Doing things the 'Floyd' way

The yesteryears were brought to the present recently, by an excellent tribute to ‘Pink Floyd’ by Californian band, ‘House of Floyd’.

The band is currently engaged in a nine-city tour across the country. The gig in Bangalore — which was held at the Catholic Club — saw hundreds of music lovers of all ages. They seized the chance to groove to the music of the band that shaped the sound of psychedelic rock.

‘House of Floyd’ is focussed on recreating the live ‘Pink Floyd’ concert experience, from note-perfect renderings of the band’s hits to classic album cuts. Their two hour-long set began with an almost perfect rendition of ‘Shine On You Crazy Diamond’, followed by the popular ‘Another Brick in the Wall’. It was amazing to see the crowd that comprised of families, sitting and having a quiet dinner and then getting up to run to the front of the stage.

Youngsters were playing their imaginary drum kits and air guitars, right next to those who consider themselves to be long-time ‘Pink Floyd’ fans.

“I thought it was very good and quite like the original. It was especially nice to see the youngsters so in tune with the music of ‘Floyd’, loving the music and knowing the lyrics, like the older lot,” says Sarita Aiyanna, who was at the concert.

Most people were pleasantly surprised with the choice of venue, that did not fail to prove itself worthy. “The Catholic Club has opened up to a lot of people in Bangalore with this concert. I’m really glad I listened to my friend and came here,” says Farid Jalal, an audience member.

‘House of Floyd’ had the power to transport the listener back to that amazing moment when one first discovered the enthralling world of ‘Pink Floyd’. Songs like ‘Dark Side of the Moon’, ‘Astronomy Domine’, ‘Young Lust’ and even ‘Pigs’ left one wanting to revisit all those albums he or she grew up on.

A few numbers like ‘Us and Them’ and ‘Money’ saw the saxophone being played by keyboardist Mark Showalter, which lent an interesting twist to the originals. Listening to a female vocalist sing ‘Coming Back to Life’ was also unfamiliar, but impressive. “It’s been a nice evening. We’ve grown up with ‘Pink Floyd’ and I have a lot of their albums with me. I feel this band is good — but not great,” notes Captain Krishnan Varadarajulu.

The band finished their set with ‘Comfortably Numb’ and ‘Wish You Were Here’, an apt end to a tribute to the band that made those songs household names for music lovers across the world.