Syd Barrett - Madcap's Last Laugh, Barbican, London
Monday, 14 May 2007
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Tribute concerts tend to be posthumous, naturally, but Madcap's Last Laugh might have taken place any time in the last 30 years. Syd Barrett passed away last July, but he'd effectively been "lost" since the mid-1970s.
And so to the Barbican for this adieu, in aid of the mental health charity Sane. Film clips, photos and projections of Barrett's paintings flesh out the multimedia show, but it is the musicians who take the evening into interstellar overdrive.
As the likes of Captain Sensible, Kevin Ayres of Soft Machine and Chrissie Hynde take it in turns to perform his songs, you realise afresh how much Barrett meant to so many.
Damon Albarn is the first surprise guest, teaming up, on "Baby Lemonade", with the event's MC, Nick Laird-Clowes, then returning for a saw, woodwind and beat box-accompanied take on "Untitled Words". Albarn's reading of Barrett's minimalist list-song is affectionate and irreverent, and beforehand he gets an unsuspecting Ian Barrett up for a few nervous words about his late uncle: "Just thanks. Thanks for everything."
The night is crammed with "must-see" moments: Kate McGarrigle; Martha Wainwright and Lilly Lanken's spectral harmonies on "Golden Hair"; or Robyn Hitchcock and John Paul Jones's deft guitar and mandolin reading of "Terrapin".
Nothing, though, can prepare us for the shock of seeing Roger Waters perform sans hi-tech equipment. "I am, of course, terrified," he concedes before a moving take on his own "Flickering Flame". He says of Barrett: "Before his illness, he lived his life like he walked - he kind of bounced. Without him, I'd probably be a property developer."
Later, the record producer Joe Boyd takes to the stage to announce who will be closing the show with "Arnold Layne", Pink Floyd's debut single. Wonderfully, it's David Gilmour, Rick Wright and Nick Mason - the rest of Pink Floyd. "Where's Roger?" shouts one punter, prompting a smile and parry, "Yes, he was here, too."
Still, with (almost) the whole ensemble returning for a joyous rendition of "Bike", it would be unjust to focus on the ongoing froideur between the two front men who later replaced Barrett. In truth, nobody ever could replace him. This fabulous celebration of his life and music made that abundantly clear.
