Pink Floyd: Their Mortal Remains at V & A Museum

I have my Dad to thank for my love of the music of Pink Floyd. As a child I was introduced to a wide range of music, including Mike and the Mechanics, David Bowie, The Beautiful South, UB40, The Police, Eurythmics, Prefab Sprout, REM, and Fairport Convention. I can't say that I enjoyed all of his music, but I am grateful to him for bringing me up with such an eclectic mix of sounds. 

It is as I have grown older that I have been able to appreciate the lyrics of Pink Floyd for what they are. The story behind the band and the band members is an interesting one. There are only a few bands that are worth of such an extensive exhibition and, as the David Bowie exhibition at the V&A Museum showed, if the story is a good one, then an amazing exhibition can follow.

The Pink Floyd exhibition at the V&A Museum is full of material from artwork, posters, memorabilia, instruments, props, set designs, album designs, interviews with the musicians, song lyrics, videos and of course, plenty of music.

The exhibition is ordered chronologically, taking you through the history of the band, and focusing on some of the important aspects and influences. The psychedelic beginnings, politics, their use of lighting, circular screens and set design are all covered in the material in the exhibition.

The band embraced Roger Walters idea of the everyday problems of modern life, and made Dark Side of the Moon to address such issues as money, death, violence and madness. 

I was overwhelmed by the wealth of material that was included in the exhibition, and I spent over 3 hours enjoying what was on offer.

The many video interviews provide unique insights into things that happened behind the scenes. The story of the escaping inflatable pig is one that will always amuse me!

Even with all the mod cons of present day, the visuals they were producing for their shows years ago are top notch. Going to one of their concerts was a feast for the eyes and ears, and this certainly is the case for the exhibition as a whole.

Although the fee is rather high in terms of exhibition entry prices, I feel that given the amount of material and high tech equipment included in the show, it is understandable why that kind of price is required to make it possible. It is, in my opinion, money well spent.

The final room in the exhibition is a surround sound and visual delight. It is as though you are at one of the concerts.

I can only urge people to go to this exhibition. It is one of the most powerful museum exhibits I have ever experienced, and, although I think it helps that I am a Pink Floyd music fan, there are plenty of things to interest anyone not necessarily a fan of their music.