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The Brick learns to fly with trouble-free second concert
Posted by: Chris Riemenschneider
under
Music
Updated: March 29, 2012 - 10:47 AM
With no lines outside, no waiting at the bar or restrooms and sightlines good enough to see every flying pig on the video screen, Pink Floyd fans who turned out to see the tribute band Brit Floyd at the Brick on Wednesday were wondering what all those Jane's Addiction fans were whining about a week earlier.
Plenty of room at the Brick last night.
The second show at Minneapolis' hotly hyped and hotheadedly received new rock club went off without a hitch. Of course, the fact that there were more than a thousand less people than at the nearly disastrous Jane's concert might've helped.
Those 600 or so Floyd flockists had plenty of room to roam, even with the entire balcony cordoned off for folks from TPT (Twin Cities Public Television). TPT heavily promoted the Brick gig when it aired Brit Floyd’s concert special during the recent pledge drive. And speaking of back-scratching, the Brick’s cozy basement booths made a good place to kick back when the band took a 20-minute intermission. Yep, it was one of those shows: almost three hours of music total. It was also the kind of audio-geeky concert that at least proved the Brick’s sound system passes with flying colors (though I couldn’t test it from the balcony).
As for the band itself, there are two ways of looking at Brit Floyd: a tribute band is a tribute band, and there’s no way around the cornball factor; on the other hand, this group only has one less original member than the pseudo-Floyd tour returning to Xcel Energy Center on June 3. In terms of musicianship, Brit Floyd is more than half as good as Roger Waters’ band, which charges three times as much for tickets.
Guitarist Bobby Harrison was spot-on with his early solos in “Mother” and the lengthy opener “Shine on You Crazy Diamond (Parts I-28, or however many it is).” Bassist Ian Cattell and guitarist/bandleader Damian Darlington capably alternated on vocals, with Darlington fairing especially well singing Richard Wright’s parts in “Us & Them” and Cattell making for a passable Waters in the must-haves “Money” and “Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2).” The three female backup singers also made themselves known, with Emily Jollands nicely handling the unenviable gig of raising “The Great Gig in the Sky.”
At least on one front, Wednesday’s show might have even been more rewarding for the Floyd diehards than Waters’ “The Wall” tour, since it covered more of the discography and included such rarely played fan-favorites as “Echoes,” “Pigs (Three Different Ones)” and “Have a Cigar.” Not to mention, the Brits played a few tunes from Floyd’s post-Waters era (“Learning to Fly,” “High Hopes” and “Keep Talking,” the latter two of which aren’t worth mentioning). But I don’t want to talk up Brit Floyd too much, and risk having a sold-out crowd the next time it plays the Brick.
There are two more concerts that promise light attendance for the Brick staff over the next couple weeks before the venue's next big test: No. 1 hitmakers fun. ("We Are Young") have a sold-out show scheduled there April 13.
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