Friday night saw a unique event in the world of cover bands, as Pink Floyd tribute act The Machine played with the Bergen Youth Orchestra Symphony at the Symphony Space Theater on the Upper West Side.
The Machine, a well established four-man group, has been playing the music of Pink Floyd in the New York area for well over 20 years. Their traditional shows eschew the numerous performers and big budget special effects typical of Pink Floyd, boiled down to just a guitarist, bassist, drummer and keyboard player. This often prevents them from playing some of the more heavily produced Floyd songs due to a lack of available players or effects, but their heart and soul and love for the music shines through their playing every time, and keeps their ticket prices low enough for fans of all means to regularly attend their numerous New York shows.
Friday night’s show, however, gave the group a rare opportunity to play with the dozens of young musicians comprising the Bergen Youth Orchestra Symphony, led by conductor Eugene Minor, at the Symphony Space at 95th and Broadway. This upscale venue was a noticeable change for The Machine, which usually plays local shows at B.B. King’s Bar & Grill, a standing-only venue. The audience also differed from The Machine’s typical crowd, as numerous parents clearly unfamiliar with much of Pink Floyd’s lengthy catalog sat alongside die-hard Floyd fans as the group performed the psychedelically-edged masterpieces that define Pink Floyd as masters of sonic instrumentation.
The concept of an orchestral take on Pink Floyd has already been done by the London Philharmonic, who performed and released a full album of Floyd songs, but lacking vocals and with much liberty taken in the arrangement of the music, the record is at best a referential nod to the band, lacking the essence of the original rock music. Led by the true purists in The Machine, Friday night’s performance was to be a landmark in the art of Pink Floyd’s music.
The performance started with Shine On You Crazy Diamond, a long, multi-parted 13 minute track from the Wish You Were Here album. As an archetypal Floyd song, resplendent with numerous synthetic instruments as well a significant saxophone solo, it was a natural fit with the orchestra and its immense instrumental range. The sight of bows flying up and down in perfect synchronization to the slow, steady march of Shine On was truly enjoyable, and while keyboardist Scott Chasolen has traditionally been able to replicate Pink Floyd’s distinctive and varied synthesized sound on his banks of keyboards, the presence of actual string and brass instruments added an unmistakable intensity and atmosphere to the music.
The Machine is known for mixing in deep cuts and more obscure Pink Floyd songs into their setlists, and gave the symphony a chance to shine on the otherworldly sonic psychedelia in Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun, as well as with radio hits such as High Hopes and fan favorite Comfortably Numb. However, on other songs, such as the cold, stark, synthesizer-driven Welcome to the Machine, the children spent most of the song patiently sitting still, with no room in the minimalist song for extra instrumentation.
After a short intermission, the musicians returned for that mainstay of live Pink Floyd shows, a performance of Dark Side of the Moon in its entirety. As an album reknown for its innovative and generous use of instruments atypical for rock bands, both The Machine and the Bergen Symphony got to shine as they played through the best-selling rock album of all time. Especially notable was their rendition of The Great Gig in the Sky, as a guest vocalist joined the stage to hit the ethereal high notes of the vocal solo, which she nailed with spine-chilling precision. The group as a whole hit their stride on the classic track Money, with the entire theater bouncing to the bass-heavy beat, but the symphony’s true moment of glory came on the intensely expansive Any Color You Like. The song is a virtual explosion of instrumental aplomb, as late Pink Floyd keyboardist Richard Wright’s synthesizers crafted an almost physical atmosphere of sonic imagery, and the various sections of the Bergen Symphony were able to highlight and even improve upon the aural landscape.
After completing their flawless performance of the classic album, the symphony exited the stage to much applause, both from the parents as well as the young and old Pink Floyd fanatics packing the audience. The band returned without the children for a two-song encore of Wish You Were Here and Another Brick In The Wall, engaging the crowd in a full fledged sing-along for two of Pink Floyd’s most popular songs as the exuberant youths watched from the back of the theater.
As a tribute band for one of the world’s most popular groups, The Machine has generally stuck to low-budget performances that focus on the heart of the music, rather than the spectacle and audio-visual productions that are part and parcel of Pink Floyd’s famously extravagant live shows. However, Friday night’s performance aptly demonstrated that not only is the group more than qualified to play on any level, but they, along with the talented schoolchildren of the Bergen Youth Orchestra Symphony, are at the forefront of innovation when it comes to some of the most popular music of all time.
To see my video of The Machine & The Bergen Youth Symphony Orchestra performing High Hopes, click here.
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