Friday 21 October 2005

Comfortably Numb Again

I first saw Comfortably Numb, a local Pink Floyd cover band with elabourate props, prejected images and stageshow, at a small club (The Upstairs Club) a few years ago. It was amazing. I walked in halfway through, not expecting much, only to see what looked like Stevie Nicks, 8 months pregnant, standing dressed all in the black in the middle of the stage lit by an overhead spotlight, doing the vocal part of "Great Gig In The Sky" for all she was worth. This time they were in a larger venue (Barrymore's Music Hall). They didn't fill it as well. It was still good. I think they lost their lead singer, who did odd and interesting things with pig masks and monk robes and so on before. They weren't trying quite as hard to be graphic without him, but their show was now more polished and carefully put together. All performances are like car racing. If the audience has no belief whatsoever that any cars will ever crash (or, that any figure skater will ever fall, at figure skating) then most of the interest is gone. You need to give the impression that you're putting it out there hard enough that you might drop the ball. Still, a good show.