Australian Pink Floyd brings the spectacle of tribute to Pechanga

Every musician has influences that struck him or her at an early age, and Chris Barnes, lead singer for Australian Pink Floyd was no exception.

“I was about five when my brother first introduced me to Pink Floyd,” he said. “I was hooked immediately, and my admiration just grew from there.”

The band, who will play August 21 at the Pechanga Showroom, has drawn raves for decades from critics and fans, even from legendary Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour, who famously invited the band to play at his birthday party.

“The core members of our group are fans first and foremost, and it is a true dedication to everything about them,” he said. “As much as we love other things, Pink Floyd is at the center because if you are going to be a true tribute band, you cannot just have a passing interest.”

The legendary band is noted for such classics as “Money,” Wish You Were Here,” “Comfortably Numb,” and “Another Brick in the Wall,” and many others. They have also released two of the biggest selling albums of all time, “Dark side of the Moon” and “The Wall.” Suffice to say, there is a lot to live up to, and they have done it.

Since their beginning in 1988, The Australian Pink Floyd Show is arguably the ultimate and most authentic Pink Floyd tribute band in the world.

“Our band has been going on a long time, and I still think of myself as the new guy,” he said. “The band’s reputation is great because we are so focused on wanting to get it right.”

It takes a lot to replicate the sounds of Pink Floyd, down to very small details.

“I mean, as a vocalist, I am from Manchester and Gilmour is from Cambridge, so I don’t talk like him, so it is something I have to work on,” he said. “I have to remember how long to keep my voice on a single word or how long to hole a note. It’s very similar to a guitarist playing a solo.”

Of course, they are not paying tribute to a traditional pop band.

“I always say that Pink Floyd’s music is in its own category like Led Zeppelin, The Beatles and The Rolling Stones,” he said. “They are in their own box within their stuff. I mean you have acoustic songs, what I call space rock, big conceptual albums like ‘Dark Side of the Moon” and “The Wall,” “Wish You Were Here” and “Animals.” I mean, there is so much to learn and appreciate.”

Which he often does from the side of the stage.

“There are songs with long instrumental parts, and I will just get out of the way so the instrumentalists can do their thing,” he said. “It is great to watch.”

As he points out, even the singing is radically different between Gilmour and Roger Waters,

“They both have very different voices, very distinctive voices,” he said. “You got to have the full pack of tools in the toolbox. I mean, with ‘Comfortably Numb,’ Watters is almost talking while singing and then Gilmour comes in with a higher register.”

The band leaves no stone unturned.

“Even after Waters left, it was a different thing again, and they go on a massive stadium tour,” he said. “Within it all, there are so many different styles of music wherever you get on that train, and we incorporate that into the show. We do it all because you can’t ignore any one part of the catalog.”

As such, Australian Pink Floyd succeeds in the spectacle.

“There are 10 people in the band, enough to cover the music,” he said. “For the vocals, we have three singers, three background singers, guitarists, keyboards and we have stage show that is a replication of the circle screen light show.”

It Is certainly a different kind of tribute experience.

“No disrespect to the Beatles, but with them it is three amps, a drum kit and they are much more iconic visually,” he said. “You want a bass like Paul played and guitars like John and George.”

But Pink Floyd was certainly different visually,

“We are kind of anonymous like the members of Pink Floyd,” he said. “They were like professors in a laboratory, almost like an orchestra. They didn’t have a Freddie Mercury or Mick Jagger running around on stage. Instead, the show is an experience, and we are out there wearing regular black clothes.”

One thing is certain is that this show is all over the map in styles just as Pink Floyd was when they played live.

“We are doing the ‘Wish You Were Here’ album, and there as so many moods and vibes, some songs we had never played before,” he said. “I may be on stage for 90 seconds and then here comes all these funky bits and then screaming slide guitar and all that and such a funky vibe and then melancholy. I appreciate all the aspects of these songs. It is such a trip to play that album all the way through.”

As such, they do cover the range of albums and material throughout the show.

“There is a lot of space to maneuver with all the studio output they had,” he said. “We try to include a range of everything from each period of the band.”

And it is done with precision.

“A lot of the people who come to see us know every note that is sung and every note on the guitar,” he said. “We try to be as exact as we can.”

Chris Barnes