Since we can no longer see Pink Floyd or The Beatles, the vacuum has been filled for many years by “tribute” bands. Are they good, or are they poor substitutes?
This week, The Australian Pink Floyd Show came to our hometown, Eugene, Oregon. The closest we came in the past to seeing Pink Floyd was a concert by Pink Floyd leader/songwriter Roger Waters and his touring band. Waters and his band played all of The Dark Side Of The Moon album, and many of the other major songs by the band. And of course we’ve seen Pink Floyd’s concert films. So how did Aussie Pink Floyd stack up?
The show was extremely impressive! The musicianship was top notch, and the light show and other visuals were fantastic! The enthusiastic crowd at The Hult Center applauded as well-known songs started, and then again after musicians nailed some of the extensive instrumental solos. All of us knew we weren’t watching Pink Floyd, but this was a real celebration of their music. We attended with our son, daughter-in-law, and grandson…three generations of Pink Floyd fans.
As the band played “Wish You Were Here”, the circular screen showed photos of Pink Floyd, but most of the film and photos they showed were clever in that they were reminiscent of visuals that Pink Floyd used, but were originals. The band was obviously willing to spend significant money to provide us with a Floyd-worthy show. Here are some more of my concert photos.
Maybe the best compliment Aussie Pink Floyd ever received is that Pink Floyd lead guitarist & lead vocalist David Gilmour once hired them for one of his birthday parties.
The band had a giant inflatable of the bug-looking teacher from The Wall, but instead of a flying pig, Aussie Pink Floyd gave us a fun bouncing kangaroo. There was also a twist on the famous Pink Floyd prism…this one looked like Australia.
We can listen to Pink Floyd on our home systems, but when we want to feel the bass instead of just hear it, it takes a concert. The sound was perfectly mixed, loud but clear, and the vocals could be heard above the instruments. If The Australian Pink Floyd Show has a concert near you, treat yourself.
Ten years ago, a Beatles tribute band came to Eugene. Some friends of ours knew we were Beatles fans and invited us to go with them. I was hesitant. My concern was that it would be something like those not so good Elvis imitators. But, we went to see the band Rain.
Unlike Aussie Pink Floyd (who didn’t try to look anything like the members of Pink Floyd), Rain did their best to look like The Beatles, changing their looks through the different eras of the band. The surprise to me was how good the musicianship was. Rain did a great job of playing The Beatles’ hits, plus their costuming and staging were impressive.
Probably what won me over the most was when Rain did something The Beatles never did. In the middle of all those sets of Beatles eras, the musicians grabbed acoustic guitars and played an acoustic set of Beatles songs with their own arrangements…a nice original touch!
Okay, it wasn’t as good as when we saw Paul McCartney at Arrowhead Stadium, but a talented tribute band can provide a fun evening of the music fans love.