Pink Floyd: Their Mortal Remains exhibition at the V&A, London (5/17-10/17) *

It's been on the BBC all day. Hope the segment makes it onto YouTube.

I will try and go to this.

 

Just see the BBC clip looks great, think there are a something on The One Show at 7pm

 

Just finished my 90 minute first-day look. Short version:

GO GO GO GO GO

It's wonderful.

 

So, going back to this, I'm sure you've all seen the reviews, but just on my experience, here's the potted version, so as not to give too much away (but still some spoilers) - you're given a headset and attached iPod-sized box as you enter, which has an ambient loop of various Floyd snippets overlaid each other (the 'Echoes' ping, the chorus vocal of 'Your Possible Pasts', stuff like that), which works as a sort of 'Speak To Me' overture collage for the entrance, and then there's a few nice murals on the walls, before you walk through a

Spoiler

gigantic replica Bedford van, complete with B&W psychedelic print

into the first room, which details the pre-Floyd lives of everyone, along with a red telephone box which has snippets of contemporary non-Floyd news articles and scene-setting artefacts (one of these sits in each room).

(Detailed nested spoilers below)

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The first item is

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a letter from Syd Barrett to his girlfriend about the van and him writing some songs

, then onto some artefacts from the early years, including a family tree, and some posters and artwork. After that, it goes into another room, covering the start of the Floyd as we know it.

The exhibition is laid out in chronological order, using the albums as signposts. Some (including the post-Syd albums before Dark Side) are given short shrift, and lumped together in one large room, though the collected pieces like

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a replica of Syd's mirror Telecaster, Rick's organ, or the cabs from Pompeii

look really cool in one space, and there's a

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recessed wall-sized Ummagumma cover, with mirrors on each side, so you step into the recess, and the image expands into eternity on both sides of you

along with contemporary interviews with the band. The headsets automatically pick up on whatever exhibit you're nearby, and play the related audio - either the interviews, or songs or something.

The bulk of the exhibition is based on the 'classic four' albums, and the rooms for each of these are expansive and filled with all sorts of great set-pieces

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(like a model Battersea Power Station for Animals, and a replica of The Wall from the stage show, with attendant empty spaces which have visuals and stuff behind it)

and designs. The enormous artwork reproductions from Wish You Were Here get their own room and are really stunning. There's also stuff dotted here and there like

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Roger's notebook of lyrics for 'Have A Cigar', some prototype artwork, or some technical documents that make for a fascinating look.

Of course, if you go when it's fully busy (like I did), you're sort of pushed along by the crowd, so can't spend much time looking at these. Make sure if you do go that you make time in the primary room for Dark Side to

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play on one of the three basic mixing desks; they have the multi-tracks for 'Money' on there, and you can adjust the mix using the faders, which is super-fun. They're not labelled, so everyone was cautiously avoiding them, but I had a great time isolating each instrument and listening to the performance.

That's the only really interactive bit, and it's really cool.

Without giving too much away, even with the spoilers, the last room after the slightly paltry display for The Endless River is really good, and probably as close as you can get to what a modern day Floyd gig might be like.

One thing to point out is that there's nothing in the way of unheard audio or unreleased takes, unseen footage etc. It's all stuff that the Floyd fan will know, and I didn't really learn anything, but it was truly impressive to see some things in the flesh, like the

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inflatable family from the in The Flesh tour, or the schoolteacher from The Wall (albeit the one from Roger Waters' tour, rather than the one from the original shows)

, and details on how it was created. It was expecially cool to see the

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hotel room set from 'Nobody Home', complete with lamp, backdrop and TV set

attached to the wall.

As you can tell, I really enjoyed it, and am planning to go at least twice again. It's very immersive, and fascinating, especially for a Floyd nerd. My only criticisms would be a) the actual sound quality in the headphones is not optimum, nowhere near high fidelity, and this was a bit disappointing, and b) the whole thing has an (unavoidable, I suppose) 'party line' feel to it. Syd, Rick and Roger's departures are glossed over, for example.

What's was most disappointing is that there wasn't really a point where it felt like I was immersed in a Pink Floyd live gig; there's live snippets and the big climax in the final room, but I was expecting to have had some recreation of a 60s Floyd oil-slide freakout, or the 80s giant laser shows; the artefacts for those are visible, but aren't operated in a way that makes you feel like you've experienced a Floyd gig. Based on what the band were all about, and given that they weren't individually visual performers, I thought this was a missed opportunity. But that's a personal preference, and it was still totally worth the money (and the fact that they hammer you for merchandise the moment you step out of the exhibition).

Anyway, be interested to see what any other members make of the exhibition.

 

You don't really need the headset then? I didn't bother with one at the 60s exhibition.

 

Yeah, you do; the audio for all of the exhibits is put through the headphones rather than broadcast out loud. There's some background music throughout the exhibition, but for example when you go to watch a video (e.g. Waters explaining about writing Wish You Were Here), the headset broadcasts the audio through there as there's no external speakers on the exhibits themselves.

 

OK I get you, I hate having my hand held at galleries, figuratively speaking, and prefer thinking for myself but sounds like it's necessary.

 

This is sort of the best of both worlds - there's no commentary as you go round, so you can choose what to look at (and unless you're swept up in a crowd, can more or less move at your own pace), and the sound is automatically tuned to what you're looking at, though it's a bit hit and miss at points where there's multiple different installations and you might pick up the audio for one thing while looking at another.

 

Saw this yesterday and loved it !

I was snapping away if anyone who can't make the exhibition wants to check out my album: Pink Floyd Their Mortal Remains - V And A Museum - Sunday 28th May 2017

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My fave bit was mixing my own "Money"...

 

Thank You for your link(I will check it out later), since I live in the US and cannot get to London to see it. I do plan to buy the book on it though that will be released in June. I think there was a Book on the Bowie exhibit(Bowie Is?), but I did not buy it, as had bought several other Bowie Books the past year(the Golden Years Book is awesome and big/heavy, but a good price on Amazon-US for $40, so less than the $70 cover price). I still might get that 'Bowie Is' Book eventually, although have 2 others on my wish list.

 

I went last Thursday. I started at 10 am and allowed myself four hours. I had another appointment at 3pm in the afternoon so I had to leave at 2.15pm. In the end, I would have liked an extra 30 minutes to one hour.

Very enjoyable all around. My advice would be to go as early in the day as possible and be sure to book in advance (and arrive at the appointed time).

It's unlikely that I will be back in London again before the exhibition finishes but I would go again given the opportunity.

 

I went today and it was excellent. However, it was incredibly busy (sold out) so I didn't really take it all in . So I think I'll go again. Recommended.

 

Thank you. I have my fingers crossed that the show makes it to the United States.

 

Can I buy tickets right at the museum (as with the Bowie exihibition) or do I need to buy online tickets in advance ?

Many thanks !

 

Theoretically yes. But it's usually sold out.

 

I went a couple of weeks ago having booked in advance months ago. I have mixed feelings about the experience but the big problem for me was the crowds - they were just letting too many people in at once. This may vary from day-to-day or even hour-to-hour. I went on a Wednesday and my entrance time was 11.45 ...... it was rammed! My interest is in early Floyd which is covered in the first rooms which were packed. The crowds were about 6 deep at each display so it wasn't easy to actually get up close and see the exhibits. As PretzelLogic has said earlier, the audio you hear depends on your position with respect to an exhibit. Because of the crowds, I sometimes found myself standing off to the side and actually heard the audio from a different/nearby exhibit rather than what I was looking at......sometimes it flipped in and out of both or, on one occasion, 3 different ones as it also picked up from the exhibit behind me. As I had to be elsewhere mid-afternoon, I didn't have the time to wait for the crowds to disperse (maybe they didn't because, every 15 minutes, the next group was allowed through) so I ended up trying to focus on the bits I really wanted to see. Don't get me wrong, what was there is well worth seeing and at a very reasonable price. Just be prepared for crowds and the need for patience if you want to see everything. I should note that the crowding issue got less the further you went through the exhibition.....it was mainly in the early rooms.

 

I went at 1815 and it was much, much quieter

 

I am in the fortunate position of having free entry to this (I know, boo hiss but one of the perks of my job), haven't got round to it yet but looking forward to it!

 

Went on Tuesday and thought it was great. My favourite part being the DIY mixing desk with the Money multitrack on. Had fun remixing that
By far the biggest negative point was the sheer amount of people there (this was around noon). We really were packed liked sardines in a tin so I'd advise you to visit at less social hours!

 

Time to take a trip

 

This is a problem for practically any major art exhibition in London now. I would happily pay a premium to view at a less busy time.

 

I went back yesterday at a quieter time - was still busy but had space to take my time, and the layout was much easier to navigate. Still very rewarding on a second view, and the climax felt a lot more immersive- I just sat on the floor and took it all in.

You're also hammered by the gift shop on the way out, but I'm not ashamed to say I bought the exhibition catalogue, which is excellent, and a superb pink-pig-on-dark-blue Animals t-shirt.

 

I attended this exhibit and the only issue from my standpoint was the amount of time spent on the post-Final Cut PF. Never thought those albums were bad but even after attending, I remain unconvinced that they are works deserving of such attention. Overall a very good experience.

 

Do you have a time machine?

 

Well we visited on Tuesday, and not much to add to what's already been said except that we absolutely loved it. We went at 1pm - it was busy in the first few rooms (but not enough to spoil it), but it did ease off the further in we got.

As we left the final room and moved into the gift shop, there was a real buzz of excitement and several whispers of "he's over there!", "it is him!", "look, there he is!". Of course it wasn't really, but it did look spookily like Roger Waters!

And Larry Carlton was just phenomenal.