Credit: CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
Credit: CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
The original
Pink Floyd formed in England in 1965 and released some highly regarded albums but the legend was solidified with album number eight, “Dark Side of the Moon” (1973). It is one of the top-selling original rock albums of all time.
Outside of reuniting for one performance at a charity concert in 2005, the classic Pink Floyd lineup of Roger Waters, David Gilmour, Richard Wright and Nick Mason played its final shows in 1981 in support of “The Wall.” Waters remained with the band for several more years and contributed to the album, “The Final Cut” (1983) but never toured with the outfit again. The remaining three members stayed together until the mid-1990s, releasing two more albums. Pink Floyd’s final tour was in 1994.
“For whatever reason, Pink Floyd still retains that resonance with people,” Darlington said. “It’s got something to say that people are captivated by to this day. It’s really wonderful to see. What’s amazing is, if you travel around the world, you’ll find Pink Floyd fans in the most unlikely places. I came across a Pink Floyd tribute band based in Mongolia. There are a lot of Pink Floyd tribute acts but there aren’t many that are doing it on the scale we are. You couldn’t even fill one hand with bands that take a show like this around the world like we do. Touring internationally is a rare thing.”
Credit: CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
Credit: CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
Global appeal
After wrapping up dates in the United States, Brit Floyd heads to Europe for a three-month, 10-country tour. It includes nine shows in Norway alone.
“For whatever reason, we’re big in Norway,” Darlington said. “It’s quite surprising because it’s a country of only about 5 million people so proportionately that’s a lot of gigs to be doing. There seems to be a big demand for what we do in Norway.”
Recreating the live Pink Floyd experience means not just recreating the music but also marrying it with state-of-the-art visuals.
“Pink Floyd always was a multimedia experience,” Darlington said. “The music is obviously first and foremost the important thing but the visual aspect was always a very big part of a Pink Floyd show. We try to do that on as big a scale as we possibly can. There’s a lot of synchronization between the lights, video and lasers for all the songs.
“The technology, obviously, moves on and it makes it simpler in a lot of areas,” he continued. “But we always try to push that technology a bit further to get some new opportunities.”
Back to the stage
Darlington has been a professional musician for about 36 years and Pink Floyd has been his primary focus for the past 28 years. He was a member of Australian Pink Floyd for 17 years before forming Brit Floyd in January 2011. After nearly two years off the road, Darlington is excited to be performing regularly again.
“We weren’t able to tour for 18 months because of COVID, obviously,” he said. “We only got to do about six weeks of touring last summer, so we’ve got a lot of time to catch up on. This year, we started off the second week of March and with the exception of a couple of weeks break in May, we’ve been solidly on tour since then in the U.S. and Canada, so we’ve covered a lot of ground.
“It is wonderful to be back out on the stage, in front of audiences,” Darlington added. “It’s fun to be on the road again and playing this Pink Floyd music.”
Contact this contributing writer at 937-287-6139 or e-mail at donthrasher100@gmail.com.
HOW TO GO
Who: Brit Floyd
Where: Rose Music Center, 6800 Executive Blvd., Huber Heights
When: 8 p.m. Friday, July 22. Doors open at 7 p.m.
Cost: $23-$157
More info: 513-232-6220 or www.rosemusiccenter.com
Artist info: www.britfloyd.com
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