König-Pilsener Arena, Oberhausen, Germany
22nd February 2011
The Australian Pink Floyd Show
Back in 1988, a group of like-minded musicians came together in Australia to form a PINK FLOYD cover band. But not an ordinary one! Their goal is to play replications of the PINK FLOYD that are as close to the originals as it is possible extending to the visual replicas just as well, and were there to see if they can live up to their reputation. http://www.aussiefloyd.com/
Music & Performance
You can read about something but experiencing it is a different thing, so even though we had read about stuff concerning THE AUSTRALIAN PINK FLOYD SHOW, we couldn’t exactly picture how they would realize it. After taking our seats, quite close to the stage this time, waiting started until the lights turned black and eventually spherical melodies broke the silence, initiating ‘Shine On You Crazy Diamond’ in all its glory and you felt like taking off of the earth, drifting towards the outer space. Some minutes into the track, the jazzy drum section kicked in and vocals completed the package. An epic start of the evening that was and instrumentally flawless presented. 
Next up machine sounds flooded everything to introduce ‘Welcome To The Machine’, another epic opus and an ethereal wave of sounds set on top of an acoustic guitar. ‘Coming Back To Life’ again highlighted one of these awe-inspiring bluesy riffs and an overly melancholic mood, embedded into poppy structures, unfolding later on. Comparing those showcases of the PINK FLOYD material to the originals reveals they’re accurately reproduced, but with a slightly modern tinge to them. Visually most impressing at the time were the green laser beams, stretching out impressing across the hall, taking on different patterns raising “oohs” and “aahs” around. Except that flawless reproduction of PINK FLOYD tracks, there was something special announced for the second part of the show: A 3D element! During the break we argued if it was something like “Hey, here’s the 3D element! Where? Oh, didn’t you see? Sorry pal you’ve missed it” or more like an extended version popping up more than once. Turns out it was the latter. Though I have to admit that some of the stuff didn’t work with me correctly, but when it did it was quite a visual feast like the flying pink pig from space that kept rotating in front of my eyes. 
Maybe I should get back to the music here as there were still some stand-outs to mention. Amongst others that would be the highly anticipated ‘Another Brick In The Wall Part II’ meeting with great excitement and rhythmical clapping, and I think I’ve heard a little sing-a-long. The band went one better by putting ‘Wish You Were Here’ directly after that and the mood climbed one step up the scale as well. With ‘One Of These Days’ and ‘Comfortably Numb’ with a special guest, a huge, pink grinning kangaroo jumping up and down, the band ended their set under huge applause, but had to come back once more to ‘Run Like Hell’. I’ve said it before and I’m saying it again. Even though there was only little movement on stage, the instrumental skills of the band members are unrivalled and contributed significantly to making this a memorable performance.
Setlist
01. Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Parts I-V)
02. Welcome To The Machine
03. Coming Back To Life
04. Arnold Layne
05. Sorrow
06. Learning To Fly
07. Dogs
08. Speak To Me
09. Breathe
10. On The Run
11. Time
12. Breathe (Reprise)
13. The Great Gig in the Sky
14. What Do You Want From Me?
15. Careful With That Axe, Eugene
16. Money
17. The Happiest Days Of Our Lives
18. Another Brick in the Wall, Part II
19. Wish You Were Here
20. One Of These Days
21. Comfortably Numb
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22. Run Like Hell
Rating
Music: 8
Performance: 8
Sound: 9
Light: 8
Total: 8.2 / 10
All pictures by Daniela Vorndran (http://www.vorndranphotography.com/ / http://www.black-cat-net.de/ / www.myspace.com/vorndranphotography / www.facebook.com/blackcatnet)
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