Ticket 2 Ride

Kansas City has some beautiful and comfortable concert venues including the Midland Theater. First opening in 1927, the theater features gold leaf, crystal chandeliers, and intricate plasterwork. Beyond its historical beauty, the theater has state of the art sound, lighting and visual technology making it a comfortable and pleasurable venue for concerts, plays and other entertainment.

Advertised as “The Moon, the Wall and Beyond Tour”, Brit Floyd aimed to play a good portion of The Wall, all of Dark Side of the Moon, and a handful of other Pink Floyd gems. Looking at set lists from recent concerts, the “gems” portion of the show changes from venue to venue. The big draw of course is The Wall and DSOTM, but fans also expect to hear several songs from Wish You Were Here, Floyd’s other gigantic album from their 1970s prime.

Within the 2 and 1/2 hours of performance time, the “gems” portion included a few head-scratchers for me. Nothing was performed from The Division Bell (“High Hopes”, “Marooned” or “ Take it Back”), but featured “On the Turning Way” and “Terminal Frost”, “Yet Another Movie” and “Round and Round” from the album A Momentary Lapse of Reason. Only the first of those four songs was really worth the effort, not great songs. Brit Floyd reached back for only one pre-DSOTM song, “One of These Days” from Meddle. Totally absent were classics like “Interstellar Overdrive”, “Careful With That Axe, Eugene”, “Astronomy Domine”, “Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun”, or the fab songs “Cymberline”, “Green is the Colour”, “Fat Old Sun”, “Have a Cigar” or even “Learning to Fly”. Instead of cutting back on some the weaker songs from The Wall (which wouldn’t have been missed), most of the double LP was presented, which although impressive with the video images and lighting, the vocals weren’t clear enough to provide the Roger Waters’ rock opera theme. These are just my personal preferences.

The musicianship was superb, very talented performers who delivered a quality, but not a note-for-note version of the original recordings (despite what some reviewers claim). While that the intention in most cases, some of the songs were opened up for extended solos, and on “Money”, the song slowed down to allow the backup singers to hold the spotlight – very impressively. Damian Darlington, the founder, guitarist and musical director, said in an interview about how they present the songs. “If you put a little of your own musical personality in it, you gel as musicians a bit more and I think the audience can feel that. There’s a little bit of room there for us to put our own stamp on things.”

Darlington formed Brit Floyd after a 17 year stint with The Australian Pink Floyd Show. The Brit Floyd lineup has changed over the past 15 years of their existence, and the set list changes from tour to tour.

Some songs require different instrumental or vocal skills. This band had it covered. The Clare Tory vocals on “Great Gig in the Sky” were handled quite capably by one of the talented female vocalists. The band employs more than three, and the vocals to that particular song may be sung by a different vocalists. They are all great.

If you are wanting to hear Pink Floyd songs performed to a high level of musicianship and visuals, the bands to see are Brit Floyd or The Australian Pink Floyd Show. These bands are pricey, but the quality is there and their performances are lengthy.

Set one:

In the Flesh?

The Thin Ice

Another Brick in the Wall, Part 1

The Happiest Days of Our Lives

Another Brick in the Wall, Part 2

Yet Another Movie

Round and Around

Empty Spaces

Young Lust

One of My Turns

Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Parts I-V)

Hey You

Is There Anybody Out There?

Nobody Home

Sorrow

One of These Days

Set two:

Speak to Me

Breathe (In the Air)

On the Run

Time

Breathe (Reprise)

The Great Gig in the Sky

Money

Us and Them

Any Colour You Like

Brain Damage

Eclipse

Wish You Were Here

Comfortably Numb

Encore:

Run Like Hell