Three years ago, I reviewed the first CD release from Dutch Pink Floyd tribute band Pink Floyd Project. Live, Part 1 was a fine album and proved PFP to be a great cover band. Apparently, I was not the only one who established that this band was an outstanding alternative for the original band. Many people visited their concerts in the north of The Netherlands and enjoyed the live performance of Pink Floyd classics. The band grew after every live concert adding all kinds of Pink Floyd-attributes and visuals to their live shows. However, these attributes don’t add anything at all to a live CD. Thus, it was obvious that a DVD would suit their live shows much better. A gig at the Teatertún in Rijs seemed to be a good location to shoot a concert registration for anyone who wishes the band well and for those who couldn’t attend one of their live concerts. It’s a pity, PFP only used one and a half hour of material for the DVD. I presume the band played much longer, but legal rights or financial problems could have been the reason why they didn’t use more material. Perhaps the band just chose their best songs. Whatever may be the reason, we can finally watch PFP in living colour. On the cover of this DVD, you will find a sticker with ‘Europe’s greatest Pink Floyd tribute act’ written on it. Of course, that announcement makes it difficult to come up to everyone’s expectations, especially for those people who are familiar with the music of the original band. The DVD opens with Echoes, the large epic taken from the Meddle album. This classic Floyd-epic gets a strong performance. At first, I had some difficulties with the synchronizing of sound and images, but after watching the images several times, it seemed my brain was playing tricks with me. Everything is just the way it should be. Just as Pink Floyd, PFP uses a screen at the back of the stage to show images, only this screen is a bit smaller. The songs approach the original versions pretty close. The lead vocals sung by Chris Mustamu and Jos Harteveld sound almost exactly like Gilmour and Waters. Well done! Sometimes PFP performs the original music with different musical instruments. A good example is the intro of In The Flesh, where the band uses an accordion and a saxophone, which is very tastefully done! Another fine example is the saxophone solo on High Hopes instead of an electric guitar. The added synthesizer solo on Another Brick On The Wall, Part 2 also works out very well. The use of a real children’s choir makes the song sound like the real version. Unfortunately, the operator took no notice of the exquisite guitar solo at the end performed by Eddie Mulder. I discovered the same fault during the synthesizer solos on Any Colour You Like, because the synthesizers dominate the entire song. On the other hand, the laser effects on Run Like Hell are perfect. They should have used them more often. The final piece on the DVD is an excellent version of Comfortably Numb. Guitarist Eddie Mulder already demonstrated in Flamborough Head that he has been inspired by the intense sounds David Gilmour created. FH’s live classic Limestone Rock is an excellent example of Eddie’s abilities. Thus, it was obvious that he was the right person to perform the tear-jerking guitar solo at the end of Comfortably Numb. The audience loved it as much as I did. Watching the audience, you can see that people of all ages enjoy Pink Floyd music. Both children and seniors sing along with the well-known Pink Floyd tunes. The DVD also contains a photo gallery with some incredible pictures taken from the show, backstage and from the visuals used during the show. Another fine section is the introduction of the band members. It is a bit strange, however, that these images are not accompanied by any music at all. This DVD is a nice document and a fine souvenir for everyone who witnessed the live show. Maybe some things could have been done better the way I mentioned before, but that does not mean that PFP and all the people involved made a bad DVD, on the contrary. Most of the time the sound and images are very good and make this release a perfect product for all the people who like Pink Floyd in particular or progressive rock music in general. *** Henri Strik (edited by Peter Willemsen) Where to buy? |
