tributehub

Hey all, I'm posting this from my phone at the Tulsa show...  4 1/2 hour drive and here I am!  Sorry, not making a RoIO/VoIO, but I'll get plenty of pics and post my review later (either tonight or tomorrow).  Obviously I'll put the setlist in the setlist thread and not here.  Anyone else at this show, feel free to comment if you get to it before I do.

edit: the halftime report!
I'll keep this short.  The concert is pretty good, the crowd is awful!  I'll explain in more detail later...

Wow... live reports!  How cool is that???!!!

Nice.

The Tulsa theatre has a serious ghost problem....was wondering if it made an appearance?

OK, peeps, sorry about the delay.  I had a business appointment that kept me in Tulsa this morning and didn't get home until just a little while ago.  As promised, I'm here with my review--the good, the bad, and the ugly.  I'll rate the musical and theatrical performance, the audience, the visuals, and the set list on an A-F scale.  Here goes...

MUSICAL PERFORMANCE: B
Every other year I would have given them an A+.  They just didn't sound as polished as they usually do.  I'm not saying I could do better, of course.  I'll give credit where it's due.  Covering Floyd perfectly is quite an undertaking. It's just that usually the Aussies manage to pull it off a little better than they did last night.  My guess is that this is mostly due to the massive lineup change on this tour.  You can't put a whole new band together overnight and expect them to sound polished right away... I kind of wondered if their IEMs were working correctly as they fell out of sync a couple times, there were some noticeable missed cues, and during ABITW2 Bobby Harrison's second solo was off by at least a full measure, causing him to have to "catch up" at the end of the song.  Still, not bad overall.  Hence the "B."

THEATRICAL PERFORMANCE: A
Ian did (as usual) an amazing job on Waters' parts, right down to his stage performance.  He wore the white lab coat for "Comfortably Numb" and the trench coat and sunglasses for "Run Like Hell," making sure to do the famous intro heard on "Is There Anybody Out There? The Wall Live: 1980-81."  An excellent job playing the role of "Pink" if I do say so myself. 

AUDIENCE: F
The place was full of loud, obnoxious rednecks.  Several people were screaming during the middle of songs, standing up and jumping around when everyone else was seated (hence blocking our view with total disregard for all of us).  Several items were thrown from the upper balcony throughout the course of the night, including numerous glow sticks and plastic cups (at least one of which had beer in it).  There were grown people twice my age acting like teenagers.  Keep in mind this venue probably holds maybe 1500 people at max.  It's an Aussie Floyd concert, people--not a football game. Not cool, and not a good way to make the band feel welcome in Tulsa.  My guess is it might be a while before they book a show there again.

VISUALS: C-
What can I say?  It was "Aussie Light"--the same light show with half the calories (and unfortunately half the taste).  No lasers, no inflatables, no '94-style semicircle of lights over the stage... just Mr. Screen with the usual films and the 16 or so intelligent lights surrounding him.  There were a few overhead lights placed here and there, but nothing to take your breath away.  In addition, there was some weird liquid or something spilled on the projector throughout the latter half of the concert.  My guess is it probably came from that beer dropped from above.  Overall, the lights were better than what most Pink Floyd tributes would do, but they weren't up to the standards that we've come to expect from the Aussies.

SET LIST: B+
There was at least one big surprise of the night, and it was... *BLEEP*  *BLEEPITY-BLEEP* BLEEP*    You'll have to check the set lists thread if you really want to know what I'm talking about.

OVERALL: B-
Pretty good, but not great.  Overall, I'd say my concert experience "parred the hole."  As for the pictures I said I'd take...well, they really don't look that great and I don't think they do the band justice, so if it's all the same, I'll refrain from sharing them here unless you really want me to. 

Thanks for the honest review.  I can sense your disappointment.

I am one who is very concerned that the show has been diluted significantly due to what I still believe is some type of legal issue.  While it is still the best tribute show "on the planet" the Aussies appear to have lost a step, maybe two. 

Rather then continually taking the show up a notch every time out, this trip they have been forced to fall back and in doing so have moved closer to pack of other Floyd tributes.  That's not a knock on the other bands as they are all very good but I do hold TAPFS to a much higher standard.  Not unfairly.  I expect a lot!  They have set the bar very high with their previous performances but something is definitely not the same this tour.  I can only hope what ever is driving them to deliver less, rather than more, can be resolved and they return to their previous greatness.

I do not buy the economic argument.  They have the gear, they are just not using it.  "There's no reason for it."     

With that said, I will still support the band and attend the shows but I'm sure you and I will be crucified here for pointing out the obvious.