Games for May

Pink Floyd concert

Games for May was a rock music concert that took place at the Queen Elizabeth Hall on 12 May 1967, three months after the venue opened.[1][2][3] It was one of the first significant concert events held by Pink Floyd.[2] The show was organized by Pink Floyd managers Andrew King and Peter Jenner of Blackhill Enterprises, and promoted by classical music promoter Christopher Hunt.[4]

## History

[edit]

Games for May was described as a "Space age relaxation for the climax of spring – electronic composition, colour and image projection, girls, and the Pink Floyd".[3] The concert featured some of the band's early singles as well as material from their yet-to-be-released debut album – The Piper at the Gates of Dawn. During the performance, some of the band members created sound effects by chopping up wood on stage,[5] a man dressed up as an admiral gave out daffodils,[2] and the bubbles produced from a machine while the show was in progress stained all the furniture in the hall.[5] As a consequence, Pink Floyd were banned from ever playing there again.[5]

The Austrian-English composer Hans Keller made multiple references to Games For May while interviewing Pink Floyd for the BBC Show The Look Of The Week. He claimed that the group was terribly loud and had no music experience.

It was the first concert in Britain to feature both a complex light show and a four channel quadraphonic surround sound speaker system.[2][5] A sound mixing device called the "Azimuth Co-ordinator" was used to direct sounds to multiple speakers all around the room.[4] Live music was supplemented with sounds from pre-recorded tapes. Roger Waters created the opening dawn tape effects by using bird calls and other natural sounds (an effect he later used on "Cirrus Minor" and "Grantchester Meadows"). The bubbling sounds at the end of the show were created by Rick Wright while the ending piece was constructed by Barrett.[1] At this time, the song that would become "See Emily Play" was known as "Games for May."[1]

## Setlist

[edit]

The following songs were performed at the show (all songs written by Syd Barrett, unless otherwise noted)[1][2]

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

Encore:

* "Lucifer Sam"

## See also

[edit]

* The 14 Hour Technicolor Dream

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b c d "Unreleased Pink Floyd material: Games for May". Pinkfloydhyperbase.dk. Retrieved 21 September 2012.
2. ^ a b c d e Chapman, Rob (2010). "Distorted View – See Through Baby Blue". Syd Barrett: A Very Irregular Head (Paperback ed.). London: Faber. p. 160. ISBN 978-0-571-23855-2.
3. ^ a b Manning, Toby (2006). "The Underground". The Rough Guide to Pink Floyd (1st ed.). London: Rough Guides. p. 37\. ISBN 1-84353-575-0.
4. ^ a b Cunningham, Mark (March 1997). "Welcome to the Machine - the story of Pink Floyd's live sound: part 1". All Pink Floyd Fan Network. Sound On Stage. Archived from the original on 26 December 2014. Retrieved 29 May 2014.
5. ^ a b c d Manning, Toby (2006). "The Underground". The Rough Guide to Pink Floyd (1st ed.). London: Rough Guides. p. 38\. ISBN 1-84353-575-0.

* Mason, Nick. Inside Out: A Personal History of Pink Floyd, 2004. ISBN 0-297-84387-7

## External links

[edit]

* An article at Offthetelly.co.uk about a contemporary television appearance by Pink Floyd, including a description of Games for May.

* v
* t
* e

Pink Floyd

* Nick Mason
* David Gilmour

* Roger Waters
* Richard Wright
* Syd Barrett

Studio albums|

* The Piper at the Gates of Dawn
* A Saucerful of Secrets
* More
* Ummagumma
* Atom Heart Mother
* Meddle
* Obscured by Clouds
* The Dark Side of the Moon
* Wish You Were Here
* Animals
* The Wall
* The Final Cut
* A Momentary Lapse of Reason
* The Division Bell
* The Endless River

Live albums|

* Ummagumma
* Delicate Sound of Thunder
* Pulse
* London '66–'67
* Is There Anybody Out There? The Wall Live 1980–81
* The Dark Side of the Moon Live at Wembley 1974
* Pink Floyd at Pompeii – MCMLXXII

Compilations|

* The Best of the Pink Floyd
* Relics
* A Nice Pair
* A Collection of Great Dance Songs
* Works
* Echoes: The Best of Pink Floyd
* The Best of Pink Floyd: A Foot in the Door
* 1967–1972: Cre/ation
* The Later Years: 1987–2019

Extended plays|

* 1967: The First Three Singles
* 1965: Their First Recordings

Box sets|

* Shine On
* Oh, by the Way
* Discovery
* The Early Years 1965–1972
* The Later Years
* The Dark Side of the Moon 50th Anniversary

Soundtracks|

* San Francisco
* The Committee
* Tonite Lets All Make Love in London
* More
* Zabriskie Point
* La Carrera Panamericana

Singles|

* "Lucy Leave" / "I'm a King Bee"
* "Arnold Layne" / "Candy and a Currant Bun"
* "See Emily Play" / "The Scarecrow"
* "Flaming" / "The Gnome"
* "Apples and Oranges" / "Paint Box"
* "It Would Be So Nice" / "Julia Dream"
* "Let There Be More Light" / "Remember a Day"
* "Point Me at the Sky" / "Careful with That Axe, Eugene"
* "The Nile Song"
* "One of These Days" / "Fearless"
* "Free Four"
* "Money" / "Any Colour You Like"
* "Time" / "Us and Them"
* "Have a Cigar" / "Welcome to the Machine" / "Shine On You Crazy Diamond Part I"
* "Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2)" / "One of My Turns"
* "Run Like Hell" / "Don't Leave Me Now"
* "Comfortably Numb" / "Hey You"
* "When the Tigers Broke Free" / "Bring the Boys Back Home"
* "Not Now John" / "The Hero's Return"
* "Learning to Fly" / "Terminal Frost"
* "On the Turning Away"
* "One Slip" / "The Dogs of War"
* "Keep Talking"
* "Lost for Words"
* "What Do You Want from Me"
* "Take It Back" / "Astronomy Domine"
* "High Hopes"
* "Wish You Were Here" / "Coming Back to Life"
* "Louder than Words"
* "Grantchester Meadows"
* "Childhood's End"
* "Green Is the Colour"
* "Hey, Hey, Rise Up!"
* "Brain Damage"
* "The Great Gig in the Sky"

Films|

| Concerts|

* London '66–'67
* Live at Pompeii
* Delicate Sound of Thunder
* Pulse

|

Narratives|

* The Wall

Documentaries|

* The Pink Floyd and Syd Barrett Story
* London '66–'67
* La Carrera Panamericana
* The Story of Wish You Were Here

Tours|

* World Tour 1968
* The Man and The Journey Tour
* Dark Side of the Moon Tour
* 1974 French Summer/British Winter Tour
* North American/Wish You Were Here Tour
* In the Flesh/Animals Tour
* The Wall Tour
* A Momentary Lapse of Reason Tour (Concert in Venice, Italy)
* The Division Bell Tour

Lists|

* Discography
* Songs
* Unreleased songs
* Videography
* Band members
* Live performances
* Bootleg recordings

Related media
and tributes|

* 19367 Pink Floyd
* The Amazing Pudding
* The Australian Pink Floyd Show
* Brit Floyd
* The Dark Side of the Moo
* "Echoes"
* "Embryo"
* Inside Out: A Personal History of Pink Floyd
* Live at the Empire Pool
* The Man and The Journey
* Music from The Body
* Nick Mason's Saucerful of Secrets
* Pinkfloydia
* Pink Floyd: Their Mortal Remains
* Pink Floyd: The Music and the Mystery
* "Proper Education"
* Roger Waters: The Wall
* Synalpheus pinkfloydi
* Umma gumma
* Us and Them: Symphonic Pink Floyd

Related topics|

* The 14 Hour Technicolor Dream
* Azimuth Co-ordinator
* Blackhill Enterprises
* Britannia Row Studios
* The Dark Side of the Rainbow
* Games for May
* Pink Floyd pigs
* Publius Enigma
* Bob Klose

* Category

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