OT: Australian Pink Floyd... Dayumm!!

[JRNYMAN]

Like many here, I've seen my share of tribute bands over the years. A few of them are/were actually quite good and managed to deliver a reasonable facsimile of the artist they're impersonating. Most, however, have been forgettable and in some cases just down right terrible. Surprisingly, some of those very bad ones continue to have just enough of a following to keep them on the casino and local crafts festival circuit bouncing from gig to gig and thereby assaulting the senses of even more otherwise decent rock music fans. And although tribute bands aren't my first choice for an evening out, I believe they fill a void and in some respects are genuinely necessary. (Had to add that last part in case Jeremy or any of the other Tribute guys read this.. JUST KIDDING!! )

Then, every once in a while a tribute band will cross your radar that makes you sit up and take notice. This happened for me late last week.

Our local PBS affiliate was holding their annual fund raising drive and each night during the drive they aired a concert or live performance by some of the biggest names in music dating back to the early Motown days and working their way forward to present day. One of the performances they featured was of the band Australian Pink Floyd Now, I'll ask that you go easy on me if it turns out that everyone who frequents this forum is familiar with them and they've been discussed to death, and yada, yada, yada..... Fact is, until last week, I'd never heard of them. I know this to be a fact because had I heard them prior to that, I would have most definitely remembered. HolySonofaBitch!!!!! These guys are the cat's tits! I was completely and thoroughly blown away as I watched their performance - goose bumps!

So, at the end of the performance, the local news anchors from the various stations here who were MC-ing the drive announce that, with your pledge of $150.00 you will receive the Live DVD of a recent performance by them AND 2 fifth row tickets to see them at the Mesa Arts Center in October!!

Yes I did, and yes I am!!!

Seriously though, I have no idea how these guys got past my radar. I'm almost ashamed to admit I hadn't previously heard of them. If you haven't heard of them either, and are even the most casual fan of Pink Floyd, you really should check them out. Polished and flawless don't even adequately describe just how good they are.

Anyone here ever seen them live?

[froy]

Like many here, I've seen my share of tribute bands over the years. A few of them are/were actually quite good and managed to deliver a reasonable facsimile of the artist they're impersonating. Most, however, have been forgettable and in some cases just down right terrible. Surprisingly, some of those very bad ones continue to have just enough of a following to keep them on the casino and local crafts festival circuit bouncing from gig to gig and thereby assaulting the senses of even more otherwise decent rock music fans. And although tribute bands aren't my first choice for an evening out, I believe they fill a void and in some respects are genuinely necessary. (Had to add that last part in case Jeremy or any of the other Tribute guys read this.. JUST KIDDING!! )

Then, every once in a while a tribute band will cross your radar that makes you sit up and take notice. This happened for me late last week.

Our local PBS affiliate was holding their annual fund raising drive and each night during the drive they aired a concert or live performance by some of the biggest names in music dating back to the early Motown days and working their way forward to present day. One of the performances they featured was of the band Australian Pink Floyd Now, I'll ask that you go easy on me if it turns out that everyone who frequents this forum is familiar with them and they've been discussed to death, and yada, yada, yada..... Fact is, until last week, I'd never heard of them. I know this to be a fact because had I heard them prior to that, I would have most definitely remembered. HolySonofaBitch!!!!! These guys are the cat's tits! I was completely and thoroughly blown away as I watched their performance - goose bumps!

So, at the end of the performance, the local news anchors from the various stations here who were MC-ing the drive announce that, with your pledge of $150.00 you will receive the Live DVD of a recent performance by them AND 2 fifth row tickets to see them at the Mesa Arts Center in October!!

Yes I did, and yes I am!!!

Seriously though, I have no idea how these guys got past my radar. I'm almost ashamed to admit I hadn't previously heard of them. If you haven't heard of them either, and are even the most casual fan of Pink Floyd, you really should check them out. Polished and flawless don't even adequately describe just how good they are.

Anyone here ever seen them live?

I saw the same PBS show you did It was amazing The light show was blazing, They are playing on Oct 22 in Chicago because the on PBS thing we are going.
Should be awesome.

[JRNYMAN]

Unfortunately, they have removed most of the concert vids from their site getting ready for the launch of their new full feature DVD which is unreal! That being the case, here's them playing Time at Royal Albert Hall. Pretty decent resolution and the sound is great. It's one thing to be able to sound exactly like someone's studio version when you're also in the studio creating the cover. However, to be able to sound as good as the studio version when you're live... well... that's a whole different ball game and I'm not absolutely sure we're not dealing with some alien voodoo or what not.... never mind. Just watch the video! Enjoy!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhXLaoel ... re=related

[JRNYMAN]

I saw the same PBS show you did It was amazing The light show was blazing, They are playing on Oct 22 in Chicago because the on PBS thing we are going.
Should be awesome.

It sure was! I was channel surfing and landed on our PBS station right as the intro to "Time" began. The lazers being synched to the drum track was spectacular. The performance we got to see about half of is from their new DVD. I have to say, I was genuinely and thoroughly impressed with how incredibly polished they are and how well they're able to recreate the studio sound of another band and do it live!
Add to that the fact that there's what... like 18 people in this group (:P not really that many,but a lot nonetheless) which makes pulling off any sort of replica exponentially more difficult with each additional contributor to the sound. All it takes is one person to come up flat when you're trying to pull off a 6 or 7 part harmony and the whole thing sounds like shit. The same is true for the musicians especially when you've got more than one lead and one bass. Adding the two extra rhythm guitar layers live like that is dangerous. Instead of a maximum of 10 strings which could be slightly out of tune, you're now dealing with 24..... see what I'm getting at? They seem to fairly comfortable with their grand stage presence as evidenced by their flawless execution of each and every song they played. Sure the vox didn't sound EXACTLY like a given singer 100% of the time but the music was eerily perfect.

I guess if you're gonna start a tribute band, you might as well go big, right?!

[Arianddu]

I remember going to see them when they were just getting it together in Adelaide in the very early 90s. They were good, even then when they were still scooting about with borrowed equipment half the time. No idea how many of that original line up are still with them; I know they've changed over the years.

[MartyMoffatt]

I've done a lot of photo work for them recently. In January this year I photographed them setting up their stage show prior to the tour - they had a crew of over 30 and all the very latest technology, including 3D projection and tons of lasers etc. Then they flew me out to Poland to shoot the first show of the tour so they had pics for the DVD. 3000 people turned up to that first gig in Poland - in a small town miles from anywhere.

They are without a doubt the biggest tribute act in the world and one of the most respected. Last month they played Hampton Court Palace in the UK and Pink Floyd's bassist Guy Pratt joined them on stage. Dave Gilmour has also personally booked them when he had a big party a few years ago.

If you get a chance to see them, do so. Their attention to detail is amazing and it is a superb show, and a big stage production.

Marty

[JRNYMAN]

I've done a lot of photo work for them recently. In January this year I photographed them setting up their stage show prior to the tour - they had a crew of over 30 and all the very latest technology, including 3D projection and tons of lasers etc. Then they flew me out to Poland to shoot the first show of the tour so they had pics for the DVD. 3000 people turned up to that first gig in Poland - in a small town miles from anywhere.

They are without a doubt the biggest tribute act in the world and one of the most respected. Last month they played Hampton Court Palace in the UK and Pink Floyd's bassist Guy Pratt joined them on stage. Dave Gilmour has also personally booked them when he had a big party a few years ago.

If you get a chance to see them, do so. Their attention to detail is amazing and it is a superb show, and a big stage production.

Marty

Hey there Marty!!! Haven't chatted with you since the Journey Forum days! Great to see you're still around and chiming in with your great stories which are always rife with tidbits of trivia (like this very one...) and make the story even better.

Okay then.... now that I look sufficiently like a kiss-ass.....

The PBS presentation last week was actually a compilation of several songs taken from their upcoming DVD. Since I wasn't even aware of their existence prior to seeing the PBS show, I have nothing to compare against but from my perspective, it was instantly clear that there was something very different and special about this tribute band. The first thing that was abundantly clear to me was, as you mentioned, the attention to detail as well as their commitment to creating as exact a replica of the original as possible and not taking any liberties or inserting their own subtle inflections anywhere. You could have played the original studio version over the top of them and I'm fairly certain you would have an exact match, note for note. You mentioned the big stage production.. that came through fairly well on the show although it's very difficult to fully appreciate the lighting and other effects watching it on TV. BUT..... they are playing right down the street from me in October and I will be there in the 5th row to experience it live. I'm so glad you replied and shared all this with me. I'm even more excited about the show than I was before.

So glad to learn you're still snapping away with the camera.

Thank you so much for the reply!

Regards,
Steve

[Peartree12249]

I haven't seen the video on PBS yet. Hopefully soon. But earlier this summer I did get tickets to their show here in Milwaukee in October. I understand that they are the only tribute band to play for a member of PF & they were invited to play for David Gilmour's 50th birthday. I also checked out many concert reviews and they were all raves. Many by folks like myself who've seen PF live on several occasions. So I'm really looking forward to the show. The best part is not having to pay hundreds of dollars for concert tickets.

[Liquid_Drummer]

They are awesome no doubt. I am also in the Pink Floyd tribute circuit. We do a good job I think. Im on drums and backing vox. Check us out.

Whole bunch of live vids here. Large theater in Louisville, Ky. Got sax, backing girls, big light show.. Aussie on a smaller scale but not for long hehe.. Scroll down the for theater vids.

I think we kill Us and them and Money. Our sax player is so damn good.
http://www.thedarksideofthewall.com/multimedia.htm

Us and them

http://youtu.be/Rg6T4yzf2es

[S2M]

The best cover of a PF song I've ever heard was Enchant's version of Us and Them

http://www.we7.com/#/song/Enchant/Us-And-Them

[xflajrnylvr]

I have seen them the last 3 times they have been here at RUth eckerd hall which is a great small venue holding just over 2000 peolpe but farthest seat is 130 from the stage and they put on one hell of a show I would love to see them again