I started the night off at the Kentucky Center Bar to ease away a hectic day at work as well as to acclimate myself to the widest age range of Pink Floyd fans I have ever seen in a room together. There were 6-year-old kids wearing worn out Dark Side t-shirts as well as guys so old it just may have completed their life if they played something obscure like "Interstellar Overdrive." All these different folks gathered together to see/hear songs they’d likely never see the original band play together again.
As the lights flickered at Whitney Hall and shortly thereafter dimmed, the band walked out on the stage; without my glasses and from a wonderful ten rows back, dead center, the lead guitar player looked remarkably like a early 90's David Gilmour; I was stoked! The band started off with “Learning to Fly” which wouldn't have been my first choice at a Pink Floyd show but may have been a regular starter for the post Waters Pink Floyd. The Pink Floyd Experience then rolled right into my favorite album, Animals, and got the show started properly with “Pigs”. It was at this point; I knew they weren't really trying to deviate from the perfect recipe that is note for note Floyd... I was a little afraid of that. When they did deviate it brought freshness to the room as they lay claim to the stage as a successful Pink Floyd cover band. The sax player, while a remarkable woodwind player, approached the "high five" area of the stage a few too many times in my opinion and it may have been different if the other members of PFX did that occasionally during a solo but who am I to argue, people love those sax players!
Where I got my kicks was with the light show. The subtle billow of the fog machines made for an awesome texture when the lights danced across it. 200,000 watts of light strobing and changing colors is what they claim but I’m not counting watts at this point… I’m marveling at the circular display screen depicting WWII bombers, corrupt world leaders and US currency during “Money.” Those lights and video really added to the “experience” aspect and visualized what you always heard in Pink Floyd lyrics; pure bliss!
I don't think anyone will disagree that Pink Floyd had their heyday in the Seventies and over the course of the evening they played a 70's heavy mix of Floyd albums such as Dark Side of the Moon, Wish You Were Here and The Wall. I was very pleased they didn't leave out the 60's entirely and added a couple tracks from their first two albums. If you judged by the amount of raised hands and leaps from seats, I'd say the songs from The Wall went over best with DSOTM being a close runner up.
I gotta say that if a band can tour around the world and put on a spectacular light show just playing Pink Floyd songs... more power to 'em! Pink Floyd were
Incredibly talented musicians; I have no problem putting on any Pink Floyd album and listening to it from start to finish... well, maybe Ummagumma as it was so experimental I don't even think Roger Waters would cue it up. I know every band probably says "It's awesome to be here Louisville, and we're definitely coming back here!" but with this band, I really believe it... c'mon, the locals were flying out of their seats just to get the energy out of their bodies, not to mention to touch the giant flying pig... Good experience indeed!
