Review - UK Pink Floyd Experience - 12/04/2019

The audience was treated with a full performance of ‘Animals’ and ‘Dark Side of the Moon’ in their entirety, communicated by the performers with precision and a determination to do the music justice and play it exactly how it should be played. In my opinion they were almost flawless; they included every instrument, from saxophone in songs such as ‘Money’ to the use of the cowbell in the chorus of the song ‘Pigs’. Even the synth sounds were authentic, sounding exactly like they should from the original records. I was most impressed by the guitar solos performed by the central guitarist, who took on the role of Dave Gilmour, as all of them were note perfect. As a guitarist myself, who prefers to improvise rather than to learn set solos, I was in awe of the time and effort taken in order to learn all of Gilmour’s solos and it showed just how committed he was in providing the most genuine Pink Floyd sound. The stage right guitarist, who took up the role of rhythm guitarist, was also given time to solo yet these were improvised, so it was a nice contrast to have between the guitarists.

Probably my favourite part of the show was the bands rendition of ‘The Great Gig in The Sky’, which I didn’t expect to be played due to the incredible difficulty of the vocal line throughout. However, I was astounded by the talent of the female vocalist; her voice was haunting but at the same time the vibrato in her voice was beautiful and soothing – her performance was obviously and deservedly commended by the audience, who began cheering and clapping mid-way through. Another memorable moment was the two encores at the end, the first of which was ‘Another Brick in The Wall Pt.2’. This, again, was played with same precision that had been demonstrated throughout the performance, however the ending was changed so that an extra improvised solo was added after Gilmour’s original solo. This was a welcome surprise for anyone expecting the band to finish after Gilmour’s solo, and it was also great to see that the band had spiced the song up in order to interpret the ending in their own way and remind the audience that although they mirror the sound of Pink Floyd elegantly and impeccably, they are not Pink Floyd but in fact creative musicians. Of course, the whole concert ended with ‘Comfortably Numb’, which was performed under a pool of white light – a truly wonderful moment.

My only (and I mean only) critique of the performance would be the sound levels of each instrument, mainly the guitars. It was very easy to identify the bass guitar and the drum kit, however I felt that the sound from the synth sometimes became lost when the full band was playing. Likewise, it was very obvious to hear that the stage right guitar was quieter than the central guitar. This wasn’t overly problematic, but it did mean that the stage right guitar solos were very quiet which was a shame as his solos were technically impressive and epic. The guitars in general, when it came to the solos, could have been louder in my opinion just to give them more strength and power in order to blow away an audience. Yet it would be unfair to say that this greatly took away from the performance as it was only a minor inconvenience which may have been down to where I was sat or just the nature of the venue.

All in all, the 'UK Pink Floyd Experience' is one of the closest tributes to Pink Floyd you will ever see, a band determined to mirror the original Pink Floyd sound without cutting any corners and providing an audience with a truly memorable experience.