Games For May

The Games for May concert, which took place at the Queen Elizabeth Hall on May 12th 1967, was one of the first significant concert events held by Pink Floyd. It was described as a "Space age relaxation for the climax of spring - electronic composition, colour and image projection, girls and the Pink Floyd". The concert featured some of the band's early singles as well as material from their then unreleased debut album - "The Piper at the Gates of Dawn". The track "Jugband Blues" would appear almost a year later on the band's follow-up album, "A Saucerful of Secrets". During the performance, some of the band members created sound effects by chopping up wood on stage, a man dressed up as an admiral gave out daffodils, and the bubbles produced from a machine while the show was in progress stained all the furniture in the hall. As a consequence, Pink Floyd were banned from ever playing there again. The show included a primitive "surround sound" mixer, consisting of a joystick linked to an organ and effects, which could be used to move sounds around the auditorium. It was the first concert in Britain to feature both a complex light show and a quadrophonic sound system. The show was introduced with a series of tape recordings. Roger Waters created the opening dawn tape effects by using bird calls and various natural sounds (an effect he would use in both Cirrus Minor and Grantchester Meadows). The bubbles at the end of the show were created by Rick Wright while the ending piece was constructed by Barrett. At this time "See Emily Play" was known as "Games for May."

Setlist

*Dawn (tape recording)
*"Matilda Mother" (Barrett)
*"Flaming" (Barrett)
*"Scarecrow" (Barrett)
*"See Emily Play" (Barrett)
*"Bike" (Barrett)
*"Arnold Layne" (Barrett)
*"Candy and a Currant Bun" (Barrett)
*"Pow R. Toc H." (Barret, Waters, Wright, Mason)
*"Interstellar Overdrive" (Barrett, Waters, Wright, Mason)
*Bubbles (tape recording)
*Ending (tape recording)

Encore:
*"Lucifer Sam" (Barrett)

Quotes

:"In the future, bands are going to have to offer more than a pop show. They are going to have to an offer a well presented theatre show" - Syd Barrett on the future of rock and roll live performance.

:"I think Games for May was one of the most significant shows we ever performed" - Nick Mason on the concert and its impact.

References

*Manning, Toby "A Rough Guide to Pink Floyd" 2006. ISBN 1-84353-575-0
* Mason, Nick. "", 2004. ISBN 0-297-84387-7

External links

* [http://www.offthetelly.co.uk/factual/lookoftheweek.htm An article at Offthetelly.co.uk about a contemporary television appearance by Pink Floyd, including a description of Games for May] .