Jon Butler reviews The Spirit of Pink Floyd - Grand Opera House, York (From York Press)

Jon Butler reviews The Spirit of Pink Floyd - Grand Opera House, York

9:22am Friday 5th February 2010

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The music of Pink Floyd can go from the marvellously melodic to the morosely monotonous, and it would be of no surprise to discover that they pipe Comfortably Numb through the wards of those nice hospitals you can go to in Switzerland to get away from it all.

So when The Spirit of Pink Floyd pervaded the Grand Opera House in York it was a relief to discover that they had exorcised all of the distractions other tribute acts indulge in, such as wearing wigs and costumes that merely distract from the music, and instead chose to rely on musicianship illuminated by a fantastical light show.

The Spirit of Pink Floyd is a superb nine-piece band and they hit the groove from the first number, clearly driven by a love of the music they are recreating.

All the hits were in the set, and the grand finale of Brick in the Wall saw 15 kids from York’s Stagecoach Theatre Company make their entrance to brat out the chorus of “we don’t need no thought control,” a lyric that sits in contrast to the constant video images projected onto the stage that oozed the essence of the original material and encouraged us to constantly think Pink.

If there is a criticism of The Spirit of Pink Floyd regarding authenticity it is that they all seem to really get on well with each other, no hint of Gilmour/Waters goings ons.

So if you like your mellow heavy, this is worth the trip.

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