The Official Pink Floyd thread
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UPDATED: Will Pink Floyd’s ‘The Endless River’ Feature Graham Nash and David Crosby?
by Nick DeRiso July 11, 2014
Jonathan Leibson / MJ Kim / Kevin Winter, Getty Images
Reports that Graham Nash and David Crosby added vocals to a David Gilmour-penned track for Pink Floyd‘s forthcoming ‘Endless River’ project are being called into question.
The Pink Floyd news site Brain Damage has reported that a source close to the band says the track Nash and Crosby sang on is instead intended for a Gilmour solo project, and not the new Floyd LP.
Regardless of where it turns up, after reading Nash’s description, we can’t wait to hear this track. “We went down to sing on this particular song that he wrote about friends that had died,” he reveals in a new talk with VH-1 Radio Network’s Dave Basner. “It’s a beautiful song, too — beautiful.”
Gilmour and Nick Mason have been at work since late last year completing ambient, primarily instrumental music begun during the late Rick Wright‘s final early-’90s sessions with Pink Floyd. Lyricist Polly Samson, who has collaborated with her husband Gilmour on a series of projects, described ‘The Endless River’ as Wright’s “swansong.”
Wherever the track appears, it won’t be the first time that Nash and Crosby have been involved with a Gilmour project. They also sang background on the title track for his 2006 solo album ‘On an Island.’ “I’m hoping that it’s as good as ‘On An Island,’” Nash tells Basner of the new collaboration, “because I thought that that song of Gilmour’s was not only a brilliant song, but I thought we sang pretty good on it.”
Rumors that Graham and Nash were working with Gilmour first circulated last November It was assumed back then that the sessions would be part of a planned ‘On an Island’ follow up — and that indeed appears to be the case. ‘The Endless River’ is due in October.
Pink Floyd Confirm New Album: 10 Facts You Need to Know About ‘The Endless River’
by Nick DeRiso July 7, 2014
MJ Kim, Getty Images
Pink Floyd has confirmed the release of its 15th studio album, ‘The Endless River,’ this coming October. The project, which finds David Gilmour and Nick Mason completing work on sessions with the late Rick Wright, will be co-produced by Phil Manzanera, Youth and Andy Jackson. Here are 10 things you need to know about what might just be the biggest and most surprising classic rock release of the year:
1. 'Endless River' grew out of unreleased recordings from 20 years ago
Dubbed 'The Big Spliff,' these ambient, lyricless recordings were originally constructed by the core group of Gilmour, Mason and Wright during the same period that Pink Floyd was at work on their last album, 'The Division Bell,' in 1993-94. They have remained unheard ever since, until Gilmour and Mason returned to them late last year.
2. The album will include some of Rick Wright's final recordings
The initial leak on this surprise project, courtesy of Gilmour's wife Polly Samson, framed 'The Endless River' as Wright's "swansong" -- putting into perspective, once more, what the keyboardist meant to Pink Floyd. His 2008 death led many to believe that 1994's 'Division Bell' would be the group's final recording.
3. Secret sessions were, at first, mistaken for a Gilmour solo album
Durga McBroom-Hudson, a long-time backup singer with Pink Floyd, posted a photo to Instagram last year from sessions being led by Gilmour -- and at the time, the assumption was that the guitarist was at work on a follow up to his 2006 solo album 'On an Island.' Instead, McBroom-Hudson has since confirmed that they were adding vocals to the original 'Big Spliff' recordings.
4. This album's title harkens back to an earlier Pink Floyd moment
'The Endless River' echoes the penultimate lyric on 'High Hopes,' the last song on 'The Division Bell.' That song was written by Gilmour, with additional lyrical help by Samson -- who is also collaborating on the new album.
5. Though instrumental in its infancy, the project will have vocals
McBroom-Hudson and Jackson seperately confirm that sessions for 'The Endless River' have continued for about a year -- with Jackson now characterizing the finished project as "extrapolation of the 'Big Spliff.' It has also grown past its initial all-instrumental focus. McBroom-Hudson says Gilmour has “done a lead [vocal] on at least one of them.” Samson says she's also written lyrics.
6. Gilmour's 'Endless River' co-producers have deep Floyd connections
Manzanera co-wrote 'One Slip' for Pink Floyd's 'Momentary Lapse of Reason' album in 1987, co-produced Gilmour's 'On an Island' project and has toured with the guitarist several times. Youth, meanwhile, is part of the Orb, an ambient-house band that Gilmour worked with on 2010's 'Metallic Spheres.' Jackson has been a recording engineer for Pink Floyd on every album since 1979's 'The Wall.'
7. It's unclear whether there will be a tour behind 'The Endless River'
McBoom-Hudson, who has toured with Gilmour and with Pink Floyd off and on since the 1980s, didn't rule out the idea of a dates in support of 'The Endless River,' telling fans simply to 'stay tuned.' Pink Floyd last hit the concert trail in 1994, when these previously unfinished recordings were still new.
8. Pink Floyd already previewed some of these ambient sounds
Back then, Pink Floyd presented a complex, 22-minute soundscape before each show, perhaps giving fans a preview of what's to come on 'The Endless River.' Attached below, it closely resembles the profile of recordings made during the 'Big Spliff' sessions.
9. 20 years is a long time between between albums, but not the longest
Pink Floyd's two decades between 'The Division Bell' and 'The Endless River,' though certainly the lengthiest expanse in their history, has been dwarfed by other classic rockers. There were, for instance, 24 years between the Who's 'It's Hard' and 'Endless Wire.' Then, there's the Eagles. They waited 28 between 'The Long Run' and 'Long Road Out of Eden.'
10. Roger Waters is not returning to Pink Floyd
No, really. Stop asking!
by Nick DeRiso July 11, 2014
Jonathan Leibson / MJ Kim / Kevin Winter, Getty Images
Reports that Graham Nash and David Crosby added vocals to a David Gilmour-penned track for Pink Floyd‘s forthcoming ‘Endless River’ project are being called into question.
The Pink Floyd news site Brain Damage has reported that a source close to the band says the track Nash and Crosby sang on is instead intended for a Gilmour solo project, and not the new Floyd LP.
Regardless of where it turns up, after reading Nash’s description, we can’t wait to hear this track. “We went down to sing on this particular song that he wrote about friends that had died,” he reveals in a new talk with VH-1 Radio Network’s Dave Basner. “It’s a beautiful song, too — beautiful.”
Gilmour and Nick Mason have been at work since late last year completing ambient, primarily instrumental music begun during the late Rick Wright‘s final early-’90s sessions with Pink Floyd. Lyricist Polly Samson, who has collaborated with her husband Gilmour on a series of projects, described ‘The Endless River’ as Wright’s “swansong.”
Wherever the track appears, it won’t be the first time that Nash and Crosby have been involved with a Gilmour project. They also sang background on the title track for his 2006 solo album ‘On an Island.’ “I’m hoping that it’s as good as ‘On An Island,’” Nash tells Basner of the new collaboration, “because I thought that that song of Gilmour’s was not only a brilliant song, but I thought we sang pretty good on it.”
Rumors that Graham and Nash were working with Gilmour first circulated last November It was assumed back then that the sessions would be part of a planned ‘On an Island’ follow up — and that indeed appears to be the case. ‘The Endless River’ is due in October.
Pink Floyd Confirm New Album: 10 Facts You Need to Know About ‘The Endless River’
by Nick DeRiso July 7, 2014
MJ Kim, Getty Images
Pink Floyd has confirmed the release of its 15th studio album, ‘The Endless River,’ this coming October. The project, which finds David Gilmour and Nick Mason completing work on sessions with the late Rick Wright, will be co-produced by Phil Manzanera, Youth and Andy Jackson. Here are 10 things you need to know about what might just be the biggest and most surprising classic rock release of the year:
1. 'Endless River' grew out of unreleased recordings from 20 years ago
Dubbed 'The Big Spliff,' these ambient, lyricless recordings were originally constructed by the core group of Gilmour, Mason and Wright during the same period that Pink Floyd was at work on their last album, 'The Division Bell,' in 1993-94. They have remained unheard ever since, until Gilmour and Mason returned to them late last year.
2. The album will include some of Rick Wright's final recordings
The initial leak on this surprise project, courtesy of Gilmour's wife Polly Samson, framed 'The Endless River' as Wright's "swansong" -- putting into perspective, once more, what the keyboardist meant to Pink Floyd. His 2008 death led many to believe that 1994's 'Division Bell' would be the group's final recording.
3. Secret sessions were, at first, mistaken for a Gilmour solo album
Durga McBroom-Hudson, a long-time backup singer with Pink Floyd, posted a photo to Instagram last year from sessions being led by Gilmour -- and at the time, the assumption was that the guitarist was at work on a follow up to his 2006 solo album 'On an Island.' Instead, McBroom-Hudson has since confirmed that they were adding vocals to the original 'Big Spliff' recordings.
4. This album's title harkens back to an earlier Pink Floyd moment
'The Endless River' echoes the penultimate lyric on 'High Hopes,' the last song on 'The Division Bell.' That song was written by Gilmour, with additional lyrical help by Samson -- who is also collaborating on the new album.
5. Though instrumental in its infancy, the project will have vocals
McBroom-Hudson and Jackson seperately confirm that sessions for 'The Endless River' have continued for about a year -- with Jackson now characterizing the finished project as "extrapolation of the 'Big Spliff.' It has also grown past its initial all-instrumental focus. McBroom-Hudson says Gilmour has “done a lead [vocal] on at least one of them.” Samson says she's also written lyrics.
6. Gilmour's 'Endless River' co-producers have deep Floyd connections
Manzanera co-wrote 'One Slip' for Pink Floyd's 'Momentary Lapse of Reason' album in 1987, co-produced Gilmour's 'On an Island' project and has toured with the guitarist several times. Youth, meanwhile, is part of the Orb, an ambient-house band that Gilmour worked with on 2010's 'Metallic Spheres.' Jackson has been a recording engineer for Pink Floyd on every album since 1979's 'The Wall.'
7. It's unclear whether there will be a tour behind 'The Endless River'
McBoom-Hudson, who has toured with Gilmour and with Pink Floyd off and on since the 1980s, didn't rule out the idea of a dates in support of 'The Endless River,' telling fans simply to 'stay tuned.' Pink Floyd last hit the concert trail in 1994, when these previously unfinished recordings were still new.
8. Pink Floyd already previewed some of these ambient sounds
Back then, Pink Floyd presented a complex, 22-minute soundscape before each show, perhaps giving fans a preview of what's to come on 'The Endless River.' Attached below, it closely resembles the profile of recordings made during the 'Big Spliff' sessions.
9. 20 years is a long time between between albums, but not the longest
Pink Floyd's two decades between 'The Division Bell' and 'The Endless River,' though certainly the lengthiest expanse in their history, has been dwarfed by other classic rockers. There were, for instance, 24 years between the Who's 'It's Hard' and 'Endless Wire.' Then, there's the Eagles. They waited 28 between 'The Long Run' and 'Long Road Out of Eden.'
10. Roger Waters is not returning to Pink Floyd
No, really. Stop asking!
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What Do You Want From Me
As you look around this room tonight
Settle in your seat and dim the lights
Do you want my blood, do you want my tears?
What do you want?
(What do you want from me?)
Should I sing until I can't sing anymore?
Play these strings until my fingers are raw
You're so hard to please
What do you want from me?
Do you think that I know something you don't know?
(What do you want from me?)
If I don't promise you the answers, would you go?
(What do you want from me?)
Should I stand out in the rain?
Do you want me to make a daisy chain for you?
I'm not the one you need
What do you want from me?
You can have anything you want
You can drift, you can dream, even walk on water
Anything you want
You can own everything you see
Sell your soul for complete control
Is that really what you need?
You can lose yourself this night
See inside, there is nothing to hide
Turn and face the light
What do you want from me?
~Gilmour/Wright/Samson
As you look around this room tonight
Settle in your seat and dim the lights
Do you want my blood, do you want my tears?
What do you want?
(What do you want from me?)
Should I sing until I can't sing anymore?
Play these strings until my fingers are raw
You're so hard to please
What do you want from me?
Do you think that I know something you don't know?
(What do you want from me?)
If I don't promise you the answers, would you go?
(What do you want from me?)
Should I stand out in the rain?
Do you want me to make a daisy chain for you?
I'm not the one you need
What do you want from me?
You can have anything you want
You can drift, you can dream, even walk on water
Anything you want
You can own everything you see
Sell your soul for complete control
Is that really what you need?
You can lose yourself this night
See inside, there is nothing to hide
Turn and face the light
What do you want from me?
~Gilmour/Wright/Samson
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Hey You
Hey you, out there in the cold
Getting lonely, getting old
Can you feel me?
Hey you, standing in the aisles
With itchy feet and fading smiles
Can you feel me?
Hey you, dont help them to bury the light
Don't give in without a fight.
Hey you, out there on your own
Sitting naked by the phone
Would you touch me?
Hey you, with you ear against the wall
Waiting for someone to call out
Would you touch me?
Hey you, would you help me to carry the stone?
Open your heart, I'm coming home.
But it was only fantasy.
The wall was too high,
As you can see.
No matter how he tried,
He could not break free.
And the worms ate into his brain.
Hey you, standing in the road
always doing what you're told,
Can you help me?
Hey you, out there beyond the wall,
Breaking bottles in the hall,
Can you help me?
Hey you, don't tell me there's no hope at all
Together we stand, divided we fall.
~ Gilmour/Waters
Hey you, out there in the cold
Getting lonely, getting old
Can you feel me?
Hey you, standing in the aisles
With itchy feet and fading smiles
Can you feel me?
Hey you, dont help them to bury the light
Don't give in without a fight.
Hey you, out there on your own
Sitting naked by the phone
Would you touch me?
Hey you, with you ear against the wall
Waiting for someone to call out
Would you touch me?
Hey you, would you help me to carry the stone?
Open your heart, I'm coming home.
But it was only fantasy.
The wall was too high,
As you can see.
No matter how he tried,
He could not break free.
And the worms ate into his brain.
Hey you, standing in the road
always doing what you're told,
Can you help me?
Hey you, out there beyond the wall,
Breaking bottles in the hall,
Can you help me?
Hey you, don't tell me there's no hope at all
Together we stand, divided we fall.
~ Gilmour/Waters
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- Name
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I'm on it
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http://www.classicrockrevisited.com/show_review.php?id=1399
Pink Floyd: The Endless River
http://www.pinkfloyd.com/theendlessriver/
Columbia
Rating: A-
Wow. Are there a lot of fascinating and contrasting emotions on this album or what! After listening to The Endless River a few times I’m still happily asking “what did I just hear?” That is a very Floyd thing to wonder.
The Endless River takes you through so many eras of Pink Floyd, but does so in a new and unique way. It’s a peculiar contrast. This release does not sound like a typical Pink Floyd album. Yet more than any other of Floyd album The Endless River revels in past tonalities.
So many times the listener can say “that’s the lead synth sound from ‘Shine On You Crazy Diamond’” or “that’s the slide guitar sound fromThe Dark Side Of The Moon”, or “that is a play off the classic riff from “Run Like Hell”’. Very cool! With the lineage this group can proudly boast it’s a pleasure to hear homages to past glories.
There are things about this album that are certain to raise a few eyebrows. There will be those who will not be happy with a Pink Floyd album that is entirely instrumental with the exception of the last song. I share that sentiment a bit. One of the things I enjoy about Floyd is the incisive and often dark lyrics. Without those lyrics this album takes on more of an ambient, stream of consciousness feeling.
Also noticeably absent are the screaming, intensely passionate and melodic David Gilmour guitar solos that so superbly counterbalance the how-many-notes-can-I-cram-into-an-eight-bar-solo we hear so often from guitarists these days. Gilmour delivers wonderful melodies on this album. Still, those classic solos are definitely missed.
But the heart of this album lies with its reason for being produced. The Endless River, as Pink Floyd states on their website, is a tribute to keyboardist Richard Wright, one of the truly great and underappreciated keyboardists of rock and roll. His enormous contributions to the group were often overshadowed by the more charismatic personas of Gilmour and former bassist/songwriter Roger Waters.
The music on the album is a direct product of the last sessions Gilmour, Wright, and drummer Nick Mason would have as a group. The lush synthesizers and beautiful string arrangements are the highlight of the album. This is not typical for Pink Floyd, but in this case I think it’s entirely appropriate. It may not be overly Pink-ish, but it is definitely worth taking in. This album has some extraordinarily beautiful passages.
There is an inescapable melancholy overtone to The Endless River. With the premature passing of Wright one is left with the realization that this may be the last studio effort produced by the rock supergiant known as Pink Floyd. That’s an extremely tough pill to swallow.
It’s difficult to imagine a new Floyd album without Richard Wright; but it’s even more difficult to imagine a world without a new Floyd album somewhere out there on the horizon. This is a band that is supposed to live forever. I for one am not ready to bid farewell, but it may have just happened anyway.
Track Listing:
Side 1, pt 1: Things Left Unsaid
Side 1, pt 2: It’s What We Do
Side 1, pt 3: Ebb And Flow
Side 2, pt 1: Sum
Side 2, pt 2: Skins
Side 2, pt 3: Unsung
Side 2, pt 4: Anisina
Side 3, pt 1: The Lost Art Of Conversation
Side 3, pt 2: On Noodle Street
Side 3, pt 3: Night Light
Side 3, pt 4: Allons-y (1)
Side 3, pt 5: Autumn ‘68
Side 3, pt 6: Allons-y (2)
Side 3, pt 7: Talkin’ Hawkin’
Side 4, pt 1: Calling
Side 4, pt 2: Eyes To Pearls
Side 4, pt 3: Surfacing
Side 4, pt 4: Louder Than Words
By Roy Rahl
Pink Floyd: The Endless River
http://www.pinkfloyd.com/theendlessriver/
Columbia
Rating: A-
Wow. Are there a lot of fascinating and contrasting emotions on this album or what! After listening to The Endless River a few times I’m still happily asking “what did I just hear?” That is a very Floyd thing to wonder.
The Endless River takes you through so many eras of Pink Floyd, but does so in a new and unique way. It’s a peculiar contrast. This release does not sound like a typical Pink Floyd album. Yet more than any other of Floyd album The Endless River revels in past tonalities.
So many times the listener can say “that’s the lead synth sound from ‘Shine On You Crazy Diamond’” or “that’s the slide guitar sound fromThe Dark Side Of The Moon”, or “that is a play off the classic riff from “Run Like Hell”’. Very cool! With the lineage this group can proudly boast it’s a pleasure to hear homages to past glories.
There are things about this album that are certain to raise a few eyebrows. There will be those who will not be happy with a Pink Floyd album that is entirely instrumental with the exception of the last song. I share that sentiment a bit. One of the things I enjoy about Floyd is the incisive and often dark lyrics. Without those lyrics this album takes on more of an ambient, stream of consciousness feeling.
Also noticeably absent are the screaming, intensely passionate and melodic David Gilmour guitar solos that so superbly counterbalance the how-many-notes-can-I-cram-into-an-eight-bar-solo we hear so often from guitarists these days. Gilmour delivers wonderful melodies on this album. Still, those classic solos are definitely missed.
But the heart of this album lies with its reason for being produced. The Endless River, as Pink Floyd states on their website, is a tribute to keyboardist Richard Wright, one of the truly great and underappreciated keyboardists of rock and roll. His enormous contributions to the group were often overshadowed by the more charismatic personas of Gilmour and former bassist/songwriter Roger Waters.
The music on the album is a direct product of the last sessions Gilmour, Wright, and drummer Nick Mason would have as a group. The lush synthesizers and beautiful string arrangements are the highlight of the album. This is not typical for Pink Floyd, but in this case I think it’s entirely appropriate. It may not be overly Pink-ish, but it is definitely worth taking in. This album has some extraordinarily beautiful passages.
There is an inescapable melancholy overtone to The Endless River. With the premature passing of Wright one is left with the realization that this may be the last studio effort produced by the rock supergiant known as Pink Floyd. That’s an extremely tough pill to swallow.
It’s difficult to imagine a new Floyd album without Richard Wright; but it’s even more difficult to imagine a world without a new Floyd album somewhere out there on the horizon. This is a band that is supposed to live forever. I for one am not ready to bid farewell, but it may have just happened anyway.
Track Listing:
Side 1, pt 1: Things Left Unsaid
Side 1, pt 2: It’s What We Do
Side 1, pt 3: Ebb And Flow
Side 2, pt 1: Sum
Side 2, pt 2: Skins
Side 2, pt 3: Unsung
Side 2, pt 4: Anisina
Side 3, pt 1: The Lost Art Of Conversation
Side 3, pt 2: On Noodle Street
Side 3, pt 3: Night Light
Side 3, pt 4: Allons-y (1)
Side 3, pt 5: Autumn ‘68
Side 3, pt 6: Allons-y (2)
Side 3, pt 7: Talkin’ Hawkin’
Side 4, pt 1: Calling
Side 4, pt 2: Eyes To Pearls
Side 4, pt 3: Surfacing
Side 4, pt 4: Louder Than Words
By Roy Rahl
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Saw Brit Floyd, the Pink Floyd cover band on TV the other night. Amazing!
*************************************************************
http://blogs.phoenixnewtimes.com/up...floyd_the_ambitious_pink_floyd_cover_band.php
Inside Brit Floyd, The Ambitious Pink Floyd Cover Band
By Glenn BurnSilver Fri., May 23 2014
www.britfloyd.com
Will the real Pink Floyd please stand up? Actually, the real one has decided to sit it out for the foreseeable future, but in its place stands the live spectacle known as Brit Floyd, perhaps the closest thing to the real McCoy. With a syncopated psychedelic light show complete with video and laser projection, a full band including horn section and background vocals, and the ability to pull anything from Floyd's diverse catalog, musical director Damian Darlington says Brit Floyd is the ultimate Pink Floyd experience.
Darlington formed Brit Floyd three years ago after a 17-year stint with Australian Pink Floyd Show, which, as you can guess, is an Aussie Pink Floyd cover group. His reasoning? Simply because he felt he could do it one better.
"There is much more attention to details in every aspect of the show, from the music to the visuals to the lighting," he says. "Everything is that much more perfected and there's a passion coming off that stage. ... It's a coherent, emotional journey through Pink Floyd's catalog."
The band amazingly squeezes in something from every Pink Floyd album, from the early psych wonder of Piper at the Gates of Dawn to masterpieces like Animals and The Wall to the band's final (though Roger Waters-less) recording, The Division Bell.
Up on the Sun caught up with Darlington in New Brunswick, Canada, to talk about the process and challenges inherent in putting together the "ultimate" Floyd show, his youthful discovery of and influence by the band, and whether any original band members have checked Brit Floyd out.
Up on the Sun: This current tour is covering the band's entire career. Obviously, you can't play everything in three-hours, so how have you decided on which songs to play?
Damian Darlington: It's just a case of listening to all those 14 Pink Floyd studio albums and deciding which track from that album best represents what they were doing around that period and which one best fits in the set we're putting together. ... I suppose at the end of the day, as musical director, it's up to me to make that choice.
Are we getting just the hits, so to speak, or some more obscure songs that may actually represent better the whole of the band at that time?
Obviously, there are certain songs no matter what the theme we are going to want to put in there because people expect to hear things like "Another Brick in the Wall," "Wish You Were Here," "Comfortably Numb," "Shine on You Crazy Diamond," "Money," from Dark Side of the Moon, etc. So, they're all going to be in there as well. There's a balance to be struck in playing the hits, as it were, and playing good representative songs of Pink Floyd from their other albums in the context of what we're doing. Hopefully, we've got that balance right.
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYySRcY9JDQ
Is it pretty seamless? I read you're doing this in chronological order from the first album to last.
Actually, we're not. I think with the best will in the world, it would be quite difficult to make it work standing out there for two and a half hours, moving from one album to the next starting withPiper at the Gates of Dawn and then moving to A Saucerful of Secrets. It's not going to work like that. You have to mix things up to pace the set. You need those ups and downs to maintain a good flow.
You're press release also says you play note for note renditions of the songs. Even in concert, Pink Floyd was slightly different night after night. Is there a difference each night, any room for move outside of the box and add your own touches, if you will?
I think first of all when you're talking about the way Pink Floyd went out and toured, they created these songs and they sort of have the right [laughs] to do what they wanted to do and change them. That's fair enough. What we're doing as a tribute band, on the level, people are coming along pretty much expecting to hear the songs in a way that's familiar to the originals. That's our starting point.
Now, within a night we can make decisions whether to do the studio version or the live version, or occasionally we'll marry two versions together and have a studio version start with a live version ending. But on the whole there is a little bit of room to put our own musical personality in there because that's what enables us to come across as a band rather than just a bunch of musicians regurgitating Pink Floyd note for note. If you put a little of your own musical personality in it, you gel as musicians a bit more and I think the audience can feel that. There's a little bit of room there for us to put our own stamp on things.
Are there any inherent challenges with playing the music of Pink Floyd other than getting it perfect night after night?
Certainly, there's the challenge of getting the feel right. Pink Floyd, they were great musicians but they weren't really technical. There weren't any really fast guitar solos or odd time signatures. But there was certainly a wonderful feel they brought to the music. That's a challenge in itself. And to recreate the sounds. Pink Floyd was so pioneering in many respects, on stage but also in the studio with all those unique sounds people really hadn't done before. To redo that successfully, when it comes to the guitar sounds and keyboard sounds and all the sound effects, it is really a challenge.
Brit Floyd includes music made after Roger Waters, a principal songwriter and vocalist left the original band in 1985. Though David Gilmour continued on without him, many detractors say Pink Floyd ended when Waters left. It's kind of like the remaining members of the Grateful Dead not playing Jerry Garcia songs after Jerry died. How do you reckon this?
Well, if you really wanted to be pedantic about it, you could argue that Pink Floyd really ended when Syd Barrett was no longer in the band. I don't personally subscribe to that. I have my personal preferences to eras of Pink Floyd I like, but Momentary Lapse of Reason and The Division Bell are the two albums that came after Roger Waters departed. They're still Pink Floyd albums as far as I'm concerned. I don't have any problems representing those albums.
Your press release says that "With painstaking attention to detail," you replicate "every nuance of every Floydian moment by musically and visually." Do we get flying pigs, beds, a wall, etc. as part of the visual?
There's nothing stopping us from doing that. We do have an inflatable pig. We haven't done the flying bed yet, but that's something we can maybe bring in the future. As for building a wall, logistically it's a challenge. We have performed The Wall, but we chose to project the wall with video rather than physically build a wall. It might be fun to do in the future.
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vT-lKL3gufA
I see that you've created some original video for this tour. Can you tell me about it; where does it appear?
There's video throughout the whole show. It's an important part of the visual aspect of our show. We're not using any original Pink Floyd video imagery, but there was plenty of new creations by ([one-time Pink Floyd collaborator] Storm Thorgerson. There's CGI animation, recreations of iconic album covers -- and you get to see it with a twist from a different angle or 3-D. It's certainly an integral part of the show. It's synchronized with the music as well.
Did you listen to Pink Floyd growing up?
I definitely listened to Pink Floyd. I remember "Another Brink In The Wall" being No. 1 in the UK. It was December 1979. Probably my first memory of Pink Floyd. Then I actually heard The Wall album in its entirety and that's what particularly drew me to Pink Floyd about the age of 12 or 13. I was fascinated by the record that told a story, and all these sound effects linking songs together, and also the wonderful guitar work. I was already learning to play guitar and I wanted to learn to play some of these wonderful guitar solos. That was my introduction to Pink Floyd. I was a fan from quite an early age.
At one point you were in Australian Pink Floyd...
For 17 years [laughs]. It was one big point.
Why did you leave that to start this from scratch?
It seemed like it was time to move on and do my own Pink Floyd show. As I mentioned, I did Australian Pink Floyd for 17 years. I certainly learned a lot about how to do this right; acquired all the skills how to put together a Pink Floyd show successfully. It was the right time to step out. It was just over three years ago that Brit Floyd played it's first show.
How are you doing it differently?
I suppose there are a lot less kangaroos, that's for sure [Laughs]. I just rather think we're doing it that bit better with Brit Floyd. There is much more attention to details in every aspect of the show, from the music to the visuals to the lighting. Everything is that much more perfected and there's a passion coming off that stage. We never get complacent about what we're doing and it will continually get better.
Have you received the approval, so to speak, from any members of Pink Floyd? Have Waters or David Gilmour come to check you out? Have they said anything?
Not as yet. We haven't actually had one of the [original band] members come to a show, but we know Roger and Dave have seen our DVDs. As far as I'm aware they're happy with what we do, but there's no official approval. Who knows what might happen in the future. I might be able to entice one of them down.
But we did have Guy Pratt, who played bass on the last two Pink Floyd tours, come down and get up on stage with us. That was something. And one of our backing vocalists, Roberta Freeman, sang with Pink Floyd on the 1987 tour. So there's always a little bit of a connection.
You also have your own band, something completely different, so are you going to stick with the Brit Floyd and try to squeeze the other one in when you have a break?
The future is certainly about Brit Floyd continuing. That's the main thing I do, but it's wonderful to get the opportunity to play other sorts of music when I can. I like to be a well-rounded and versatile musician, and as much as I love Pink Floyd music, I also love a lot of other music.
http://www.britfloyd.com/
*************************************************************
http://blogs.phoenixnewtimes.com/up...floyd_the_ambitious_pink_floyd_cover_band.php
Inside Brit Floyd, The Ambitious Pink Floyd Cover Band
By Glenn BurnSilver Fri., May 23 2014
www.britfloyd.com
Will the real Pink Floyd please stand up? Actually, the real one has decided to sit it out for the foreseeable future, but in its place stands the live spectacle known as Brit Floyd, perhaps the closest thing to the real McCoy. With a syncopated psychedelic light show complete with video and laser projection, a full band including horn section and background vocals, and the ability to pull anything from Floyd's diverse catalog, musical director Damian Darlington says Brit Floyd is the ultimate Pink Floyd experience.
Darlington formed Brit Floyd three years ago after a 17-year stint with Australian Pink Floyd Show, which, as you can guess, is an Aussie Pink Floyd cover group. His reasoning? Simply because he felt he could do it one better.
"There is much more attention to details in every aspect of the show, from the music to the visuals to the lighting," he says. "Everything is that much more perfected and there's a passion coming off that stage. ... It's a coherent, emotional journey through Pink Floyd's catalog."
The band amazingly squeezes in something from every Pink Floyd album, from the early psych wonder of Piper at the Gates of Dawn to masterpieces like Animals and The Wall to the band's final (though Roger Waters-less) recording, The Division Bell.
Up on the Sun caught up with Darlington in New Brunswick, Canada, to talk about the process and challenges inherent in putting together the "ultimate" Floyd show, his youthful discovery of and influence by the band, and whether any original band members have checked Brit Floyd out.
Up on the Sun: This current tour is covering the band's entire career. Obviously, you can't play everything in three-hours, so how have you decided on which songs to play?
Damian Darlington: It's just a case of listening to all those 14 Pink Floyd studio albums and deciding which track from that album best represents what they were doing around that period and which one best fits in the set we're putting together. ... I suppose at the end of the day, as musical director, it's up to me to make that choice.
Are we getting just the hits, so to speak, or some more obscure songs that may actually represent better the whole of the band at that time?
Obviously, there are certain songs no matter what the theme we are going to want to put in there because people expect to hear things like "Another Brick in the Wall," "Wish You Were Here," "Comfortably Numb," "Shine on You Crazy Diamond," "Money," from Dark Side of the Moon, etc. So, they're all going to be in there as well. There's a balance to be struck in playing the hits, as it were, and playing good representative songs of Pink Floyd from their other albums in the context of what we're doing. Hopefully, we've got that balance right.
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYySRcY9JDQ
Is it pretty seamless? I read you're doing this in chronological order from the first album to last.
Actually, we're not. I think with the best will in the world, it would be quite difficult to make it work standing out there for two and a half hours, moving from one album to the next starting withPiper at the Gates of Dawn and then moving to A Saucerful of Secrets. It's not going to work like that. You have to mix things up to pace the set. You need those ups and downs to maintain a good flow.
You're press release also says you play note for note renditions of the songs. Even in concert, Pink Floyd was slightly different night after night. Is there a difference each night, any room for move outside of the box and add your own touches, if you will?
I think first of all when you're talking about the way Pink Floyd went out and toured, they created these songs and they sort of have the right [laughs] to do what they wanted to do and change them. That's fair enough. What we're doing as a tribute band, on the level, people are coming along pretty much expecting to hear the songs in a way that's familiar to the originals. That's our starting point.
Now, within a night we can make decisions whether to do the studio version or the live version, or occasionally we'll marry two versions together and have a studio version start with a live version ending. But on the whole there is a little bit of room to put our own musical personality in there because that's what enables us to come across as a band rather than just a bunch of musicians regurgitating Pink Floyd note for note. If you put a little of your own musical personality in it, you gel as musicians a bit more and I think the audience can feel that. There's a little bit of room there for us to put our own stamp on things.
Are there any inherent challenges with playing the music of Pink Floyd other than getting it perfect night after night?
Certainly, there's the challenge of getting the feel right. Pink Floyd, they were great musicians but they weren't really technical. There weren't any really fast guitar solos or odd time signatures. But there was certainly a wonderful feel they brought to the music. That's a challenge in itself. And to recreate the sounds. Pink Floyd was so pioneering in many respects, on stage but also in the studio with all those unique sounds people really hadn't done before. To redo that successfully, when it comes to the guitar sounds and keyboard sounds and all the sound effects, it is really a challenge.
Brit Floyd includes music made after Roger Waters, a principal songwriter and vocalist left the original band in 1985. Though David Gilmour continued on without him, many detractors say Pink Floyd ended when Waters left. It's kind of like the remaining members of the Grateful Dead not playing Jerry Garcia songs after Jerry died. How do you reckon this?
Well, if you really wanted to be pedantic about it, you could argue that Pink Floyd really ended when Syd Barrett was no longer in the band. I don't personally subscribe to that. I have my personal preferences to eras of Pink Floyd I like, but Momentary Lapse of Reason and The Division Bell are the two albums that came after Roger Waters departed. They're still Pink Floyd albums as far as I'm concerned. I don't have any problems representing those albums.
Your press release says that "With painstaking attention to detail," you replicate "every nuance of every Floydian moment by musically and visually." Do we get flying pigs, beds, a wall, etc. as part of the visual?
There's nothing stopping us from doing that. We do have an inflatable pig. We haven't done the flying bed yet, but that's something we can maybe bring in the future. As for building a wall, logistically it's a challenge. We have performed The Wall, but we chose to project the wall with video rather than physically build a wall. It might be fun to do in the future.
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vT-lKL3gufA
I see that you've created some original video for this tour. Can you tell me about it; where does it appear?
There's video throughout the whole show. It's an important part of the visual aspect of our show. We're not using any original Pink Floyd video imagery, but there was plenty of new creations by ([one-time Pink Floyd collaborator] Storm Thorgerson. There's CGI animation, recreations of iconic album covers -- and you get to see it with a twist from a different angle or 3-D. It's certainly an integral part of the show. It's synchronized with the music as well.
Did you listen to Pink Floyd growing up?
I definitely listened to Pink Floyd. I remember "Another Brink In The Wall" being No. 1 in the UK. It was December 1979. Probably my first memory of Pink Floyd. Then I actually heard The Wall album in its entirety and that's what particularly drew me to Pink Floyd about the age of 12 or 13. I was fascinated by the record that told a story, and all these sound effects linking songs together, and also the wonderful guitar work. I was already learning to play guitar and I wanted to learn to play some of these wonderful guitar solos. That was my introduction to Pink Floyd. I was a fan from quite an early age.
At one point you were in Australian Pink Floyd...
For 17 years [laughs]. It was one big point.
Why did you leave that to start this from scratch?
It seemed like it was time to move on and do my own Pink Floyd show. As I mentioned, I did Australian Pink Floyd for 17 years. I certainly learned a lot about how to do this right; acquired all the skills how to put together a Pink Floyd show successfully. It was the right time to step out. It was just over three years ago that Brit Floyd played it's first show.
How are you doing it differently?
I suppose there are a lot less kangaroos, that's for sure [Laughs]. I just rather think we're doing it that bit better with Brit Floyd. There is much more attention to details in every aspect of the show, from the music to the visuals to the lighting. Everything is that much more perfected and there's a passion coming off that stage. We never get complacent about what we're doing and it will continually get better.
Have you received the approval, so to speak, from any members of Pink Floyd? Have Waters or David Gilmour come to check you out? Have they said anything?
Not as yet. We haven't actually had one of the [original band] members come to a show, but we know Roger and Dave have seen our DVDs. As far as I'm aware they're happy with what we do, but there's no official approval. Who knows what might happen in the future. I might be able to entice one of them down.
But we did have Guy Pratt, who played bass on the last two Pink Floyd tours, come down and get up on stage with us. That was something. And one of our backing vocalists, Roberta Freeman, sang with Pink Floyd on the 1987 tour. So there's always a little bit of a connection.
You also have your own band, something completely different, so are you going to stick with the Brit Floyd and try to squeeze the other one in when you have a break?
The future is certainly about Brit Floyd continuing. That's the main thing I do, but it's wonderful to get the opportunity to play other sorts of music when I can. I like to be a well-rounded and versatile musician, and as much as I love Pink Floyd music, I also love a lot of other music.
http://www.britfloyd.com/
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Pink Floyd is my favorite band of all time.
Though I'm not particularly religious, their music feels very spiritual to me.
In any case, I see the Pink Floyd cover band ,"The Machine" once a year when they come around locally. They put on a great show. Two years ago they did "Dark Side of the Moon" and everyone in the audience was wondering how they'd pull off the Clare Torry part on "Great Gig in the Sky". I was really concerned about it. Well, Michele Zayla did Clare Torry very proud.
The following video is from a performance they did in 2010 I grabbed off the internet. It's not a great vid(some guy insists on talking and at one point the band hits an off note--but believe me they are an outstanding band) but listen to Michelle doing this part. She's perfect as a fill-in for Clare, IMO. Nails it.
Though I'm not particularly religious, their music feels very spiritual to me.
In any case, I see the Pink Floyd cover band ,"The Machine" once a year when they come around locally. They put on a great show. Two years ago they did "Dark Side of the Moon" and everyone in the audience was wondering how they'd pull off the Clare Torry part on "Great Gig in the Sky". I was really concerned about it. Well, Michele Zayla did Clare Torry very proud.
The following video is from a performance they did in 2010 I grabbed off the internet. It's not a great vid(some guy insists on talking and at one point the band hits an off note--but believe me they are an outstanding band) but listen to Michelle doing this part. She's perfect as a fill-in for Clare, IMO. Nails it.