Echos of Pink Floyd

May 22, 2011

Take a quick glance at the concert scene in Northern Michigan and it seems
like half the shows are tribute bands. But it is not just here, the
tribute band craze is literally all over the world.
That’s in part because the legendary rock bands are either rarely touring
or not touring at all and partly because of the economy. Tribute bands
typically are $20 to $25 a ticket versus $75 to $150 or more for the real
thing.
Next up on the tribute band itinerary for Northern Michigan is  Echoes of
Pink Floyd, considered to be  North America’s premiere Pink Floyd Tribute.
They will bring their “Las Vegas-like Experience” to the City Opera House
in TC this weekend, May 27 and 28. Friday night’s show, titled the “The
Dark Side Of Oz will feature a performance of the “Dark Side of the Moon”
album.  Saturday night will feature “The Wall” album. Both nights will
have the full light and laser show along with deep cuts from the Pink
Floyd catalogue.

AUTHENTIC
With all the Pink Floyd tribute bands out there what sets Echoes of Pink
Floyd apart from the others?
“I think there are several things that set us apart from other Floyd
tribute bands. We are probably the most authentic band out there right
down to the equipment we use. We have been studying Pink Floyd for years,”
said Tom Bellar who handles the Roger Waters bass parts.  “Also a lot of
tribute bands focus one one aspect of Floyd and usually stick to ‘Dark
Side Of The Moon’ or ‘The Wall’ but we go beyond that and play deeper cuts
as well. In fact we know the whole Pink Floyd catalogue, every single
song.”
Bellar and his band mates are also pleased that they go the extra mile to
be as authentic as possible.
“Sound effects are a big part of Pink Floyd’s music and we have that down
as well; most bands don’t have that. We have recorded every sound effect
they use, ourselves,” said Bellar. “We really have focused on the small
details. A lot of bands can play Pink Floyd’s music, but we actually sound
like them. We have the female back-up singers, video show, laser and light
show.”
Echoes of Pink Floyd formed in 2003; they get glowing reviews from the
critics and fans.
“I had the good fortune of seeing the original Wall tour plus some Pink
Floyd shows in the ’60s,” said Roger Pierson of Ypsilanti. “Echoes of Pink
Floyd is awesome, I am telling you if you close your eyes when they are
performing you will think you are hearing the real Pink Floyd.”
Bellar says they hear that sort of thing all the time.
“I have even put my friends up to the Pepsi Challenge and played our
recordings versus the Pink Floyd recording of the same song and most of
the time my friends can’t tell the difference,” said Bellar.  “So we are
proud of that.”

PAYING TRIBUTE
All members of the band have been musicians since high school and big fans
of Pink Floyd. While they do their best to sound like Pink Floyd, they
have a different philosophy than other tribute bands. 
“Our philosophy is we are paying tribute here, we just don’t want to go
through the motions -- we want to do their music justice,” said Bellar. “A
lot of bands out there sound like Pink Floyd but we take it a step
further. For example, when we come in this weekend to the City Opera House
a 700-seat venue we are coming with the production and lasers that are
used for stadium shows. Pink Floyd was a band that pushed the envelope
with production, with lighting and the live concert and we attempt to do
the same.”
Another thing the band is proud of is their Michigan connection.
“We are an all-Michigan company from the musicians to everyone that
handles our production,” said Bellar. 
The band rehearse a couple of times a month for six hours at their studio
south of Lansing.  They would perform and rehearse more but their day jobs
get in the way.
“We have an IRS agent, lawyer, CPA, computer network guy so we have a band
made up of people from all walks of life,” said Bellar. “The cool thing
and the reason we don’t need to rehearse more then we do is because we
know every song, I mean every song and the one thing is the Pink Floyd
catalogue isn’t going to get any new songs added to it.”

Tickets are available online at www.cityoperahouse.org or to receive a
special two-night ticket at a discounted rate, call the box office at
231-941-8082. Check out videos of past performances at
www.pinkfloydtributeband.net.