Pink Floyd tribute act The Machine returned to the Brooklyn Bowl Saturday night, enthralling fans with over two hours of Pink Floyd’s best hits and deepest cuts.
The Machine is one of New York’s most reliable bands, playing at least a half dozen area shows every year, and more importantly, never comprising their high standards of quality production and dead-on replication of Pink Floyd’s amazing catalog. Saturday night’s show was no exception, as the band kicked off the night with the first several tracks from The Wall, followed by Dark Side of The Moon’s Breathe and Time.
The Brooklyn Bowl venue is one of New York’s more unique venues, with a full scale bowling alley and restaurant sharing the large space with a stage and floor. The Machine took full advantage of the open space with a stunning light show bathing the musicians and crowd in rich psychedelic strobes, a noticeable upgrade from the band’s regular shows at the much more cramped, lower-roofed B.B. King’s.
The night’s first set stuck with the classics, with Shine On You Crazy Diamond completing the openings of Pink Floyd’s three most popular albums. After a short intermission though, the band returned to play songs off earlier records like More and A Saucerful of Secrets as well as Animals. Shine On part two led into Empty Spaces and Young Lust, and the show wrapped with the always-amazing Comfortably Numb and an encore of Wish You Were Here.
Many New Yorkers take The Machine for granted at this point, and sometimes it’s hard not to: few of their shows stand out from one another because they are always the height of perfection. Singer and guitarist Joe Pascarell not only nails David Gilmour’s complex guitarwork while simultaneously mimicking Roger Waters’ British vocals and subtle inflections, but he does it with a gleam in his eyes and a smile on his face. The rest of the band is equally expressive, often improvising but always staying true to the spirit of Pink Floyd.
With the quality of The Machine’s performances never varying, the setting is the only thing that changes, and the Brooklyn Bowl venue certainly was a refreshing change of scenery. Fans can also look forward to the band’s annual Hudson cruise shows on the Rocks Off Concert Cruises, which has already started to announce summer rock cruises including The Machine on June 4th - read my review of The Machine's boat show from last year here. As always, stay in the loop with the Hard Rock Examiner for further information on tickets and all local rock and heavy metal news by subscribing at the top of this page, or follow me at twitter.com/NYROCKEXAMINER.
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