Brit Floyd brings the machine to the Grand Sierra Resort (photos)

Brit Floyd was created in 2011 by Damian Darlington as a spinoff of The Australian Pink Floyd Show, of which he was a member. But regarding a Pink Floyd tribute band, Darlington thought it could be done better. And so the spinoff was formed.

It looked like the Grand Theatre was nearly sold out for this mid-July show. The age of the crowd ranged from toddlers who needed a helping hand getting around to senior citizens, some also needing a helping hand to get around. The most popular piece of apparel was Pink Floyd t-shirts, of course. I chose to wear a Reno T-shirt, doing my part to help the traveling minstrels remember where they were.

It’s been a long time since I had the pleasure of attending a Brit Floyd show. Seven years ago was the last time I saw them. It was monumental. Since their first official performance in London in August 2011, they have been through Reno at the Grand Sierra Resort seven times. I know I was at a few of those shows, but I only have evidence of the 2016 show.

Over time, Brit Floyd’s musicianship and stage shows have grown more refined. As my memory of attending multiple Pink Floyd shows becomes dimmer, I was excited to see and hear Brit Floyd again. I’m happy to say they did not disappoint.

The band gave the crowd their money’s worth, and time did not seem to be a factor. They broke it into two 12-song sets, with an intermission between the two. The show ended with an encore of “Run Like Hell,” a popular closing song for Pink Floyd.

To my ears, the sound was spectacular. Everything was clean, easy to hear – and very loud. I had earplugs to protect my damaged ears, which I recommend at loud concerts.

The band consisted of nine musicians, three of whom played multiple instruments, plus three talented backup singers who had their choreography well-rehearsed. Singer Eva Avila had the challenging honor of singing the solo in “The Great Gig In The Sky.”

She did it justice. She was rewarded with thunderous applause by the exuberant crowd. Details on the band members can be found below.

The pre-encore closing song was “Comfortable Numb.” Besides being an incredible song that always gets massive approval from the crowd, they inserted a little theater into it.

At the rear of center stage, on a riser, the stage was set for the scene in “The Wall,” where the drugged-out rock star, Pink, is too loaded to get up and go to the stage. Bass player Ian Cattell was dressed as a doctor, complete with a clipboard and stethoscope, and was trying to get Pink out of his chair. He’s zoned out while “The Wall” is playing on the TV in front of him. He eventually gives him “just a little pinprick” to help him get through the show. With my long lens, I could see the actor playing Pink grin when Cattell slapped him in the face to wake him up.

The visuals were fantastic. They had the round video screen made popular by Pink Floyd, countless lights and an impressive array of laser beams. Everything was synchronized to the music, too.

At the show’s start, I noticed a strip of mirrored tiles going from one side of the stage to the other about midway back. These turned out to be positioned just right to reflect the laser light show back up into the ceiling. You can see those mirrors in some of the photos included in this article.

I only saw one incident of unruly crowd behavior when multiple security personnel were challenged to convince a reveler dancing in the aisle that she could not do so. She was putting up a noble fight. Ultimately I saw four security members ushering her toward the back before I lost interest.

This was a great show, stretching for almost exactly three hours—definitely a good bang for the buck. Founding member, guitarist, vocalist and musical director Damian Darlington was very cordial in speaking to the audience on multiple occasions.

History shows us that live music has been a part of our culture for around 3,400 years. With the advent of recorded music, more people were able to hear music. With streaming, we can listen to whatever we want whenever we want, so it’s all too common for us to sit at home and listen to music.

That’s fine, but believe me when I tell you, there’s nothing like live music. Go out and listen to it often. There’s nothing else like it.