| The Australian Pink Floyd Show | |
|---|---|
The Australian Pink Floyd Show in Cologne (2011) |
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| Background information | |
| Origin | Adelaide, Australia |
| Genres | Progressive rock, psychedelic rock |
| Years active | 1988–present |
| Associated acts | Pink Floyd |
| Website | www.aussiefloyd.com/ |
| Members | |
| Steve Mac Colin Wilson Jason Sawford Paul Bonney Mike Kidson Bianca Glynn David Domminney Fowler Alex McNamara Emily Lynn Lara Smiles Lorelei McBroom |
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The Australian Pink Floyd Show, more frequently referred to as the Australian Pink Floyd, are a Pink Floyd tribute band formed in 1988 in Adelaide, South Australia. Their live shows attempt to recreate the look, feel, and sound of Pink Floyd's later world tours,[1] employing visual aids such as lasers, inflatables and a large display panel similar to Mr Screen. The Australian Pink Floyd Show are renowned for playing international venues worldwide, setting them apart from local or regional Pink Floyd tributes.
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In 1994, David Gilmour attended an Australian Pink Floyd Show performance at the Fairfield Halls in Croydon.[2] He subsequently invited the band to attend the end-of-tour, after-show party for The Division Bell tour at Earls Court Exhibition Centre in London.[3]
The Australian Pink Floyd are the only Pink Floyd tribute act to play for a member of Pink Floyd; in 1996, they performed at David Gilmour's 50th birthday party.
In 1995, the band appeared on Irish national television, performing "Young Lust" on the chat show Kenny Live.[4]
In 1998, the band played Glastonbury performing on the acoustic stage.[5]
In 2004, the band performed The Dark Side of the Moon at the King's Dock, Liverpool. The performance was recorded and released as a DVD the same year. This was released as a 2-DVD set with the full concert on disc one and bonuses on disc two. Also in 2004, the band commenced a major tour of the United States, Canada, Germany, and Italy, including a show in Switzerland. The Liverpool Pops DVD (and more recently the 2004 Royal Albert Hall performance) has been aired on television in the United States.[6]
In 2005, the band released a CD of their renditions of Animals and Wish You Were Here at the Liverpool Pops Festival. In the same year the band undertook a two-week tour of South America consisting of dates in Mexico City, Buenos Aires, and Brazil. A documentary about the group was shot at the Bell Center in Montreal, Quebec and broadcast in North America on the Discovery Channel in 2007.[7]
In 2007, the band performed at several major European Music Festivals, including the Sweden Rock Festival, the Malta Jazz Festival,[8] the Arrow Rock Festival, Rock Werchter, and Festival do Sudoeste. A DVD of the band performing at the Royal Albert Hall in London in 2007 was released later that year.
In September 2007, the group commenced its longest ever continuous tour of the Americas, performing for the first time in Panama, Venezuela, and Chile. In the same month a performance of the show in Buenos Aires was aired on Argentine national television as part of the Pepsi music festival[9]
February 2008 saw the group commence their "Best of The Wall" tour in a 5 week tour of Europe, performing in Spain,[10] Luxembourg, Poland, Norway, and (for the first time) the Czech Republic. The band performed in Raanana and Israel in May of the same year.
The group performed at the Isle of Wight Festival for the first time in June 2008,[11] were the headline act of the last night of Guilfest 2008, and in August of the same year made their first appearance at the Lokerse Feesten[12] in Lokeren, Belgium.
The band played their first shows in the Ukraine and Slovakia in September 2008.
A complete production of The Wall, incorporating new animation based on the original Gerald Scarfe imagery, was performed for the first time by the band during their 2008 North American tours. The production continued throughout the 2009 European tour, which included dates in the United Kingdom, Germany, Poland, the Czech Republic, Italy, Switzerland, Norway, Denmark, Sweden, France, Spain, Portugal and, for the first time, Serbia.
The summer of 2009 saw the group perform for the first time in Austria at the Lovely Days Festival in Wiesen, and the Castle Clam Classic Rock Festival in Klam. In the same month they were the closing act of the Bospop festival in the Netherlands.
Early 2010 saw the band commence its longest ever tour of Europe, playing in Croatia for the first time.
In 2010 new management was appointed and David Domminney Fowler and Alex McNamara were recruited.
Commencing their 2011 European tour in Poland, the band employed 3D stereoscopic projection and quadraphonic sound for the first time. A documentary describing the early history of the band and preparations for their 2011 tour, entitled Welcome to the Machine, was released on their website shortly after the tour had reached its end.
Performing in June 2011 at the Hampton Court Palace Festival in London, the band were joined by Guy Pratt, long-time session bass player for Pink Floyd, for a rendition of Run Like Hell.[13]
For the North American segment of their 2011 tour, the band added Lorelei McBroom as a backing vocalist in place of Bianca Glynn. Lorelei had previously performed live with Pink Floyd on the Momentary Lapse of Reason tour, between 1988 and 1989. At a show in Anaheim, Lorelei was joined by her sister Durga McBroom - who also sang for Pink Floyd on the Momentary Lapse and Division Bell tours - to sing The Great Gig in the Sky. [14]
In 2012, the band embark on their latest tour, Exposed in the Light. The band have confirmed that Lorelei McBroom will be joining them again, this time for the European tour as well as in North America. [15]
Since their 2007 tour, the band's shows has incorporated a psychedelic light show modelled after the light shows used by Pink Floyd during their 1987 and 1994 world tours.[16] The show includes a round screen with intelligent lights arranged around its perimeter. During a concert, movies and animations are displayed on-screen, complementing the band's light show. Inflatables (such as the pig used by Pink Floyd during the Division Bell Tour, and Skippy - the band's own giant pink kangaroo and named after the Australian TV series Skippy The Bush Kangaroo) are frequently employed in the band's shows.[17]
The band are noted for meticulously (and often obsessively) replicating the nuances of Pink Floyd's work.[18] The guitar rig of Steve Mac closely resembles David Gilmour's set-up, and includes elements custom-produced by Pete Cornish, who has worked extensively with Gilmour.[19]
The group often employ imagery based on Floydian designs, but altered to include humorous Australianisms. The band often use an altered version of the Dark Side of the Moon prism for logo purposes, with a glass silhouette of Australia (as opposed to a triangular prism) refracting white light. Additionally, when the band perform music from The Wall, Pink Floyd's marching hammers have their heads replaced with kangaroo heads.
Performances typically follow the format of an hour of music, followed by a 20-minute intermission, followed by a further hour of music, and an encore of Comfortably Numb and Run Like Hell. Sometimes the band will perform a specific album in its entirety during a show, usually as a first-half set. To date the band have performed The Dark Side of the Moon, Animals, Wish You Were Here, and The Wall as complete pieces. When not performing a specific album, the band will perform material spanning a large part of Pink Floyd's creative history, including early material written by Syd Barrett, extended pieces such as Dogs and Echoes, and later material from post-Waters Pink Floyd.
The band associates itself with individuals who have worked with Pink Floyd over the years, including Colin Norfield (who has worked as a sound engineer for David Gilmour in his solo career and for Pink Floyd during their 1994 Division Bell tour)[20][21] and Clive Brooks - Nick Mason's long-time drum technician.
2011 saw the introduction of 3D stereoscopic projection and quadrophonic sound into the band's performances. The Australian Pink Floyd are the first ever band to implement stereographic 3D into a tour.[22]
Though various musicians have come and gone over the years, the Australian Pink Floyd Show continues to base itself around its three 'longest-serving' members : Steve Mac, Colin Wilson and Jason Sawford. The band are managed by Kevin Brown of Zoo Management. The current line up consists of: