Pink Floyd co-founder Syd Barrett is being honored with a three-part celebration that includes a tribute concert, a special covers album, and an exhibition exploring his art and cultural legacy. The events mark what would have been Barrett’s 80th birthday year and are being staged with the support of his family.
The live event will take place at Cambridge Corn Exchange on Saturday, October 10, World Mental Health Day, and will feature performances from Kula Shaker, Soft Machine, Men on the Border, Diana Silveira & The Psychedelic Circus, Radhika, and Pünk Floyd, with surprise guests still to be announced. Organizers say the venue is especially meaningful because Barrett played his final live show there on February 24, 1972. Tickets go on sale Friday, June 19, at 10 a.m. via the Corn Exchange website.
The tribute album, Clowns and Jugglers: The Songs of Syd Barrett, arrives on Friday, October 9. It will be released only on physical double coloured vinyl and double CD, and features new studio recordings, previously unreleased material, and standout live performances spanning several years. Among the songs included are “See Emily Play,” “Arnold Layne,” “Astronomy Domine,” “Octopus,” and “Terrapin.” Contributors include David Gilmour, Nick Mason and his Saucerful of Secrets bandmates, Robyn Hitchcock with John Paul Jones, Soft Machine, and a posthumous Rick Wright vocal on “Arnold Layne.” The sleeve artwork was created by Mark Wilkinson and centers on one of Barrett’s most recognizable images.
The third part of the celebration is an exhibition running from October 3 to 9 at camopen.space. It will showcase original paintings and sketches by Barrett, prints of larger works, and pieces by guest artists including Ian Barrett, Mark Wilkinson, Mick Rock, Spadge Hopkins, Mikey Georgeson, James Wilkinson, and Justin Wiggan & Dominick Allen. Talks from Barrett biographers will also form part of the program.
Neil Jones, one of the event’s co-organizers, said Barrett’s influence “remains as powerful as ever,” adding that bringing together live music, art, and a new album on World Mental Health Day is a fitting tribute to one of Cambridge’s most extraordinary cultural figures. Barrett’s sister, Rosemary Breen, said the family fully supports the events, noting that Syd would have been happy and honored to know his music was still being celebrated in Cambridge. Barrett was born on January 6, 1946, and died on July 7, 2006, aged 60.
