Venue:
Ovo Hydro, Glasgow
Date: 25/11/2022
There aren’t many tribute bands that can fill the mighty Hydro, but the Australian Pink Floyd are a class above your average tribute band. Note perfect, they sound EXACTLY like the Floyd in their prime, and their armoury of personnel and equipment is probably more extensive.
It’s an indication of the breadth of Dave Gilmour’s talent that it takes four separate guys to handle his parts: two for the vocals (one bluesy, one mellow), two for the various guitar parts. The other guys fill in just fine on the Roger/Nick/Rick parts.
The setlist leans heavily on the A-list stuff, as you would expect: mainly all the big songs from the big three albums (Dark Side, Wish You Were Here, The Wall). I could have done with a few more deep cuts (when the sound effect of a bee buzzing filled the arena, I thought for a glorious moment they were going to play Grantchester Meadows, but it wasn’t to be) and a few less of the 80s/90s stadium tunes (you don’t realise how yawnsome a song like On The Turning Away is until you are waiting for the six minute guitar solo to end to get back to the 70s material). But with a repertoire as impressive as the Floyd, you can’t really complain about a shortage of good material over two and a half hours.
Personal preference, but I would also have liked them to take themselves a bit more seriously! People seemed to like the joke touches (a giant inflatable kangaroo, for example) but I think it cheapened things a bit and would have preferred them to just play it completely straight.
The animations on the big screen were also a bit ropey in parts.
But I’m nitpicking. The Floyd themselves haven’t ever played this material with as much care, and the goosebump-inducing quality of many of the songs and big money moments (the vocoder solo in Pigs (Three Different Ones), the wind noises signalling the start of One Of These Days, the alarm clocks in Time, the (incredible) female backing singers taking centre stage for The Great Gig in the Sky) pretty much guarantee even casual Pink Floyd fans would be hard pressed not to enjoy themselves.
Pink Floyd at their best struck a totally unique groove. They are ubiquitous for a reason. It’s a joy to hear these songs played loud and live, and short of a time machine this is the closest you will get to the real thing.
The audience:
A total, absolute mix of all ages and genders. The universality of Pink Floyd continues to astound me. For me, growing up it was always very personal, headphone music, so it’s a shock to be in a crowd of thousands all singing along to such intimate lyrics like the “When I was a child…” section of Comfortably Numb. Something in the band, some fragile alchemy, has touched something deeply in our battered and scunnered society, and they remain a resolutely mainstream concern. This was a big audience and a deeply touching communal experience. People of all walks of life LOVE the Floyd.
It made me think..
THIS is how to do a tribute show. Do it big, do it properly.
They’re coming back to Glasgow next year playing Dark Side in its entirety for the 50th anniversary, and I’m already planning on going again.
Just a couple more thoughts:
– Run Like Hell and Another Brick in the Wall were the most impressive songs of the night. Two songs that are totally built for stomping, clapping crowds.
– Mother sounded amazing as well, and created a surprisingly emotional crowd singalong. I had no idea that song was so popular. The line “Mother, should I trust the government?” was eerily relevant and got a huge roar of (dis)approval.
– They played one “surprise” song, a Barrett one. I won’t spoil it by revealing which one. It was great.
– Prize for most stirring crowd singalong of the night goes to Wish You Were Here.
Wish You Were Here. Bang on. It’s like being at Cup Final Wembley, only singing a proper song.
My favourite Aussie Floyd moment was some 20 years ago, when they were only just getting a toehold over here in smaller venues. It was some ex-cinema in Stoke. Rick Wright’s fabulous opening chords to Great Gig in the Sky warmed the room, the hitherto backing vocalist stepped up to the plate and, as she did, a clayhead next to me cupped his hands and encouraged her with a ‘Go on Duck!’
Saw them a few years ago and agree wholeheartedly with your review. As good as seeing Floyd but on a smaller scale and without the expense. Sort of like Dubin to Floyd’s London.
Seen them a couple of times and were very good – and let’s not forget Gilmour also had an extra guitarist on stage, from the mid 70s onwards, to help him out .
They’ve just announced a DSOTM 50th Anniversary tie-in tour for next year, which seems entirely superfluous (other than the marketing angle) as they already play most of the album anyway.
Much to agree with.
Last time I saw them, WYWH started as it does, and 6 lasers shone out, each vibrating as if giant guitar strings. Tremendous.
Saw them at Jodrell Bank a while ago now, great band and great presentation. They made use of J.B.’s Dish to make the light show even more spectacular. However I found the singer walking on to do his err, singing then walking off again several times throughout the show a bit distracting.
They do that ‘radio telescope as light show’ thing every year at Bluedot Festival. It’s a great effect.
If you are a fan of “classic” Pink Floyd, then check out the latest album (actually more an EP) by Bjorn Riis – ” A Fleeting Glimpse” which is his homage to them…..
Ooh – I rather like that!
I was only saying today how it is a bit strange that a band like Pink Floyd have so many tribute acts – they weren’t exactly the Beatles or ABBA or Elvis, which also always seem to have tribute acts in our town.
I have never seen the Australian Pink Floyd, but I have seen several others. Think Floyd are amazingly good, the Wall of Floyd were ok, and the UK Pink Floyd Experience are pretty good, but seemed to concentrate on the later stuff (ie DSOTM onwards), which isn’t my favourite time (I bloody hate the bloody Wall). Best of all were Saucerful of Secrets, of course, which was was simply one of the best things I have ever experienced.
I heard once that the Australian Pink Floyd were a brand and there were several versions touring – is this true?