When I think of “Tribute Bands”, I think of bands trying their hardest to sound like a particular band but never pulling it off. I think of bad wigs, members ridiculously trying to look like a particular member but never pulling it off and I just think it’s pretty obsurd. So you can imagine what I was thinking when my buddy Spoob told me about The Machine. I just had to see this.
What I saw was a group of normal looking guys, no wigs and yet the way they represented the music of Pink Floyd just about made me wet my pants. They really do sound like Pink Floyd but yet they don’t come across as trying too hard. They play with so much feeling and heart and soul that one could almost believe for a second that these songs were theirs!
Founding members Lead singer/guitarist Joe Pascarell and drummer Todd Cohen have been bringing this amazing show to people for nearly 20 years and the results are amazing. Pink Floyd fans are a critical group of people and to try and emulate this band is a tough ship to sail. There is no middle ground here so you either do it extremely well or you have insulted the people who really hold these songs close to their hearts!
The Machine pulled into Raleigh’s Lincoln Theatre on Friday night and the line to get in was around the block by the time doors opened. The conversations in line ranged from past original Floyd live experiences to discussions of The Machine’s show the previous night in Charlotte. Two guys were even betting each other on what the band would open with. The funny thing is that I remembered what they each said and one of the guys called it correctly. I hope that guy got his beer that night!
The house lights went down a little after 9:00pm and “Speak To Me” played over the PA as the capacity audience roared. The band launched into “Breathe” and just as the vocals kicked in, the audience roared with total approval. I was one of those who approved. With the the ringing of the bells, we all knew what was next and the band just took us even higher into the night with an amazing “Time”.
The Machine – Time
[youtube=http://youtube.com/watch?v=3alyU_wV2K4]
The Machine
Friday, January 11th, 2008
Lincoln Theatre – Raleigh, NC
Set I:
Speak To Me
Breathe
Time
Breathe(Reprise)
Sorrow
Welcome To The Machine
See Emily Play
Shine On You Crazy Diamond(Part 1-5)
Your Possible Pasts
Pigs On The Wing(Part 1)
Pigs
Set II:
In The Flesh
The Thin Ice
Another Brick In The Wall(Part 1)
The Happiest Days Of Our Lives
Another Brick In The Wall(Part 2)
Keep Talking
Shine On You Crazy Diamond(Part 6-9)
Childhood’s End
Empty Spaces
What Shall We Do Now?
Young Lust
Wish You Were Here
On The Turning Away
Encore:
The Nile Song
Is There Anybody Out There?
Comfortably Numb
Leader Joe Pascarell (guitar, vocals), Todd Cohen (drums), Ryan Ball (bass, vocals) , and Scott Chasolen (keys, vocals) led the audience on a journey through the many faces of Pink Floyd and did so with precision and pure dedication. While sounding eerily like Floyd, the band played the songs with a mind of their own, elaborating on the songs by adding tasteful jams to the songs and really giving them a new breath of life without ever sounding like they were trying to re-write history.
The band dug deep, pulling songs like the Syd Barrett era “See Emily Play”, “Your Possible Pasts” from The Final Cut and even went into “More” to pull out “The Nile Song” as one of the encores. The set list was full of purly magical moments. At times I had goosebumps and in a few instances was almost moved to tears as in the case of their rousing rendition of “Wish You Were Here”.
The Machine – Wish You Were Here
[youtube=http://youtube.com/watch?v=MY7dFVcMraw]
The highlight of the night was when Joe and Co. tooks us back to the “Animals” album to close out the first set with “Pigs On The Wing” and then tearing all our faces off with “Pigs” which had the crowd chearing so loud with approval and astonishment that you could literally see the excitement on the bands faces as the song drew to a close. The roar of applause and cheering left me wondering if I had really just seen that! It was THAT fucking great!
Second set had some really great moments as well. “Keep Talking” from “The Division Bell” was intense and tight, “Young Lust” packed a serious punch and was really full of energy and the closing encore of the night, “Comfortably Numb was played with so much emotion and soul, bordering on Grateful Dead like jamming at times towards the end that really gave the song some added emotion to close out a beautiful night!
The Machine – Comfortably Numb
[youtube=http://youtube.com/watch?v=41eHPElaecE]
The night came to an end with the audience not ready to leave. We wanted more but with a show like that, I can imagine the band was just exhausted. They gave us 110% and it showed. They are not merely a “tribute” band. They truly LOVE these songs and it’s obvious that there is a dedication there and that instead of just emulating and copying, they are paying homage and really doing these songs justice while giving them more life at times.
In addition to a fantastic setlist was the light show. They really did a fantastic job offering the audience a scalled down version of the type of light shows that made Pink Floyd famous. While the light show was fantastic, it wasn’t so overwhelming that it detered my attention from the band. At the same time, the band members weren’t making attempts to step into the light and show themselves so much, almost as if they were chosing to just let the music and songs do the talking, somewhat playing in the shadows as they were, in reality, somewhat a sillouette of Pink Floyd themselves.
The Machine is a band like no other. I am a fan for life and I can guarantee that this is a show not to be missed. If The Machine comes to your town, go see them. Even if you are a curious and casual Pink Floyd fan, go. Because of seeing these guys, I have gone and explored deeper into Pink Floyd’s catalog and found some really magical and amazing music that I may not have found. I’m already looking forward to my next show and it’s only been two days.
Thanks for the magic you guys! Keep it coming!
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