By Eleanor Davies
Most tribute bands make a conscious decision to emulate their favourite artist or band, but for Pink Floyd tribute, Think Floyd, they started through requests from the audience.
As their bass player, Lewis Hall, tells me: “Think Floyd has been going for about 15 years, it started out as a covers band in the early 90’s playing pubs and someone came and asked if we knew any Pink Floyd songs. So we learnt one for the following week and then people kept requesting more and Think Floyd was born.”
Now called the ‘definitive Pink Floyd experience’ they tour the country, bringing Pink Floyd to every corner of the UK, and the world.
“The best thing is being able to tour the country and see different parts of the world, while meeting people who appreciate the music,” Lewis, 29, tells me. “It’s always a great feeling whether we’re playing to an audience of 500 or 1,500.”
And one of their latest gigs around the world, playing Rhodes Rock, on the Greek island of Rhodes, was extra exciting for the group.
“We don’t often get nervous before we perform because we’ve been doing it for so long, but there were rumours that Dave Gilmore was at the gig we did in Rhodes,” says Lewis, who lives in Peterborough. “We saw his daughters in the crowd taking pictures, which was pretty exciting.”
And their next tour will see them playing at Southend’s Palace Theatre, on 22 July, with their new show which features the whole of the Pink Floyd album, Dark Side of the Moon.
“Pink Floyd went through various stages and we try to recreate the time when they were at their height as oppose to just playing their stadium stuff, so this tour was quite a challenge to get rehearsed,” says Lewis.
A challenge it may be, but for these four guys, it’s always a pleasure and they will be back on tour again in the autumn, playing more sell out shows and keeping the music of Pink Floyd alive.
For tickets to the Palace Theatre performance on Thursday 22 July, call the Box Office on: 01702 351135, or for more information and additional gig dates for Think Floyd, visit www.thinkfloyd.net.