St. Tropez
Any member of Pink Floyd can carry a song independently. Their talent is of a magnitude far beyond comprehension. That being said, there’s something particularly special about a drum solo in a psychedelic song. At the time of the live 1970 performance, Pink Floyd was in the south of France. They were recording at the Festival de St. Tropez. The group had been busting out generally trippy and experimental songs like “Atom Heart Mother.”
Nick Mason, their drummer, had been part of the band since their formation. His sound was quite important to the band, even then in St. Tropez. Mason would go on to be the only member of Pink Floyd to be featured on every single record ever released by the icons. So yeah, he’s always been a big deal.
Speed of Sound
The man is fast. The man is a beast. The man is sometimes otherworldly. Nick Mason is the man, the drummer, the living legend.The speed in all of his technical drumming is insane- to put it simply. You can’t even catch him dropping sticks unless you re-play this “Atom Heart Mother” video a few times.
Mason drops a stick but is so fast and so adaptable that you can’t hear it. You can barely see it. Regardless of how he fills the moments during the song- every moment is as prolific as the next. It all sounds so good. It’s moving. It’s a Pink Floyd song. Their experimental music isn’t just a band on a whim, it’s intentional and full of purpose.
They were discovering sounds and possibilities, expanding the definition of music before anyone had the gull to do it. To have seen Pink Floyd live in the south of France during their 1970 live performances, would have been to witness a shift in the music history. Then, to have witnessed Nick Mason carry almost an entire song with a drum solo- would have felt like you were suspended on a sound wave.
