I took my 12 year old son to see "House of Floyd" at Portland's historic Aladdin Theatre Saturday night. My son is a fan of all 70's music and claims he was born in the wrong decade, so while I knew he wasn't as likely to go bonkers this night as he did at Jason Bonham's Led Zeppelin Experience several months ago, I had high hopes that he'd get a better appreciation of the music of Pink Floyd. And if he didn't... too bad! I love Floyd.
It is appropriate that a tribute band to Pink Floyd include an extended version of "Shine on You Crazy Diamond," since the song itself was Pink Floyd's tribute to founder/guitarist Syd Barrett. House of Floyd performed this song exceptionally well and I knew we were in for more than a "greatest hits" set from what may be the best Pink Floyd tribute band currently in existence. The entire first set drew from lesser known albums and tracks, brought forth from the seven players on stage with subtlety and virtuosity.
Pink Floyd's music does not, for the most part, lend itself to jumping up and down and hollering at the performers on stage as we might do at a concert from a majority of other artists. I contend the albums are best heard in a darkened room in a comfortable chair with headphones on. Laser Floyd is a perpetual hit at the planetarium at OMSI here in Portland, whose reclining seats and artificial night sky accompany a laser light show and superb sound system to become the perfect match for Pink Floyd's recorded material.
That's what we got at the House of Floyd show on Saturday, as well. For the most part, the performers played in shadows while the light show played on the walls and ceiling of the ancient venue. House of Floyd understands that the music is the star, not the players, and although all of them were great and the sum of their parts brilliant, the music they played was what took most of the audience back to those special places in our memories when we first heard -- and "got" -- Pink Floyd.
Mark Showalter is an accomplished musician and has a reputation outside of House of Floyd. I was blown away, however, by how much he sounds like Roger Waters. The entire band is terrific, as well, as comfortable with the material as I expect the original members of Pink Floyd ever were.
It is remarkable how much material Pink Floyd had that never made it to an album. "Raving and Drooling" was one such song, played in concert several times but never recorded in its original form (it was reworked and retitled "Sheep" for the "Animals" album). The second act of Saturday's show began with this gem (either the first or second song of the act, I can't remember which and wasn't writing it down!)
20 minutes into the second act, House of Floyd took on "Dark Side of the Moon," almost in its entirety. While certainly a crowd favorite, it didn't resonate as well with me as the first act did, most likely because so much of Dark Side is synthesized, which leaves a bunch of musicians standing on stage doing nothing for extended periods of time. The group finished their encore with a couple tracks from "The Wall," including "Comfortably Numb," which, along with "Money," were the only times I could hear the audience singing along.
House of Floyd faithfully recreates the music and feel of Pink Floyd. For those who are already Floyd fans, particularly fans of the band's earlier work, you're going to love this show. Since the energy and performance of the live set is decidedly -- and deliberately -- subtle, however, it's difficult to determine how far House of Floyd may go to converting new generations of Pink Floyd fans. Since my son downloaded "Animals" and "Wish You Were Here" on his iPod Sunday morning following Saturday night's show, they at least got one new one!
