The Australian Pink Floyd Show

The Australian Pink Floyd Show, more frequently referred to as the Australian Pink Floyd, are a Pink Floyd tribute band formed in 1988 in Adelaide, South Australia. Their live shows attempt to recreate the look, feel, and sound of Pink Floyd's later world tours,^[1] employing visual aids such as lasers, inflatables and a large display panel similar to Mr Screen. The Australian Pink Floyd Show play venues worldwide.

The Australian Pink Floyd Show in Barcelona (2009)

The band are noted for replicating the nuances of Pink Floyd's work.^[2] The guitar rig of Steve Mac closely resembles David Gilmour's set-up, and includes elements custom-produced by Pete Cornish, who has worked extensively with Gilmour.^[3] The band associates itself with individuals who have worked with Pink Floyd over the years, including Colin Norfield (who has worked as a sound engineer for David Gilmour in his solo career and for Pink Floyd during their 1994 Division Bell Tour)^[4][5] and Clive Brooks – Nick Mason's long-time drum technician.

The show includes a round screen with intelligent lights arranged around its perimeter. During a concert, movies and animations are displayed on-screen, complementing the band's light show. Inflatables (such as the pig used by Pink Floyd during the Division Bell Tour, and Skippy – the band's own giant pink kangaroo and named after the Australian TV series Skippy The Bush Kangaroo) are frequently employed in the band's shows.^[6]

Band members

Though various musicians have come and gone over the years, the Australian Pink Floyd Show continues to base itself around its three 'longest-serving' members : Steve Mac, Colin Wilson and Jason Sawford. The current line up consists of:

• Steve Mac – guitar, vocals (1988–present)
• Colin Wilson – bass guitar, vocals (1993–present)
• Jason Sawford – keyboards (1988–present)
• Paul Bonney – drums (1998–present)
• David Domminney Fowler – guitar, vocals (2010–present)
• Mike Kidson – saxophones (2003–2008, present)
• Emily Lynn – backing vocals (2010–present)
• Lara Smiles – backing vocals (2010–present)
• Lorelei McBroom – backing vocals (2011–present)
• Chris Barnes – Vocals (2015 - present)
• Ricky Howard – Bass / Vocals (2015 - present)^[7]

History

1988-2000

The band was originally formed in 1988 in Adelaide, South Australia, by guitarist Lee Smith. Smith placed an advert in a city music store, Allan's Music which read “Vocalist and Keyboardist required for band. Professional attitude expected. We only play Pink Floyd”. Vocalist and guitarist Steve Mac, and keyboardist Jason Sawford joined the existing line up of Grant Ross (drummer), Trevor Turton (bass) and Smith (guitars). Their first live show was performed to a select group of family and friends. The band settled on the name "Think Floyd", and thereafter played a number of venues around Adelaide until the lack of a regular audience saw them drift apart.^[8]

By 1992, when Mac and Smith refocused efforts to bring Think Floyd to a larger audience, Turton had left the band. Peter Whiteley (bass player/vocals) was auditioned and joined the band during rehearsals for an interstate tour of Australia's East coast due to take place the following year in May 1993. During the period of rehearsals, Mac visited family in the UK where he met with Glenn Povey, publisher of the most popular Pink Floyd fanzine of that time, 'Brain Damage'. During the meeting it was decided that Think Floyd should headline Povey's planned Pink Floyd fan convention to be held at Wembley in August 1993. The purpose of Think Floyd's 1993 east coast tour became one of raising funds for the band's trip to the UK. At the end of the East coast tour, Whiteley left the band, and was replaced by bassist and vocalist Colin Wilson.^[8]

Think Floyd was renamed 'The Australian Pink Floyd Show' prior to their departure for England on August 8, 1993. TAPFS's first UK show was a hugely successful three-hour performance at Povey's Wembley convention. Such was the enthusiastic reception of TAPFS that Povey took responsibility for booking the band numerous shows in the UK throughout the remainder of 1993. Despite the immense success and growing popularity of TAPFS, its founding member Lee Smith left the band towards the end of that year and returned to Australia citing homesickness.^[8]

In 1994, David Gilmour attended an Australian Pink Floyd Show performance at the Fairfield Halls in Croydon.^[9] He subsequently invited the band to attend the end-of-tour, after-show party for The Division Bell Tour at Earls Court in London.^[10]

The Australian Pink Floyd are the only Pink Floyd tribute act to play for a member of Pink Floyd; in 1996, they performed at David Gilmour's 50th birthday party.

In 1995, the band appeared on Irish national television, performing "Young Lust" on the chat show Kenny Live.^[11]

In 1998, the band played Glastonbury, performing on the acoustic stage.^[12]

2000-2010

In 2004, the band performed The Dark Side of the Moon at the King's Dock, Liverpool. The performance was recorded and released as a DVD the same year. This was released as a two-DVD set with the full concert on disc one and bonuses on disc two. Also in 2004, the band commenced a major tour of the United States, Canada, Germany, and Italy, including a show in Switzerland. The Liverpool Pops DVD (and more recently the 2004 Royal Albert Hall performance) has been aired on television in the United States.^[13]

In 2005, the band released a CD of their renditions of Animals and Wish You Were Here at the Liverpool Pops Festival. In the same year the band undertook a two-week tour of South America consisting of dates in Mexico City, Buenos Aires, and Brazil. A documentary about the group was shot at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec and broadcast in North America on the Discovery Channel in 2007.^[14]

Jason Sawford performing at Teatro do Bourbon County in 2007

In 2007, the band performed at several major European Music Festivals, including the Sweden Rock Festival, the Malta Jazz Festival,^[15] the Arrow Rock Festival, Rock Werchter, and Festival do Sudoeste. A DVD of the band performing at the Royal Albert Hall in London in 2007 was released later that year.

In September 2007, the group commenced its longest ever continuous tour of the Americas, performing for the first time in Panama, Venezuela, and Chile. In the same month a performance of the show in Buenos Aires was aired on Argentine national television as part of the Pepsi music festival^[16]

Screen and inflatable pig used by the band in their 2008 shows

February 2008 saw the group commence their "Best of The Wall" tour in a five-week tour of Europe, performing in Spain,^[17] Luxembourg, Poland, Norway, and (for the first time) the Czech Republic and Israel.

The group performed at the Isle of Wight Festival in June 2008,^[18] were the headline act of the last night of Guilfest 2008, and in August of the same year made their first appearance at the Lokerse Feesten^[19] in Lokeren, Belgium.

The band played their first shows in the Ukraine and Slovakia in September 2008.

A complete production of The Wall, incorporating new animation based on the original Gerald Scarfe imagery, was performed for the first time by the band during their 2008 North American tours. The production continued throughout the 2009 European tour, which included dates in the United Kingdom, Germany, Poland, the Czech Republic, Italy, Switzerland, Norway, Denmark, Sweden, France, Spain, Portugal and, for the first time, Serbia.

The summer of 2009 saw the group perform for the first time in Austria at the Lovely Days Festival in Wiesen, and the Castle Clam Classic Rock Festival in Klam. In the same month they were the closing act of the Bospop festival in the Netherlands.

Early 2010 saw the band commence its longest ever tour of Europe, playing in Croatia for the first time.

Since 2010

The band playing "The Dark Side of the Moon" in front of the Lovell Telescope at Jodrell Bank.

In 2010, new management was appointed and David Domminney Fowler ^[20] and Alex McNamara were recruited.

2011 saw the introduction of 3D stereoscopic projection and quadrophonic sound into the band's performances. The Australian Pink Floyd are the first ever band to implement stereographic 3D into a tour.^[21]

Performing in June 2011 at the Hampton Court Palace Festival in London, the band were joined by Guy Pratt, long-time session bass player for Pink Floyd, for a rendition of Run Like Hell.^[22]

For the North American segment of their 2011 tour, the band added Lorelei McBroom as a backing vocalist in place of Bianca Glynn. Lorelei had previously performed live with Pink Floyd on the Momentary Lapse of Reason tour, between 1988 and 1989. At a show in Anaheim, Lorelei was joined by her sister Durga McBroom – who also sang for Pink Floyd on the Momentary Lapse and Division Bell tours – to sing The Great Gig in the Sky.^[23]

In 2012, the Australian Pink Floyd completed their Exposed in the Light tour. Lorelei McBroom rejoined the group for both the European and North American segments of the tour. ^[24]

In 2013, the band toured Europe with their Eclipsed By The Moon tour, celebrating the 40th anniversary of The Dark Side of the Moon.^[25] In July 2013 the band played in front of the Lovell Telescope at Jodrell Bank in England.^[26]

At the end of 2015 Alex McNamara announced via Facebook that he had left the band ^[27] and in 2016 new members Chris Barnes (vocals) ^[28] and Ricky Howard (bass/vocals) ^[29] were welcomed to the TAPFS family.

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Australian Pink Floyd Show.

• Official website