Australian Pink Floyd Stakes Their Claim
by Kira L. Schlechter/The Patriot-News
Sunday November 11, 2007, 11:37 PM
So who comes out on top in the battle of the Pink Floyd cover bands? America's own The Machine? Or the Australian Pink Floyd Show, which calls itself the number-one Pink Floyd tribute and the only world-touring tribute and who played Sunday at the Hershey Theatre?
In some ways, it's a draw. In others, it's APFS 2, The Machine 1.
The Aussie version has three female backing singers, who added a powerhouse punch to many of the tracks in the first set, a complete sound-for-sound, word-for-word run-through of the immortal album "Dark Side of the Moon." They were perfect on especially "Time" and "The Great Gig in the Sky" (other bands could learn from the way these ladies behaved on stage).
They also had two lead singers, guitarist Damian Darlington (who handled the David Gilmour parts) and bassist Colin Wilson (who alternated between Gilmour and a sometimes eerily dead-on Roger Waters). So they swapped effectively on "Breathe," "Money," a lovely "Us and Them," a creepy "Brain Damage," and the final track, "Eclipse."
The band was a bit heavy on bass throughout, but the parts as a whole were brilliant, especially on the second set, a melange of Floyd songs from throughout their career. From "Shine on You Crazy Diamond" to a surprising "Learning to Fly" (from the Waters-less "A Momentary Lapse of Reason") to a dark and eerie "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun," they covered it all.
Wilson delivered a laconic take on "Nobody's Home" from an easy chair before the band laid into a long and fabulous "Pigs" from "Animals" (featuring a majorly evil and huge inflatable pig with glowing red eyes at stage left) and a wonderful "Wish You Were Here," which, of course, everyone sang along with, as they did with "Another Brick in the Wall (Part II)."
The Aussie version also made some very clever plays on album cover art, substituting a kangaroo on "Wish You Were Here" (he's shaking the burning man's hand) and altering the prism logo on "Dark Side" into the shape of Australia. They also boasted a truly fabulous light, video, and laser show, not to mention that wicked floating pig.
The band wrapped a marathon evening (and this is not easy music to play, even at this level) with a beautiful "Comfortably Numb," a potent "Hey You," and a thundering "Run Like Hell" (with which, ironically enough, the Machine also ends its sets).
The whole experience made you think, though: How does it feel when you see people in the crowd wearing not your T-shirts, but those of the band to whom you pay tribute? Then again, everyone knows your songs, so it evens out.
So the Australian Pink Floyd Show, and their American counterpart, prove two things: one, how much the original band is missed, and two, the eternal nature of the music. It almost doesn't matter who plays it - if it's done well, and this was certainly, people will come.
KIRA L. SCHLECHTER: 257-4763 or kschlechter@patrio
