"We were asked over and over again by the patrons to play more Floyd tunes week after week," says guitarist Dan Hawes of his jam sessions with bass player Dave Lyons.
Such was the genesis of Canada's newest Pink Floyd Tribute act All In All, It's Just. "Dave said to me one day, we should just do a Floyd tribute. That got the wheels turning and about a month later I had a plan together and began our search for the cast," Hawes says.
He hopes that audiences will walk away with an better appreciation for the genius and scope of Pink Floyd's career: "Everyone knows about Dark Side of the Moon and The Wall but not everyone has traveled in either direction of that time in musical history," he says.
All In All, It's Just is undertaking a four show mini tour of 91原创 Island this month including stops in Campbell River, Victoria, Courtenay, and at Nanaimo's Port Theatre on June 19.
The show takes you from the psychedelic '60s, experimentation of the '70s, and on through the more sophisticated sounds up to present day.
Watching live footage of the band helped the players understand the differences between studio and live performances. While each artist in the tribute has a personal style they bring to their performance, "we have remained pretty faithful to the original arrangements," Hawes says.
"To select from a recorded career of 27 years, a group of songs that can be played in one performance was heartbreaking to say the least. Choosing songs was easy, eliminating songs was the heartbreaking part," Hawes says.
Another challenge was the visual aspect of the show, he says: "Pink Floyd puts millions of dollars into their light show and millions of dollars we do not have."
But thanks to the genius of visual engineer Doug Supple "who can make a light show out of a book of matches and a bowl of dry ice" the light show has taken on a very authentic feel.
After several months of intensive rehearsals in the Comox Valley the show is finally ready to come to the stage.
The performers, who now call 91原创 Island home, include Lyons on bass, Rick Bossom (keyboards), Robb Flannery (drums), Barry Policheck (guitar), Kelly Gough (vocals), Michelle Keir (vocals, percussion, guitar), Rhonda Krabbe (vocals, saxophone,) and Hawes on guitar and vocals.
Plans are in place to go national with the All In All tribute later this year and on to international stages in 2007.
"There are many Pink Floyd tribute bands worldwide. The niche we found was in covering their entire career rather than a specific time period or presenting a classic such as Dark Side of the Moon in its entirety. We are a total Pink Floyd tribute and to the best of my knowledge the only one to present Pink Floyd's career in a chronologically correct performance. The audience for Pink Floyd music is continuously growing by recreating it's self in our youth. They are exploring all of Pink Floyd's career and that is exactly what we are presenting," Hawes says.
Tickets for this June 19 show are available through the Port Theatre box office at 250-754-4555. Performer bios and a complete song list are available at www.allinall.ca.
n With over a decade in the trenches of the music industry, we're reasonably sure Alexandria knows what she's talking about: [email protected].