Perfect Alibi - Floyd Tribute Band
Well I have just got back from the Regent Centre in Christchurch, after seeing Perfect Alibi (
http://www.perfect-alibi.net) perform over 2 hours of Pink Floyd's finest. They are not on the same scale as Aussie Floyd, but have been going since circa 1990, with various changes since then. They play mostly in the South of England, so you northern folk probably won't have heard of them. They are (or were tonight) an 8-piece band, 2 of which are female vocalists. The Regent is a small auditorium of 450 seats and I would guess it was about 70% full. Most seemed around the 40 yrs mark, so this is true to form for a Floyd tribute gig!
Anyway, here's the set-list, with one surprise.
First half: Learning To Fly, Young Lust, What Do You Want From Me, Coming Back To Life, Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun, Pigs, Welcome to the Machine, Time, Brain Damage/Eclipse
Second half: Shine On You Crazy Diamond, Keep Talking, Sheep, On An Island, Money, Us & Them, Sorrow, Wish You Were Here, Comfortably Numb.
Encore: Another Brick in the Wall (Part II)
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So what were they like then? Well, extremely good is the honest answer. They started a bit shakily and I think this was their first gig for a while and the first of their current tour. The lead vocalists mic cut out after the first few bars of LTF, but after a few tweaks by the road crew, he was back on track.
They seemed to settle a lot after Coming Back To Life and this was followed by an excellent (and I mean excellent) STCFTHOTS. It's good to see tribute bands doing early Floyd, I personally wish they would do a lot more. Having said that, the crowd?s response was not what it should have been and I guess a lot were not familiar with it. Pigs was also good, but WTTM suffered a bit in the keyboard area, as the sound was somewhat stifled. The rest of the first half was good, but one thing I would say, was that the sound balance was not right. The lead guitar (Dave Blake) sounded very muffled and his Strat did not jump out at you, like Gilmour?s. This was a shame as it appeared he had real talent, but you just couldn?t hear it.
So, after a short break for refreshment, the second half started with SOYCD. Things to my ear appeared to have improved now and they seemed more in the groove. The surprise in the second half was On An Island. The group?s front man, Rick Gauntlett, announced that it was a first for them as they had never done anything other than Floyd live. Well guys, you did good??? I have only heard Gilmour do this, so don?t have a tribute band to compare it too, but it was a sterling effort. The crowd?s response was very appreciative and I got a bit of recognition from the female vocalist (Hearn), as I was wearing a RAH Gilmour shirt ? clearly the band are big fans of David. I couldn?t help myself from shouting out ?Very Good? after they played OAI and those that have read my reviews from the RAH, or were there on the 31st, will know that this got a laugh and a thank you from DG, when someone shouted it out after he played OAI.
After this, they were much tighter and were playing more like a band that has been together for some while. Dave Blake had swapped his Stratocaster for a Paul Reed Smith Custom 24 and now his talents were allowed to shine. His guitar work on Sorrow was awesome and Comfortably Numb struck all the right notes as well. They even had me singing along to CN! A great gig, that was followed by a one-song encore of ABITW (Pt II), during which the band instructed the audience to sing ? so we did ...
A fantastic night and well worth the 11 quid I paid, I will see them again for sure. The two stars have to be Dave Blake as his guitar work (in the second half) was exemplary. The other was the vocalist Carly Hearn. She has an extremely powerful voice and a great on-stage persona. I would love to hear her sing The Great Gig in the Sky.
So if they are around, give them a go ? as I say, they are smaller and don?t have all the bells and whistles of Aussie Floyd, but for sheer musical talent, they are a delight to the ears and well worth the entrance fee. I would pay it just to hear Blake?s guitar and see Carly Hearn?s cheeky moves on stage ? great fun!
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The front line-up of Perfect-Alibi.
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Dave Blake - sweet sounding axeman.
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The girl's - Carly Hearn to the right.
~ Great Gig ~
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