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My Pink Floyd Tribute (Gig Pics)


Ian Benhamou

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I'd love to do a PF tribute. I've also always wanted to play Echoes, but you just can't get away with playing that very often.

 

I did get to play it once; a friend of my son's was visiting. I'd heard him play a number of times at open mic nights and he didn't come off very well, but was obviously a PF fan. But he picked up my guitars and started noodling and I was amazed at his ability. So I sat down at the keys and started to play Echoes and he kicked right in -- what a blast and unexpected surprise. We did omit a couple parts, though! ;)

 

Great pics! Any chance you got some audio recordings? I'd really enjoy hearing them.

 

BTW, have you ever heard Dub Side of the Moon, by Easy Star All Stars? IMHO, it's a must-have for all die-hard PF fans.

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We went the other way: All of DarkSide, All of Wish (*except Welcome to the Machine), All of Animals, big chunk of The Wall, and One of These Days from Meddle. We used to do Fearless but....

 

:thu:

 

I wanted to go more in that direction, but a lot of that stuff would go over people's heads over here.

 

Believe it or not, we did a rockin' Have a Cigar and not once did we feel the crowd get into it! That blew my mind. We get more of a response from Coming Back To Life. Can you believe that?

 

Dogs is another one I desperately wanted in the setlist from day one. But at 17 minutes, we'd have to cut out some important songs.

 

Echoes was in there from the very beginning, but the bass player and I have had to fight very hard to keep it in the setlist. Our argument was that without it, we'd most likely be just another Floyd tribute.

 

We're still building our following though. Hopefully there will come a day when there will be more die hard Floyd fans in the audience and we'll be able to play deeper album cuts like Careful With That Axe, Eugene, Fat Old Sun, Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun, Fearless, or anything from Animals.

 

Tony I'm massively jealous of your set list. We should organize a double bill with both our bands. :thu:

Ian Benhamou

Keyboards/Guitar/Vocals

 

[url:https://www.facebook.com/OfficialTheMusicalBox/]The Musical Box[/url]

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Believe it or not, we did a rockin' Have a Cigar and not once did we feel the crowd get into it! That blew my mind. We get more of a response from Coming Back To Life. Can you believe that?

Hopefully there will come a day when there will be more die hard Floyd fans in the audience and we'll be able to play deeper album cuts like Careful With That Axe, Eugene, Fat Old Sun, Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun, Fearless, or anything from Animals.

 

I wanted to add Have A Cigar a few months ago, but got the "are you kidding?" from a member in my band, too bad.

 

When I was 13, my brother's band played at my high school, they played Sheep.

They also played The Musical Box, March To The Eternal City, etc.

You could get away with that shit back then..(1979-80).

 

What we record in life, echoes in eternity.

 

MOXF8, Electro 6D, XK1c, Motif XSr, PEKPER, Voyager, Univox MiniKorg.

https://www.abandoned-film.com

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We went the other way: All of DarkSide, All of Wish (*except Welcome to the Machine), All of Animals, big chunk of The Wall, and One of These Days from Meddle. We used to do Fearless but....

 

:thu:

 

I wanted to go more in that direction, but a lot of that stuff would go over people's heads over here.

 

Believe it or not, we did a rockin' Have a Cigar and not once did we feel the crowd get into it! That blew my mind. We get more of a response from Coming Back To Life. Can you believe that?

 

Dogs is another one I desperately wanted in the setlist from day one. But at 17 minutes, we'd have to cut out some important songs.

 

Echoes was in there from the very beginning, but the bass player and I have had to fight very hard to keep it in the setlist. Our argument was that without it, we'd most likely be just another Floyd tribute.

 

We're still building our following though. Hopefully there will come a day when there will be more die hard Floyd fans in the audience and we'll be able to play deeper album cuts like Careful With That Axe, Eugene, Fat Old Sun, Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun, Fearless, or anything from Animals.

 

Tony I'm massively jealous of your set list. We should organize a double bill with both our bands. :thu:

 

Its funny: Dogs was one of my first choices, and our guitarist absolutely hates it. Its positioning in the set list can be precarious, but we have found this is a Floyd fan favorite, and sticking it in at the front of the gig is much more successful than putting it at the other end.

 

Cigar is a mainstay of our show, and people really dig it.

 

What probably helps is that we only have four guys, and NO backing tracks (the only concession being sound FX for intros like Money/Time/Wish/Breathe/Sheep), so we end up changing things up a little bit, and if anything, we tend to add a bit more menace to the sound. We rock it harder than the originals, while still paying respect.

 

And regarding the new material, we dont really do much Water-less Floyd (although we did do What Do You Want From Me for a while); were not really fans of it (at least Im not, and I have to sing it). We do some Gilmour solo stuff (No Way Out Of Here, Cry From The Street and Blue Light) and have considered doing some Waters (What God Wants). I want to do more old stuff, but the guys just dont get it; I would do the whole Meddle album just because its so different than the rest of their oeuvre. I think people would freak out if they heard San Tropez! We tried Echoes once at a gig, but it wasnt prepared enough for the guys to be really comfortable with it; instead we actually lift a section from Echoes and put it in another song: maybe one day youll hear it! (It might even be on our myspace now that I think of it: www.myspace.com/pinkfreudchicago)

 

Hitting "Play" does NOT constitute live performance. -Me.
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Its funny: Dogs was one of my first choices, and our guitarist absolutely hates it. Its positioning in the set list can be precarious, but we have found this is a Floyd fan favorite, and sticking it in at the front of the gig is much more successful than putting it at the other end.

 

Cigar is a mainstay of our show, and people really dig it.

 

Yeah Dogs is kind of like Echoes in that respect. Incredible song, very long and lots of instrumental breaks. Also more obscure and only appreciated by hardcore fans. Do you do the long synth break in the middle? We lose certain folks with the whale calls in the middle of Echoes.

 

We used to do Echoes near the end of the second set and it didn't get the response we wanted. Now it ends the first set and it works better.

 

Now that we're seven, the only backing tracks we use are for the sound effects and 2 keyboard heavy songs (Learning To Fly and Comfortably Numb).

 

Personally, I like the post-Waters Floyd. I definitely think both those albums to be more interesting than the Final Cut or any of Waters' solo albums. To each his own.

 

Gilmour's On An Island is fantastic btw. Check it out if you haven't already. Nothing like Momentary Lapse or Division Bell.

 

Also check out Gilmour's live DVD Remember That Night, if for nothing else the version of Echoes.

 

 

Ian Benhamou

Keyboards/Guitar/Vocals

 

[url:https://www.facebook.com/OfficialTheMusicalBox/]The Musical Box[/url]

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We do some Gilmour solo stuff (Blue Light)

 

Just curious, but what are you using to cover the horn parts? ;)

 

 

Now that we're seven, the only backing tracks we use are for the sound effects and 2 keyboard heavy songs (Learning To Fly and Comfortably Numb).

 

What sounds are you using b-tracks on Comfortably Numb?

What we record in life, echoes in eternity.

 

MOXF8, Electro 6D, XK1c, Motif XSr, PEKPER, Voyager, Univox MiniKorg.

https://www.abandoned-film.com

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Its funny: Dogs was one of my first choices, and our guitarist absolutely hates it. Its positioning in the set list can be precarious, but we have found this is a Floyd fan favorite, and sticking it in at the front of the gig is much more successful than putting it at the other end.

 

Cigar is a mainstay of our show, and people really dig it.

 

Yeah Dogs is kind of like Echoes in that respect. Incredible song, very long and lots of instrumental breaks. Also more obscure and only appreciated by hardcore fans. Do you do the long synth break in the middle? We lose certain folks with the whale calls in the middle of Echoes.

 

We used to do Echoes near the end of the second set and it didn't get the response we wanted. Now it ends the first set and it works better.

 

Now that we're seven, the only backing tracks we use are for the sound effects and 2 keyboard heavy songs (Learning To Fly and Comfortably Numb).

 

Personally, I like the post-Waters Floyd. I definitely think both those albums to be more interesting than the Final Cut or any of Waters' solo albums. To each his own.

 

Gilmour's On An Island is fantastic btw. Check it out if you haven't already. Nothing like Momentary Lapse or Division Bell.

 

Also check out Gilmour's live DVD Remember That Night, if for nothing else the version of Echoes.

 

 

Ill agree that the post-Waters Floyd is more listenable than the Post-Floyd Waters, no doubt, but I still dont dig it that much, although Division Bell is pretty good. Momentary Lapse of Reason suffered from a momentary lapse of focus (too many cooks/writers on that album in an effort to write Pink Floyd Musiclame). What God Wants though rocks pretty well. I cant listen to that whole album, and forget Final Cut (a pock on their career).

 

On An Island is very good, and that DVD is exquisite, just to hear Crosby & Nash harmonize on that song; and check out Nash just totally DIGGING Gilmours playing on that song! My guitarist and I saw that tour, and the 2nd half was killer. Echoes was fantastic.

 

Hitting "Play" does NOT constitute live performance. -Me.
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Just curious, but what are you using to cover the horn parts (on Blue Light)? ;)

 

 

Im using everything to cover those horns, and it does sound pretty bad ass. I use ROMpler brass from my S90es, Motif rack and Fantom Xr, layered with some analog brass on my Receptor (Pro53 and Atmosphere). XK1 handles everything else in that song.

Hitting "Play" does NOT constitute live performance. -Me.
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Just curious, but what are you using to cover the horn parts (on Blue Light)? ;)

 

 

Im using everything to cover those horns, and it does sound pretty bad ass. I use ROMpler brass from my S90es, Motif rack and Fantom Xr, layered with some analog brass on my Receptor (Pro53 and Atmosphere). XK1 handles everything else in that song.

 

You must take out the first couple of tables with that patch! :thu:

What we record in life, echoes in eternity.

 

MOXF8, Electro 6D, XK1c, Motif XSr, PEKPER, Voyager, Univox MiniKorg.

https://www.abandoned-film.com

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And regarding Comfortably Numb, Im curious what tracks Ian uses. This is about to change now that I have some nice orchestral stuff in my Receptor 2, but presently, Im still using Background Strings from my Motif rack for the chordal body of the song, with the Fantom XR providing the staccato string lines, and my JD990 providing the twinkling pin prick. While it doesnt have the orchestral brass, that set up has worked greatespecially since Im singing at the same time! The solo/vamp section is basically XK1 for chordal work, and Motif/Fantom string stuff for the lines.
Hitting "Play" does NOT constitute live performance. -Me.
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And regarding Comfortably Numb, Im curious what tracks Ian uses. This is about to change now that I have some nice orchestral stuff in my Receptor 2, but presently, Im still using Background Strings from my Motif rack for the chordal body of the song, with the Fantom XR providing the staccato string lines, and my JD990 providing the twinkling pin prick. While it doesnt have the orchestral brass, that set up has worked greatespecially since Im singing at the same time! The solo/vamp section is basically XK1 for chordal work, and Motif/Fantom string stuff for the lines.

 

I'm curious as well. I use strings & French horn layered for the verses & chorus, and a couple of Rhodes for the 'prick', and I sing the Waters parts.

What we record in life, echoes in eternity.

 

MOXF8, Electro 6D, XK1c, Motif XSr, PEKPER, Voyager, Univox MiniKorg.

https://www.abandoned-film.com

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Still waiting to hear if y'all do the sound fx part in Echoes.

 

Personally, I'd leave that out. It's great on the album, but I'd rather re-arrange it for live. Didn't they leave that out in on Live at Pompeii ?

 

Like I said, we dont do Echoes. (The guys in the band wont have it!) I pinch a couple of the more fun sections from Echoes and place them elsewhere. One part ends up at the end of Pigs (3 Different Ones), and another section actually finds its way into Crazy Diamond, which we reduced to a 10 minute suite, and the part we lift from Echoes actually rocks pretty hard!

Hitting "Play" does NOT constitute live performance. -Me.
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For Comfortably Numb, my backing track only runs until where the outro guitar solo begins. I used to have a backing track for that also, but we decided to keep that section open for improvisation.

 

On the backing track we have the delay slide guitar on the intro and first verse, and the secondary string and woodwind lines in the choruses (not the arpeggiated line).

 

I play a great orchestral patch from my PC3x which is mainly french horns, trombones in the basses and soft strings across the range. Using aftertouch and the volume pedal I'm able to swell the brass and bring the strings in and out respectively.

 

In the choruses I'm playing the arpeggiated string line with one of the many great string patches in the PC3 and still using the orchestral patch mentioned above with my left hand to hit those chords when it goes from A to G/B to C, and so on.

 

I'm also doubling the vocal harmonies on the "I.............have become" using the French Horns.

 

For the outro solo I keep the orchestral patch but unmute 2 zones, one of B3 and one of synth choir "AAAHH" which you could clearly hear on the studio version. I just comp the chords, adding more and more volume, intensity and notes to the chords on each repetition of the vamp.

 

 

Ian Benhamou

Keyboards/Guitar/Vocals

 

[url:https://www.facebook.com/OfficialTheMusicalBox/]The Musical Box[/url]

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Still waiting to hear if y'all do the sound fx part in Echoes.

 

Believe it or not we used to actually play that section live with no backing tracks. I used to hold a wind patch with my sustain pedal while playing this incredible eerie patch from my V-Synth XT. Real film sound fx stuff.

 

But we stopped for two reasons. For one, it looked insane for people to watch a band actually produce acid induced sound fx live, AND, I needed the break to setup my sounds for the next section cause it involved quite a few changes in my rig.

 

So now, I sampled a chunk of about 1:30 seconds from Meddle, created a long fade in and fade out. I start the track at the end of the funk section, so it fades in while the band fades out. By the time the band has completely faded out, there's only about 20 seconds of it before I fade in the Farfisa organ.

 

Not too long, but I think there's still people in the audience who don't get it.

 

It's not omitted in the Pompeii version BTW. Echoes is divided into 2 parts in the movie as bookends. The first part ends on the funk very abruptly with what alomost sounds like a distorted cello line. The second part begins with the whale calls in its entirety I believe.

Ian Benhamou

Keyboards/Guitar/Vocals

 

[url:https://www.facebook.com/OfficialTheMusicalBox/]The Musical Box[/url]

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I wanted to add Have A Cigar a few months ago, but got the "are you kidding?" from a member in my band, too bad.

 

The one caveat is that it's a bitch to sing that Roy Harper part. Something about hitting that high G over and over again.

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I cant listen to that whole album, and forget Final Cut (a pock on their career).

 

I guess I'm weird, but I actually like that album. Musically it's the same old dialed in performances, but I liked a lot of the lyrics like Southhampton Dock, Gunner's Dream, etc.

Very visual stuff for me, and the engineering on the recording is exquisite.

What we record in life, echoes in eternity.

 

MOXF8, Electro 6D, XK1c, Motif XSr, PEKPER, Voyager, Univox MiniKorg.

https://www.abandoned-film.com

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I cant listen to that whole album, and forget Final Cut (a pock on their career).

 

I guess I'm weird, but I actually like that album. Musically it's the same old dialed in performances, but I liked a lot of the lyrics like Southhampton Dock, Gunner's Dream, etc.

Very visual stuff for me, and the engineering on the recording is exquisite.

For me, TFC is not up to the standards of the other albums, it does have one moment of brilliance. That's in "The Gunner's Dream" where Roger sings "and hold on to the dreeeaaaammmmmm..." and while he's holding that last note, a sax solo starts on that same note and it sounds like Roger's voice kind of morphs into a saxophone.

 

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I wanted to add Have A Cigar a few months ago, but got the "are you kidding?" from a member in my band, too bad.

 

The one caveat is that it's a bitch to sing that Roy Harper part. Something about hitting that high G over and over again.

 

Yeah, it's the toughest song for me to sing, and requires a lot of breath, not just to hit it, but to HOLD it for 2 and 1/2 bars of 8. Wicked.

Hitting "Play" does NOT constitute live performance. -Me.
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I guess I'm weird as well, because I love The Final Cut. Admittedly not as much as earlier Floyd stuff, but it is an intensely powerful album regardless. The lyrics in Gunner's Dream and several other songs are incredible, and the intensity and range of the dynamics on the album would be hard to find in ANY record made today. If you think of it as the first Roger Waters solo album instead of the last Floyd album (which, effectively, it was), it's far easier to consider it less of a "pock."

 

Hold on to the dream.

 

Noah

 

P.S. Great pics, Ian! Looks like a very cool gig. I, too, have long had an interest in playing in a Floyd tribute, but I'm intimidated by the very idea of doing all that synth programming (the importance of which you rightly pointed out in that other recent thread). The Rick Wright parts themselves don't intimidate me, but I'm flat-out awful at programming sounds and I don't have enough time or motivation to really polish those skills. Alas, I think a Floyd tribute is not likely in my future....

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If you think of it as the first Roger Waters solo album instead of the last Floyd album (which, effectively, it was), it's far easier to consider it less of a "pock."

 

+1, it's far from a pock. I'll listen to that before anything that came after as well.

For me, there's definitely an "I'm a hired gun on this project" from the Floyd regulars.

However, how can you not like the whip sound that starts The Hero's Return, and then that crazy dive-bombing flange sound?

The first time I listened to that with the stereo cranked I almost fell off my parents couch!

Final Cut and So were the first 2 CD's I ever bought when I got my first disc player back in '86-87?

Oy!

What we record in life, echoes in eternity.

 

MOXF8, Electro 6D, XK1c, Motif XSr, PEKPER, Voyager, Univox MiniKorg.

https://www.abandoned-film.com

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Final Cut and So were the first 2 CD's I ever bought when I got my first disc player back in '86-87?

 

Funny. When I took the plunge on CDs around the same time, I decided to launch my collection by buying 10 of them. The Wall and Dark Side were 2 of those first 10.

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