PINK FLOYD’S EVOLUTION – MELBOURNE RECITAL CENTRE – 20 July 2024
Review: Craig Eriksson Photos: Jason Roserwarne
In 2023, Pink Floyd celebrated the 50th Anniversary of their iconic The Dark Side of the Moon album. This is an incredible concept album with a heartbeat that speaks directly to the soul and characterises modern society: mental health, alienation, materialism, awareness of one’s mortality and disillusionment. A journey between life and death and everything in between that we are confronted with throughout our journey of life. The album steps us through these various stages and confrontations we encounter throughout life.
If you’re like me and have never had the opportunity to see Pink Floyd, then what better way to celebrate and enjoy this magnificent Pink Floyd album than to experience the Pink Floyd’s Evolution show with an All-Star Australian band performing the entire album live.
This All-Star band were tight and collaborated really well together delivering an absolutely beautiful majestic masterpiece tonight. They took us on an instrumental and visual voyage transcending us through the cycle of life, death and human experience.
The show opened with Speak To Me. This song is like an overture for the album. You can hear ticking clocks, a cash register, crazy laughter and a woman’s scream all interwoven with the sound of a pulsing heart. This opener is like we’ve just been born and entered this chaotic mad world we call life. We take our first breath as we enter into the dreamy Breathe (In the Air), sung by Susie Goble with her beautiful strong soulful vocals. Haydn Meggitt on drums provided the backing vocals for this song along with Roger Mason (electronics), James Ryan (guitars), Kit Riley (bass) and Pete Mitchell (guitars). Breathe and take time to smell the roses and enjoy what life has to offer.
The stage setting had a large cinematic screen behind the band showing the initial calmness of the seaside and then the wildness of the ocean and surfers riding giant waves. These surfers have no fear as they surf on some of the largest and wildest waves you can ever imagine.
That led straight into On The Run with wonderful futuristic electronics that sent the audience on quite a journey. The stage backdrop was set back in the war with planes dropping bombs.
Time was next and with the lyrics: “And then one day you find 10 years have got behind you, no one told you when to run, you missed the starting gun” was sung by James Ryan. Reminds you that time flies and it can get away from you, so you’ve got to make the most of life and not let it escape you, as the clock will inevitably run out on everyone. The songs ends with lyrics: “The time is gone, the song is over, Thought I’d something more to say.”
Olivia Nathan then delivered the gospel-like, hair-raising vocals on The Great Gig in the Sky. Olivia wailed (completely wordless) over a sublime chord sequence and the various tones and depth of her voice captivated the audience, who sat frozen in their seats in total awe. This song apparently was termed ‘The Mortality Sequence’ with the theme of the wailing depicting religion, death and loss. This was one of the biggest highlights of the evening that had a wow-factor and received a standing ovation for Olivia’s powerful delivery.
The hit single from the album, Money was next with the back screen showing all forms of currency (coins, notes, cash registers, bags of cash). Great guitar riffs and solo breaks. Pete Mitchell plays the saxophone on this song. With lyrics such as: “Money, so they say, is the root of all evil today, but if you ask for a rise, it’s no surprise that they’re giving none away.” The song is obviously about how money plays a significant part in our lives and can lead to us getting consumed and caught up in greed, wealth and materialism but also financial hardship.
Us and Them had a wonderful back drop of a man and woman. The song is apparently about humanism and alienation. Inequality, prejudice, failure, conflict, warfare that can prevent human beings from connecting with one other. It’s a serene song and has always been a favourite of mine.
Any Colour You Like – this is an instrumental song highlighting how amazing each member of this All-Star band are with their craft. Apparently the song denotes offering a choice where there is none. A metaphoric song about a salesman hawking cheap items out of a van saying you can have any colour you want when there was actually no choice.
Brain Damage – a beautiful melody with heavy lyrical content, featuring maniac laughter, dedicated to the late and great Syd Barrett who was quite eccentric and sadly experienced destabilizing mental illness, schizophrenia and so much more. Syd Barrett was the original frontman of Pink Floyd and was one of a kind and the music mastermind behind Pink Floyd’s style of music. The cinematic back drop featured images of a brain. Haydn Meggitt (drummer) does the lunatic noises within the song which was a crack up and had everyone laughing.
Eclipse – this song brings this concept album to a conclusion, carrying the whole journey of life we have just travelled and experienced towards an end. This song encapsulates all the other songs we have just experienced. Breathe (All that you touch / And all that you see), Money (And all that you buy, beg, borrow and steal), Time (And all that is now / and all that is gone / and all that’s to come) and Us and Them (And all that you fight / and everyone you slight). The final lyrics of the song: “And everything under the sun is in tune / But the sun is eclipsed by the moon”.
The All-Star Band also performed a few other Pink Floyd songs.
Shine On You Crazy Diamond – My all-time favourite Pink Floyd song. The band played the full length song and was tastefully played, giving guitarist James Ryan his own opportunity to shine. The stage backdrop displayed old black and white pictures of Pink Floyd and was a most fitting, beautiful tribute to the late, great Syd Barrett.
Echoes was a 23-minute Pink Floyd aural extravaganza. A funky organ-bass-drums segment with stunning guitar solos and haunting ‘seagulls’ created by plugging a wah-wah pedal in back to front. The back drop displayed seagulls flying about and picking out food from the ocean.
If you allow me to get a little deep and meaningful, the take away that I got from tonights wonderful concert, visual show and concept album is that life throws up many tough challenges and obstacles along the way and it’s up to us to choose how we deal with and manage them that can create either a positive or negative outcome in our lives.
The All-Star Band returned for an encore: Another Brick In The Wall, which involved much crowd participation. It was a jovial finish to our evening, with everyone singing along which I felt was the perfect finish for the show to lighten the load after the heaviness and rollercoaster of life’s journey that we had all just been taken on.
A commendable and absolutely wonderful show!
