NYS Music 20​12

Tag: pinkfloyd

  • The Australian Pink Floyd Show at The Palace Theater, October 20th

    Pink Floyd enthusiasts were treated to a fun night of music and visual displays Saturday night in Albany. The Australian Pink Floyd Show made a stop at the Palace Theater and put on a complete show filled with classic Pink Floyd songs that spanned their entire catalog. Along with a giant circular video monitor, laser light projections and backup singers, it made for a true theatrical experience. Writers Tim O’Shea and Pete Mason attended and each took something different from the show. 

    Review by Tim O’Shea

    The show opened with the dark and brooding “In the Flesh” and instantly captured the audience’s attention. The early portion of the show included several selections from some of the later Pink Floyd albums. “Sorrow” from the album A Momentary Lapse of Reason was also well received. The band then shifted gears and went into one of the group’s earlier numbers with a stirring rendition of “Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun”. Another first set highlight was “Pigs” which was performed flawlessly. After this, spotlights and that familiar helicopter sound led into the set closer of “Another Brick in the Wall” which also featured a giant inflatable “teacher” on stage which corresponded to the video being shown on stage.

    The second set opened with the Syd Barrett tribute “Shine On You Crazy Diamond”. This was another song complemented beautifully by the video being shown which included some very early images of the band when Barrett was still included. The chiming of clocks that followed could only mean it was time for “Time”, followed by another song from the epic Dark Side of the Moon album with “Great Gig in the Sky”. This gave the three backup singers a chance to shine as each took their own approach to the classic vocal solo that ends the song. “Us and Them” was also played later in the set giving the audience a good sampling from this classic album.

    Review by Pete Mason

    What stood out about Australian Pink Floyd was the the fact that this was not a cover band, it was a true tribute band. The band not only had strong improvisational structure to songs with full jamming capabilities. But the key thing for me was that they featured a great deal of rarities and for once, a band playing Pink Floyd was not a greatest hits parade. Utilizing the full catalog, the band’s songs connected you with the four decades of Floyd, especially the songs that harken back to the emothional aftermath of World War Two that is intertwined throughout a number of their songs.

    Opening up with “In the Flesh” is setting the bar high for the night with the ‘thrust you back into your seat’  power of this tune from The Wall. “Set the Controls” was a huge highlight, with the sun projected in various lenses behind the band as the ominous and dark song got into motion; with Halloween around the corner, this is true Haunted House music. “Pigs”, appropriately, showed political leaders with snouts and pig ears super imposed on their visages on the screen as the full song was played well enough that you could picture Battersea Power Station behind the band. But instead, we got the incredibly creepy/acid-visual of a giant teacher inflated on stage left behind the backup singers, perfect to bring in “Another Brick in the Wall Part 2“

    The second set gave a nice tribute to the memory of Syd Barrett with a medley of photos and his musical compositions from the 1960s, followed by the apropos “Shine on you Crazy Diamond”. After a pair of tuned from Dark Side of the Moon, we were treated to two rarer songs, “What do you want from me” off 1994s’ The Division Bell and “The Fletcher Memorial Home” off 1983’s The Final Cut, each of which allowed the various singers in the band to showcase their chops and dipped back into the well of creepy for the visuals broadcast on the screen during “Fletcher”, a truly troubling tune, albiet one of Waters more introspective songs. With some more Dark Side songs, the highlight of the night was the off-setlist Interstellar Overdrive that featured a giant pink kangaroo that arose from nowhere, keeping the psychedelic aspect of Pink Floyd lasting beyond their years. Aussie Pink Floyd no doubt redefined tribute band for me this night, as well as gave a nice sampling of the four decades of Floyd.

    Australian Pink Floyd Show Setlist:

    Set 1: In the Flesh, Take it Back, Sorrow, Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun, High Hopes, Pigs, Another Brick in the Wall Part 2

    Set 2: Syd Barrett Medley, Shine on You Crazy Diamond, Time->Great Gig in the Sky, What do you Want From Me, The Fletcher Memorial Home, Us and Them, Wish You Were Here, Interstellar Overdrive, Comfortably Numb

    E: Run like hell

    The Australian Pink Floyd Show and on Twitter 

  • The Pink Floyd Experience, Palace Theater

    The Pink Floyd Experience, Palace Theater

    Good cover bands are hard to come by, as seen by the local acts that fill bars and clubs around the country each weekend, singing the songs of the past. The bigger names – Dark Star Orchestra and The Fab Faux are notable because they accurately recreate the music of the Grateful Dead and The Beatles, respectively, without donning costumes or trying to make the music their own. They have simply learned the music and play it as close to the original as possible and in doing so, fill a void left by the absence of the bands they cover. Some would call them tribute bands, but that distinction is reserved for the groups that take on the style and exact lineup of the original band (i.e. The Fab Faux has five members) and leaves little room for error or interpretation.

    pink floyd experienceFor a band as complicated as Pink Floyd, both in terms of music and history, the number of cover bands is akin to The Beatles; there’s The Machine, Australian Pink Floyd, Brit Floyd and the band I was fortunate to see, The Pink Floyd Experience from San Diego, California. Opening up on February 16, 2012 with the entire album ‘Wish You Were Here‘ and nailing all five epic songs (Shine on Your Crazy Diamond I-V, Welcome to the Machine, Have a Cigar, Wish You Were Here, Shine on You Crazy Diamond VI-IX) without skipping a beat. For my favorite album of them all by Floyd, I was impressed.

    Then a brief intermission where the lights revealed family night at The Palace Theater. Many fans are older now and brought their kids, mostly teenagers but a few tweens as well. Families were milling about, grabbing concessions and ignoring merchandise with mellow aplomb; surely this is the exact opposite of Floyd when they played Wish You Were Here at venues like this back in the 1970s. But a mixed crowd leads to a new generation or two with the ability to enjoy some of the greatest music ever written. Ranging from the psychedelia of the 60s to the rock anthems of the 70s to the rock opera of The Wall in the 80s and the scraps left over in the 90s when David Gilmour toured and Roger Waters didn’t, Pink Floyd spans 6 decades of music and returns to stadiums this summer (and The Times Union Center June 28th) with The Wall once again. The light show isn’t the same with The Pink Floyd Experience, but they make a great effort to recreate the entire experience, nailing the music and sound but lacking with the lighting.

    Set 2 started out with On the Run->Time from Dark Side of the Moon before mellowing out into the spooky vibrations of Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun. An extended sax solo front stage recreated the ‘Careless Whisper’ feeling from 1984, forgetting that the extended sax solo should remain in the 80s. Learning to Fly, the lone 1990s Floyd offering was anthemic and ensured that all eras were covered tonight. The group announced that they would play a song for Syd Barrett but sadly, no Bike but Interstellar Overdrive instead. Money and a short version of Echoes (minus the spaciness) followed, along with another sax solo before a random guy in a jacket adorned with light bulb took the stage for the stormy intro to Hey You. The surround sound effects were at their best here, getting fans to turn their heads as the sound traversed throughout the audience and segued into Comfortably Numb. A packed sandwich of Run Like Hell -> Another Brick in the Wall Part Two -> Run Like Hell got the audience singing along with the band while the giant pig took to the space between the audience and the stage, drifting up and down until fans had left the show shortly before 10pm.

    The members of The Pink Floyd Experience lauded Albany for providing a great turnout once again. This was a show that is very worth seeing, although I would have liked another 45-60 minutes of some more obscure songs. But I can’t complain, good cover bands are hard to come by.

    Dopapod with special guest Timbre Coup
    Jillians

    Following The Pink Floyd Experience, I headed over the Jillians, where Timbre Coup continued their residency for February, opening up for funk/electronica group Dopapod, another regular in the Capital District. Coup’s electric set for a packed house continues to be one of the highlights of music in the area, cornering the electro/prog-rock market and garnering new fans throughout the month of February. Dopapod followed with strong set of songs from their new album ‘Drawn Onward’ and random and funky dance numbers. Dopapod will be back in a couple short months, potentially opening up for a bigger name in the electronica genre. It’s a big week next week for Timbre Coup, with their CD release party of ‘Knuckles and Valleys’ on 2/23 at Jillians with Higher Organix opening. Don’t miss the final night of their Jillian’s residency!