On an Island’ track. Is there one funny moment you remember with pleasure? (Werner)

Yes, when he performed ‘On the Turning Away’, a track that Stevie and I had never rehearsed and that Guy hadn’t played for 14 years. Not exactly a pleasurable moment, but one that certainly I’ll remember!

I’d like to know what do you think of the band, especially of Stevie and Guy? (Emilio)

I love them all.

Do you do any kind of warm up before going on stage? I know you do a sound check, but I mean just before you step out. (Robyn S)

Highly recommended, but don’t. The group hug that Madonna does is not really our style!

What was your favourite destination on the Gilmour tour and why? (Simon J)

Venice. It’s like going back in time and there is something very ‘otherworldly’ about it – and appropriate for the tour, as we were literally ‘On an Island’.

If every band member on the tour was given the opportunity to suggest a venue/city for the tour schedule, where would you have suggested (regardless of the venue capacity)? (Tom B)

The Malekon, Havana – next to the Nacional Hotel.

So, I’ve finally told you just about all there is to know.

Here’s a summary of ‘Remember That Night’:

- It’s released on Monday 17 September in Europe, Tuesday 18 September in North America.

- There will be two discs (DVD-9 dual layer discs, in fact, which allow a greater playing time).

- There will be high-resolution versions in both Blu-Ray and HD-DVD to follow the standard release. I’ll let you know the release date as soon as I can.

- Disc one is the concert, containing 23 songs from the Royal Albert Hall gigs of May 2006. If you played Blotto, you’ll know them by now. Click here if you don’t.

- Disc two is full of extras.

- For starters, there are five bonus songs from the Royal Albert Hall: ‘Wot’s… Uh The Deal, ‘Dominoes’, ‘Wearing The Inside Out’, ‘Arnold Layne’ and ‘Comfortably Numb’.

- There will be three documentaries. The main one, ‘Breaking Bread, Drinking Wine’, contains behind-the-scenes tour footage from the rehearsals in Bray right through to the final show in GdaÅ„sk.

- There’s also a short film from America’s West Coast. Richard Wright is to blame for shooting some of the backstage footage.

- The third is a documentary on the making of the ‘On an Island’ album. This is an edited version of the Electronic Press Kit (EPK), but with some extra songs from the recording sessions.

- The tracks ‘Castellorizon’, ‘On An Island’, ‘The Blue’, ‘Take A Breath’ and ‘High Hopes’, from London’s Mermaid Theatre (March 2006), will be included.

- ‘Astronomy Domine’, as recorded for the ‘Live From Abbey Road’ television series, is on there…

- As is ‘This Heaven’ from the AOL Sessions. (This has been re-edited, by the way, so is an improvement on the version that can be found on the ‘Live And In Session’ disc.)

- The ‘Dark Globe’ video that we’ve been showing on the website is included.

- The promo videos for ‘On an Island’ and ‘Smile’ are also on there.

- There’s a new version of ‘Island Jam’, featuring David, Richard, Stevie and Guy.

- There is also a fine photo gallery.

How does that sound?

Please hold on to your answer for the time being, because you’ll notice that there’s no comment form. That’s because the blog is closed for the weekend. I do, however, have a new poll for you. You can let us know how you rate this DVD by casting your vote.

Thank you all for your comments about the DVD. I think we’ve all enjoyed reading them.

Now, that’s your lot for this week. Back on Monday.

Have a good weekend… and please find time to play some of Syd Barrett’s songs on this, the first anniversary, of his death.

As if you didn’t already have enough to look forward to from the ‘Remember That Night’ DVD, here’s something else. (Don’t say that David isn’t good to you.)

In January, David recorded a new version of ‘Island Jam’, with Richard, Stevie and Guy.

I’m sure that you’ll love it. So sure, in fact, that it will be on disc two.

‘Remember That Night’ is released worldwide in September. Disc one contains 23 songs from the Royal Albert Hall, London. If you still don’t know which songs are on there, please click here.

By the way, for those who were confused: ‘Shine On You Crazy Diamond’ is plain old ‘Shine On You Crazy Diamond’ on this DVD. End of story.

A summary of what’s on disc two will follow tomorrow.

Today’s scheduled chat has been cancelled, sorry, but the chatroom will be open for business again next week. Please see the calendar for details of future sessions, and accept my apologies for any disappointment caused.

The 12-part ‘Live From Abbey Road’ series starts tonight in the US.

David’s performance airs on Thursday 19 July at 10PM E/P on the Sundance Channel, with repeats the following Saturday (at 2AM), Sunday (at 9PM) and Tuesday (at 6PM).

The Sundance Channel is available via satellite and cable television.

‘Live From Abbey Road’ is being broadcast in many parts of the world. Please see the ‘More on LFAR’ entry of 24 April for further details.

If you spot the series mentioned in your local TV listings, do tell.

Don’t forget that you can see the entire ‘Live From Abbey Road’ series this weekend in Australia on MAX TV.

Do let us know what you thought of the band’s performance.

The above is another image from Guy’s quest to find Luka’s Taproom & Lounge, documented on Disc Two of David’s new DVD, ‘Remember That Night’, which will be out in September. Click it for a closer look.

Our chatroom is open today between the hours of 1PM and 3PM (UK).

And yes, it was ‘The Blue’…

Do you recognise any of the people in the above picture (not including a certain book-writing bassist)?

To see a larger, high-resolution version, just click the picture.

This is one of the images taken from the West Coast documentary, an extra from David’s new DVD, ‘Remember That Night’, where Guy dropped in on a group of fans in Oakland.

Don’t be shy if you were there…

‘Remember That Night’ is released on Monday 17 September in Europe and Tuesday 18 September in North America.

Our chatroom is currently open and will be until 12PM (UK time).

One of the many DVD extras to feature on David’s forthcoming ‘Remember That Night’ double-disc set is a short documentary filmed on America’s West Coast.

In between shows at Oakland’s Paramount and Los Angeles’ Kodak and Gibson theatres, as well as performing for ‘The Tonight Show with Jay Leno’, the band found time to put their feet up and have some fun.

Much of this was caught on camera, thanks to Richard Wright, and highlights include Jon Carin treating everyone to some cocktail jazz, some semi-nudity, courtesy of Guy Pratt, and a song by Steve DiStanislao.

And, oh yes, there’s also footage from Guy’s surprise visit to Luka’s Taproom & Lounge, where a group of fans were meeting for drinks and a natter (about how great the Features Editor is, naturally).

So, if you were there, now’s the time to come forward and confess all. We’ve got more exclusive images from the DVD to come next week, so do be sure to point yourselves out.

To see a high-resolution version of the above, including the mysterious people on the left, simply click on the image itself.

You may also wish to jog your memories by going back to the blog entries of 14-17 April 2006 for a recap.

If you haven’t yet cast your vote, we really want to know how you rate the five-minute DVD teaser.

That’s your lot for another week. I’ll be back on Monday, with the chatroom open to all from 12PM (UK).

Have a great weekend, everyone.

Thank you all for sending in your “There once was a Guy who played bass…” limericks.

It wasn’t easy to choose the best, as there were so many good ones.

So, we took the coward’s way out.

Guy and I chose 15 of our favourites, put 15 names into a hat and picked two. The first name pulled out at random wins a signed copy of Guy’s new book, ‘My Bass and Other Animals’, and one of his very own ‘Didn’t They Do Well?’ T-shirts, as worn throughout the ‘On An Island’ tour and voted by you recently to be one of the tour’s most memorable images.

The second name drawn also wins a signed copy of said book.

So, congratulations to Veronica from Miami for being the first name drawn, and to Ayako, our runner-up.

Please let us know where we should send your prizes.

If it’s any consolation, our other favourites were sent in by (this is in alphabetical order, not order of preference): AxPxM88, Cemet Nosce, Geoff Duffy, Gary Hurley, KenF, George Maciver, Marco, Mike from Michigan, Frank Par, Steve, Christine T., Tim Taylor and Knut Arne Vedaa.

Considering how many excellent entries there were, making it onto the short-list was, in itself, quite an achievement.

Thank you all for making us chuckle.

If you didn’t win, you’ll still want a copy of the book, I’m sure.

‘My Bass and Other Animals’ will be released later this month, published by Orion Books.

My thanks again to Guy for kindly giving up his time and clothing, not to mention two copies of what promises to be a fine book.