Floydian Flashback

Cover bands have become a staple of the music world: in rock, The Beatles, Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd are among the most popular. Having already seen numerous Pink Floyd cover bands, we couldn’t pass up an opportunity to see Brit Floyd, the self-proclaimed “greatest Pink Floyd band in the world,” on July 13.

When “The Floyd” first hit the scene in 1967, I paid only scant attention. As lead guitar player David Gilmour noted in an interview: early on, the band was more about “psychedelic noodling” than any attempt to write pop songs. That changed in 1973, when they released their seminal album: “The Dark Side of the Moon.”

The album spent a record 917 weeks on the Billboard 100, nearly three times the number of its nearest competitor, “Legend: Bob Marley.” Paradoxically, despite the record’s phenomenal success, Pink Floyd remained a rather anonymous supergroup whose members blended into the shadows -- faceless and amorphous (below).

Like stepping into a time machine, songs from the past can propel us back to those thrilling days of yesteryear, stirring powerful emotions. Psychologists describe the phenomenon as “the reminiscence bump,” an anomaly prompting memories and sentiments -- and the feeling as if you’re actually there in that time and space.

Hearing “Money,” “The Great Gig In The Sky,” “Us And Them” and other epic tunes from “The Dark Side of the Moon” whisked me back to my summer as a tour guide at Crater Lake National Park. As I pondered these reflections during the concert, the memories were vivid, unleashing a flood of remembrances and emotions.

Brit Floyd pretty much nailed it, from “The Dark Side” to “The Division Bell” and all points in between. Yes, music evokes something far more realistic and compelling -- a sensation that simply cannot be reduced to wistful thinking. Indeed, the experience is a dynamic venture that far transcends mere nostalgia.