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As with Pink Floyd, the musicians don’t exactly do a whole lot on stage other than play their music bloody well. No histrionics from Steve Mac on “Gilmour” guitar and vocals or from Ian Catrell on “Waters” vocals. They do what they do and let the crowd and the lights and the effects do it all for them. Shut your eyes and you’re at a genuine Floyd gig.
As for the lights and effects, which you’ll miss if you shut your eyes of course, WOW, and the substitution of Pig for Kangaroo is a masterstroke of innovation that has that early Floyd humour stamped all over it.

 

So then, the music. From the moment the opening strains of Shine On You Crazy Diamond permeate the air, you know you’re in for something special and Australian Pink Floyd never disappoint through a set that lasts nearly three hours of high voltage class, covering not only these two albums, but also a smattering of “hits” from The Floyd’s back catalogue as chosen by fans. The highlights are a truly wondrous One Of These Days and The Fletcher Memorial Home from the much-maligned Final Cut album.

After the interval, The Wall is given some serious treatment. Mother is beautifully played, Nobody Home has Catrell reclining on a sun lounger with his dark glasses on as he spells out Waters original despair with such laconic glory you can feel the pain and Hey You is just a joy to listen to live no matter which version of the “band” you prefer.

Of course it is Comfortably Numb and Run Like Hell that close the show on a real high, with the lights and especially the glitter ball receiving a full work out before the stage explodes into a sea of light and smoke through which the band wave their farewells.

The second night and the atmosphere is as equally charged, with the set-list starting with Animals and fabulous workings of both Sheep and Pigs, which includes a forty-foot inflatable Boar appearing at the side of the stage, complete with demonic eyes, that has the crowd on its feet in an instant.

Highlight of this second night, however, is another song as chosen by the fans, Echoes, which is quite simply a sublime manner in which to close a first half that is high on energy, with the band as tight as the proverbial duck’s.

The second half sees The Dark Side Of The Moon, with The Great Gig In The Sky, Money and Time just being beaten at the post for best representations by the closing Brain Damage and Any Colour You like, which are just faultless.

Again the show ended with Comfortably Numb and Run Like Hell, how could it not, and the audience went wild with delirium.

Over two nights Australian Pink Floyd shows of high-class entertainment that, irrespective of your feelings towards Floyd’s music, are difficult to criticise in any shape or form.

In the ever increasing likelihood of The Pink Floyd never returning to the road, Australian Pink Floyd fill a void that might seem unimaginable to devotees of the “real deal” with such ease, style and aplomb, Messrs Gilmour, Wright, Waters and Mason may well have become superfluous anyway.

“Even better than Floyd, you ask me.” In all honesty, it’s difficult to disagree following two true rock spectaculars by a band who are truly stunning in their own right.
http://www.aussiefloyd.com 

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