March 31 2017 – Another year, another Brit Floyd triumph. We reviewed the band in their first visit to Toronto in 2012 here, their first visit to Hamilton in 2013, their return visit to Toronto in 2014 here as well as their gig in Halifax that year here, Toronto 2015 here. Tonight was the 6th time we saw the show and to be honest we can never get enough of the band and their Pink Floyd mastery – the occasion was The Immersion Tour.
July 18 2017 promises to be a highlight of the summer concert season with Brit Floyd playing Artpark (just across the border at Niagara Falls). Artpark is just about 90 minutes away from Toronto and features the most amazing natural amphitheater venue in the area. If you catch one show this summer make sure this is the one (and the best part is it only costs $12 to get in!). Check it out here.
Brit Floyd has been touring essentially non stop for 5 years. When most normal bands take an album or tour on the road for a year or so they usually take some time off. What impresses me the most about Brit Floyd is the incredible work ethic these artists have. How can you possibly play the same song 1000 times night after night and still manage to enjoy the job? These guys not only do that but appear even more enthusiastic than ever.
What impressed us most about the show the first time we saw it 5 years ago still holds very true. At that time we spoke about the three things we believe make a good tribute show (music, visuals experience). We will reprint part of that commentary as it paints the most important picture of Brit Floyd we believe is possible.
The Music – The music is by far the single most important factor when seeing a tribute band. How successful are the artists on stage in recreating the sound of the original band and the songs so familiar to us from the album? Well let me tell you without hesitation that Brit Floyd is absolutely spot on. They are obviously very talented musicians and must have spent countless hours mastering every note that Pink Floyd created. The voices of Roger Waters, David Gilmour, and Syd Barrett were emulated with eerie accuracy.
The Visuals – Freakin awesome. When I see tribute bands I like to close my eyes and engulf myself in the music, with Brit Floyd I didn’t want to close my eyes as to not miss anything happening on stage (or beside the stage as with the flying pig). Lasers, smoke machines, oval screen with Floyd movies, massive spotlights, and everything you would expect from a Floyd show was there and complemented the musical journey.
The Experience – Of course nothing can capture the experience of seeing Pink Floyd in 1975, but if use your imagination a bit and fully submerge yourself to the visual and aural experience of Brit Floyd you will get as close as possible to the real thing (considering you are living in 2017).
5 years ago we wrote “As word of mouth and the social media machine picks up steam this band will be in even higher demand.” 5 years ago the Sony Center was at about 25% capacity for the first Brit Floyd show in Toronto, yesterday the show was fully sold out and the venue was packed to the ceiling.
While David Gilmour just wrapped up what is quite likely his last tour, and Roger Waters begins what we think will be his last tour also, we know that the future of Pink Floyd music will live very strong with Brit Floyd. Clearly the Sony Center and its 3000 person capacity is too small for such an amazing experience and we are slowly entering the era where the arenas like the Air Canada Center will soon be selling out 15000 seats for Brit Floyd.
Two new musicians to us made an appearance – new guitarist Edo Scordo was a joy to watch with his on stage charisma and Angela Cervantes made sure everyone’s neck hairs stood at attention for The Great Gig In The Sky. We had the chance to interview Scordo before the show so you may check that out here.
The main thing that was obvious tonight is that the band put a stronger emphasis on the post Waters albums with 4 songs from The Division Bell and 2 songs from A Momentary Lapse of Reason. The four classic “big” albums were decently represented with 4 songs from Wish You Were Here, 2 from Animals (DOGS!!!!!), 3 from The Wall and 8 (almost the full album) from The Dark Side Of The Moon. We were treated to 1 song from The Final Cut and 1 from The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn. Full setlist details are below.
Brit Floyd played a rich set consisting of 25 songs as follows:
Set 1:
- Cluster One
- What Do You Want From Me
- Welcome To The Machine
- Coming Back To Life
- Another Brick In The Wall Part 2
- Lost For Words
- One Of Those Days
- Us And Them
- Any Colour You Like
- Brain Damage
- Eclipse
Set 2:
- Astronomy Domine
- Pigs On The Wing Part 1
- Dogs
- A New Machine Part 1
- Terminal Frost
- Time
- Breathe (Reprise)
- The Great Gig In The Sky
- Money
- Wish You Were Here
- Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Parts VI-VII)
- Comfortably Numb
Encore:
- Not Now John
- Run Like Hell
Verdict: 5 out of 5 – Nobody does Pink Floyd better than Brit Floyd. Full stop. One of the greatest bands of all time will be comforted in knowing their legacy will shine on for many decades to come. Never miss a chance to see Brit Floyd in your hometown, and anyone around the Toronto area star planning your roadtrip to Artpark in July for Brit Floyd at an outdoor natural amphitheater.
As usual we leave you with some images from the night.
Nice review. I have seen them 5 times in the past year and I have always been a bit of a stickler as far as how good are Bands in a live environment. Can they recreate their own studio works live? Unfortunately I found that most Bands could not! To me what made a good Band a GREAT Band was how they perform live. Back in the day Rush and Def Leppard were standouts, Whitesnake, Earth Wind and Fire, but few and far between…Now Brit Floyd is not recreating their own sound….or are they? When I listen to actual PF studio albums, there is in my opinion a definite improvement or enhancements on some songs that Brit Floyd must have felt was necessary and I actually enjoy hearing them more than PF….? How can this be? That’s how good these guys and gals are. I have my Ticket for Artpark, hoping they change up a few songs by then to keep it fresh for “Us and Them”. They did slip in “One slip” in Syracuse the other night, don’t think I ever heard them play it before that…Cant get it out my head now…Yeah this Band keeps doing this to me. Not to mention, they`re all good people, have met them albeit briefly, they seem to enjoy what they`re doing and it comes across all around.