ECLIPSE - The Pink Floyd Experience

Sometimes I feel like I repeat myself in these write ups, but sometimes it’s necessary. I’m pretty sure I have said that I love tribute bands and cover tunes. Original music is always superior to that, but I still enjoy hearing alternate interpretations of well-known songs (in regards to covers) and seeing tribute bands that are paying homage to a band that is either no longer around or if they are maybe not doing it as well or as much. Frankly, when you get right down to it, when you have great songs being played by great musicians, it doesn’t matter to me whether the people on stage are the real/original members or faithful fans putting their all into paying the utmost respect for the band they are portraying. Over the years I have seen a ton of tribute acts, some pretty horrible and others simply incredible with a respectable smattering of bands in the “in-between.” A few nights ago I was witness to one of the best tribute bands I have had the pleasure of witnessing. Ever.

They are called Eclipse- The Pink Floyd Experience. So, I’d wager you have figured out who they are performing. I would never consider myself a raging Pink Floyd fan. I do love their music very much, but they aren’t a band that I follow as rabidly as others. I have never seen the actual band, or even any of its members solo live. I wish I had been able to catch Roger Waters recently touring The Wall, but I just couldn’t scrape up the money for it. The closest I have managed to “see” anything Floyd related live was another tribute band called Floydian Slip. At the time I was blown away by what they did, but no offense to them, Eclipse pretty much nailed the music and ambient mood of the actual band (basing this on some live videos I have seen of the actual band over the years, which I realize isn’t the same thing, but whatever) way beyond the other did. Hell, way beyond any other tribute band I have seen in recent memory.

One of the members of the band is Barry Hannibal, long time member of the band Antiseen. Being the lucky guy I am I have had the opportunity to speak to Barry many times in the last year, I was aware that he was working with this group and I had been very curious to check them out. Knowing that Barry is a super talented musician I had a feeling it was going to be great, but seeing the full band far surpassed any expectations I had. The level of musicianship from them alone was astounding. Each member of the band has obviously been playing for a long time (and if not then they must be progenies.) Not only had they mastered their respective instrument, they had clearly labored long and lovingly over learning the songs down to even the most nuanced bits of music, most of which is very complex. I was thinking the whole time, “How in the hell are they able to remember all of these songs and play them some well.”

Not knowing what to expect prior to the event, when AJ asked me if I knew what songs they were playing I told her I wasn’t sure but figured it would be predominantly the hits, but not to hold me to that. What they did was start out the show with tracks that actual Pink Floyd fans would recognize instead of the casual radio fan. This impressed the hell out of me. I don’t recall Floydian Slip playing anything that wasn’t off of Dark Side of the Moon, Wish You Were Here, and The Wall, unless they played something from Momentary Lapse of Reason (though honestly it has been a while since I saw them so I could be wrong.) The crowd responded so strongly for these particular songs. After this they started playing stuff from Wish You Were Here and then all of Dark Side of the Moon. After about a 30 minute break they came back out and played a large selection of tracks from The Wall. There were a few times during their 2 plus hour set (this is excluding the break time) that I was nearly moved to tears. The biggest emotional moment for me was when they performed “Shine On You Crazy Diamond” an ode to the late great Syd Barrett. It has always been one of my favorite songs from Floyd, and the emotional impact of the song on top of it being an incredibly moving, topped with being played so exceptionally well, it just got to me. Anyone that says progressive music has no emotion, I want to take this moment to say, “Screw you, listen to this song.”

Had it just been an audio experience I would’ve been fine with that, but Barry had mentioned before that they were hoping to incorporate video images and a visual show as well at some point. Well it looks like they managed to make that happen and damn did it take the show to a whole other level. They used random video stuff along with images from the animated film Animal Farm, The Wall, and videos from Pink Floyd themselves. I especially loved the use of Animal Farm as that has been one of my favorites for many years now. They also had a cool light show going on, though I’m not sure if that was their work or that of The Fillmore. The whole package was powerful, moving, and a spot on take on Pink Floyd. The members themselves really threw themselves into the act as well. Bassist/singer Jeff Stone and guitarist/singer Ryan Richard tapped into something visceral vocally as well as musically channeling Waters and Gilmour. Watching Barry on drums (I am more accustomed to seeing him play bass though I knew he was a drummer as well) you could tell he was in the zone and giving his all to the music and having a blast. Dual keyboardists Dave Palmer (who also played acoustic guitar) and Craig Beam (who also was controller of the video) added the perfect layers of keyboard work from the original tracks. Brooke Sherrill nailed the background vocals on key songs, sending chills down my spine. Plus (and I apologize as I can’t recall his name) they had a guy come out and play sax on a couple songs as well as adding some psychotic laughter and backing vocals from time to time. The obvious chemistry by all of them on stage was pretty obvious.

AJ and I were honored and happy to be able to catch this show. This was our first show since announcing my semi-retirement from shows a couple months ago. There was just no way I was going to miss this one though, and will do whatever I can to catch them as often as I can. I also have to give a shout out and thanks to my friends Cliff and Kimberly who were getting married the same day as the show. Apparently, since their wedding enabled this show to happen I owe them big time because frankly this was one of the best shows I have seen in a very long time, tribute or otherwise. If you get the chance to see this band, you absolutely got to make it happen. Whether you’re a diehard Floyd fan or just like the hits, this is the best version of Pink Floyd out there as far as I’m concerned. Even when the current incarnation releases their upcoming album and hits the road, I will still stand by that statement. Eclipse is absolutely amazing and each member we got to meet was super nice to use. I was glad that not only was there a huge turnout for the show, but the crowd seemed to thoroughly enjoy the show. It appeared the band was a bit taken aback by the attendance and response from the audience. Just as they were offstage, they were humble and gracious about the appreciation the fans gave them while they played for such a brilliant performance. I guess that takes care of another one. Until next time my peep’s always remember: we don’t need no education. - Chris Martin