Like a lot of Artpark's Tuesday concerts (Skynyrd, etc.), you had to know going into it that this wasn't going to be your daddy's Pink Floyd show. My suspicions were immediately confirmed when not 3 minutes after I parked the car we were approached by Bops (bike cops) on the hunt for open containers. I brought ONE beer and couldn't drink it without being on the lookout for Bops, who were seemingly everywhere in all of their tight-shorts glory. Times have changed, you guys. I'm pretty sure my dad told me a story once about pre-gaming for a Floyd show in the mid-70's by passing around a bong in the backseat of a cop car which was doing donuts in the parking lot; he either told me that or I'm imagining a time or romanticizing a period in life when cops drank more beer and wrote less tickets and rode less bikes. 

But we avoided the Bops and made it inside, where a sparse but eager crowd was gathered. The third song of the first set was "Another Brick in the Wall," followed immediately by "Have a Cigar," the latter of which sounded great until they absolutely botched a key part of the song: as they were heading into the guitar solo following the line "we call it riding the gravy train," someone in the band missed their cue by a good two seconds, which in the realm of cover bands is akin to murder. I'm truly sorry, but if you're the premiere Pink Floyd tribute band and I'm driving 45 minutes to see you, if you miss a note I'm going to harp on it and judge you for the rest of the night. They concluded the first set with a great-sounding cover of "Pigs," a track from Animals and one of my all-time favorites, before taking a break and waiting for darkness to fall.

The second set was immensely different from the first. I think they even had lasers, or something. They were truly striking, and certainly enhanced the sound. But the fact that the sound needed to be enhanced is really the story of the night: it was just flat, and based on the looks and the fidgeting of the people standing around me, I think other people would agree. There was a lengthy period in the second set where all we heard was keyboard sounds and drum fills, and even the ridiculous laser show couldn't stop the slow but steady crowd exodus Bob Marley would've been proud of. It also led to a woman sitting next to me to comment "that drummer is pretty good...for a girl." Now, girls, correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think that's something any of you ever want to hear. She wasn't bad in the sense that she was falling behind, or missing notes, but she sounded quiet and timid rather than confident. "Shine on You Crazy Diamond" was the highlight of the second set, and "Wish You Were Here" was the lowlight; the tinny-guitar sound they were going for didn't really work out and instead just sounded like they were battling technical difficulties. 

But just because I didn't love the show, that doesn't mean nobody else did. I had a conversation with a gentleman on the way out who told me that he's seen Pink Floyd before and this show was "awesome." Putting my investigative journalism skills to good use I then asked him how he liked the drummer, to which he replied, "He was awesome." So there's that. There was at least one satisfied patron, and I guess if you can move someone in some way or make the night just a little more special for one lonely soul, I guess you're doing your job right and you're probably going to be okay.