REVIEW

DVD Review: A Technicolor Dream (Featuring Performances By Syd Barrett And Pink Floyd)

Written by Glen Boyd
Published October 12, 2008

A Technicolor Dream is a documentary film chronicling the development of London, England's counter-culture underground of the 1960s, and the events which led up to the 14-hour "Technicolor Dream," a benefit concert for what was at the time England's largest underground newspaper — the International Times (or I.T.).

The concert has long since gone on to legendary status in the history of London's 1960s underground movement. More important to modern-day students of that era, however, is the involvement of Pink Floyd.

At the time, "the Floyd," as they were then often referred to, were the unofficial "house band" of London's underground. Although then Pink Floyd bandleader Syd Barrett's mental health was already on a fast road to deterioration as a result of one too many acid trips, they were also the main attraction at the legendary gig that was the 14-hour Technicolor Dream.

So, in many ways, this DVD is as much Pink Floyd's story (at least in their early formative years) as it is a chronology of that singular event — legendary as it was.

Through interviews with key players — including Pink Floyd members Roger Waters and Nick Mason, as well as key scenesters like Barry Miles and John "Hoppy" Hopkins — A Technicolor Dream recalls the formative years of London's fledgling underground.

The film follows events as the movement grew from a couple hundred like-minded "freaks", to a force which the British government itself would eventually view as a threat — in many ways mirroring what was happening in American cities like New York, L.A., and especially San Francisco at the same time.

As Barry Miles organized a massive London "beat summit" at the Royal Albert Hall featuring poets like Allen Ginsburg, and "Hoppy" Hopkins was publishing the earliest issues of the International Times, a group called the Pink Floyd, led by an iconoclastic genius named Syd Barrett — known for things like running steel ball bearings across the strings of his guitar — were also making a name for themselves in the underground.

So when Hopkins underground paper the I.T. was eventually raided by the London cops — ostensibly because of publishing "obscene" material — it made perfect sense for the media voice of London's artistic and political underground to team up with the band providing its soundtrack — Pink Floyd.

Pink Floyd was already garnering attention with their wildly experimental "multi-media" shows at the UFO club, providing financial support for I.T., while at the same time developing a reputation for themselves as musical innovators. So it was only natural when Hopkins turned to Pink Floyd to headline the Technicolor Dream, where by all accounts they played to a packed house of stoned attendees, including John Lennon, as the sun came up behind them through stained glass windows.

In never-before-seen footage, this DVD captures portions of that performance, and also includes early Floyd videos for the songs "Arnold Layne" and "Scarecrow." There is also a live performance of "Astronomy Domine," from a 1967 show at Queen Elizabeth Hall.

Most interesting to Pink Floyd fans are the remarkably candid interviews with Floyd's Waters and Mason, which shed new light on Barrett's rapidly eroding mental condition, even as the band went from that legendary gig to the sessions for it's debut album, The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn.

For anyone interested in the early history of Pink Floyd, or in learning more about the incendiary times this film so vividly captures, A Technicolor Dream is a must purchase. It becomes available October 28.

GlenSoprano

You'll find Blogcritics assistant music editor Glen Boyd sharing his Thoughtmares on his personal blogs The World Wide Glen, and The Rockologist, as well as at Cinema Blend Music. In a previous life, Glen was a music professional and journalist whose work has appeared in The Rocket, SPIN, Pulse!, and The Source. Glen is also seeking an active full-time writing gig. Will somebody please hire this man?
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DVD Review: A Technicolor Dream (Featuring Performances By Syd Barrett And Pink Floyd)
Published: October 12, 2008
Type: Review
Section: Video
Filed Under: Video: Music, Video: Historical, Video: Documentary, Review, Music: Video, Music: Classic Rock and Oldies
Writer: Glen Boyd
Glen Boyd's BC Writer page
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Comments

#1 — October 14, 2008 @ 22:04PM — Derek Currie [URL]

"Although then Pink Floyd bandleader Syd Barrett's mental health was already on a fast road to deterioration as a result of one too many acid trips..."

Oh dear. That old yarn. Sorry, but never has there been any actual medical evidence that LSD, aka acid, exacerbated Syd Barrett's mental illness. He was by no means an 'acid casualty', if such a thing has actually existed. Instead, it is apparent that during his decline he was taking psychedelic drugs, including LSD, which added to his already erratic behavior. This is typical of someone affected by psychosis and/or depression, where drugs, including alcohol, are used as a means of self-medication to help modify or relieve the innate symptoms. In other words, his drug taking only complicated an already existing problem. That is at least my interpretation of what is known about his situation.

Barrett's behavior after departing from the music business was typical of depression and anxiety whereby he became reclusive, and unable to communicate with others outside his immediate family. As far as I know there has never been a conclusive diagnosis of his mental illness. Even today such illnesses are difficult to identify and treat successfully. I can verify this from personal experience.

Please don't take my comments to promote psychedelic drug use. Of the few I have taken, by my choice or sadly not, never have I enjoyed the resulting alteration of my thoughts and senses. I much prefer my natural mind and imagination.

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