The Australian Pink Floyd Show returns to Ruth Eckerd Hall Oct. 12.
CLEARWATER – The Australian Pink Floyd Show will return to the Tampa Bay area for one performance on Friday, Oct. 12, 8 p.m., at Ruth Eckerd Hall, 1111 McMullen Booth Road.
Billed as a “newly augmented concert,” the show will mark the band’s fifth appearance at Ruth Eckerd Hall.
Following the sold out dates earlier this year in Europe, and taking its title from the lyrics of the Pink Floyd classic “Shine On You Crazy Diamond,” the 2012 “Exposed In The Light” tour will be a true Pink Floyd immersion experience. New for this year is a state-of-the-art surround sound system controlled by Pink Floyd’s own front-of-house engineer Colin Norfield.
“For us, of course, the music has always come first,” Colin Wilson, bassist, said in a press release. “For the new dates we’ll be putting the Pink Floyd catalogue under the spotlight, breathing life into some material that would otherwise not get heard and ensuring that our audiences are just blown away by the show. We’re really excited about this next step.”
The extraordinary audio output will be bolstered by new lasers, new lights and “jaw-dropping” video effects. TAPFS is known for pushing the boundaries and taking the concert experience to a new level and this show’s multi-media sensory experience promises to set the bar even higher for future tours.
Pink Floyd veteran Lorelei McBroom will be appearing on this tour. McBroom’s credentials are staggering; She toured with Pink Floyd on the “Momentary Lapse of Reason” and “Delicate Sound of Thunder” tours, appeared in the videos for “The Dogs of War,” “On The Turning Away” and the “Pink Floyd Live in Venice” TV broadcast. She also performed “The Great Gig In The Sky” with Pink Floyd – a song she will now perform with TAPFS.
Gold standard
The Australian Pink Floyd Show has been hailed as the gold standard of live Pink Floyd tributes.
TAPFS has sold more than three million tickets worldwide, performing concerts in 35 countries. One particular concert provides ample proof of their pre-eminence: The band was engaged by David Gilmour – Pink Floyd legendary guitarist/vocalist – to perform at his 50th birthday celebration.
The band traces its beginnings back to 1988.
According to the TAPFS website, the first live show was performed to a select group of family and friends – including Richard Guest and Greg “Bear” Sutton, both of whom would serve time in the band’s road crew. Originally going with the name Think Floyd, the quintet soon scored an early gig playing at the Alma Hotel. Early on, though audience reaction was generally positive, finding a regular audience proved difficult. The line-up drifted apart, until 1992 saw a refocusing and a redoubling of efforts.
Milestone performances included the January 1994 concert at Belfast’s The Limelight, the 1997 concert at Battersea Power Station – the iconic building known to all Pink Floyd fans as the “Animals” album cover, and the Glastonbury Festival in 1998.
TAPFS has maintained a busy touring schedule over the years. In 2003, the band decided to try something different. It was the 30th anniversary of Pink Floyd’s landmark album 'The Dark Side of the Moon,” and TAPFS decided to perform the album in its entirety. Backing vocalists and saxophone were added to the lineup. Evocative animation sequences were produced by American animator Bryan Kolupski for a new circular screen.
For two years, the band toured the show, taking it to North America for their first full tour.
In 2008, TAPFS brought Pink Floyd’s legendary rock opera “The Wall” to Ruth Eckerd Hall, performing the double album in its entirety. “The Wall” featured such hits as “Another Brick in the Wall Part 1,” “Hey You” and “Comfortably Numb.”
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