Review by Shawn Perry
We’re getting to the point in the rock and roll longevity sweepstakes where the last of the originals are cashing in their chips, going one more round perhaps, before hanging it up or fading away. Certainly, in the case of Pink Floyd, it’s hard to imagine a reunion or even another tour from the surviving members. This is where an outfit like Brit Floyd fills the gap by honoring the music and presentation without misrepresentation.
That approach has earned the nine-member group — together for 15 years with 1,600 shows and counting — a big enough following to enable world tours on a grand yet humble scale. They’re even selling their own merchandise. They may not be filling stadiums, though the music looms large, played note-for-note alongside the famous imagery, lighting, theatrics, sound bytes, and props needed to recreate the experience of seeing and hearing Pink Floyd as they were in concert. For many, it’s satisfying enough to really take you back 50 or so years ago. They’re even willing to buy and wear the swag to back it up.
Brit Floyd were in Nashville to play the third show of a new leg that’s part of their extensive 2026 North American The Moon, The Wall And Beyond 123-date tour. The minute you’re inside the confines of the Fisher Center, your eye is immediately drawn to the circular screen that hovers above the stage — a Pink Floyd trademark for sure. Much of the video extended that screen, though it was often used in conjunction with a wider backdrop.
Comprising two sets, the first half covered highlights from The Wall with a few other Pink Floyd songs worked in here and there. After a short intermission, the ensemble played The Dark Side Of The Moon in its entirety, then finished the night with a few favorites from the catalog. With the sole inclusion of the head-spinning instrumental “One Of These Days” featuring an appearance of a pig flying high at stage left, all the material was drawn from The Dark Side Of The Moon and what followed. That’s how Pink Floyd was doing it in the 1980s and 90s. If you want to experience pre-Dark Side Pink Floyd music, Nick Mason’s Saucerful of Secrets used to be a reliable go-to. That appears to have ended five years ago. Hopefully, that’s another gap Brit Floyd can fill someday.
Performance-wise, the players are more than capable at recreating pretty much each and every iconic part — from the guitar tone and solos, to the keys and synths, percussion, and most of the vocals, lead and background. It takes both Damian Darlington and Bobby Harrison to honor the famous David Gilmour guitar sound, and they both approach their solos with the care and precision it requires. As musical director, Darlington also handles most of the Gilmour vocal parts with finesse and heart.
Really, when it comes to Pink Floyd’s three lead vocalists, Roger Waters’ voice is likely the most challenging to recreate — a job bassist Ian Cattell is tasked with. While lacking the stinging bark and bite of Waters in his prime, Cattell, who previously toured internationally with The Australian Pink Floyd Show, delivers a highly credible performance, right down to settling in an easy chair (as Waters does on stage) to emote pain-filled verses from The Wall.
The fact that Cattell picked up a Chapman bass to replicate Tony Levin’s parts on “Yet Another Movie” and “Sorrow,” both from The Momentary Lapse of Reason, the first Pink Floyd album without Roger Waters, stands out as one example where attention to detail reinforces the commitment the musicians have for the music and the band that created it. Equal credit goes to the videographers who effectively recast various images and video montages from The Wall and The Dark Side of The Moon, right down to Gomer Pyle mouthing “Surprise, surprise, surprise” during “Nobody’s Home.”
Ángela Cervantes, one of three background vocalists on stage, had no problem nailing the wordless wailing vocalizations originally immortalized by session singer Clare Torry on “The Great Gig In The Sky.” Many of the backing vocalists with latter-day Pink Floyd, along with those touring with Waters and Gilmour’s solo bands, have twisted and turned that part every which way. Tonight, it was refreshing to hear it as it was recorded. Which sums much how Brit Floyd operates — little improvisation or deviation outside the parameters of the songs Pink Floyd fans love and cherish.
They finished up the second set with two of Pink Floyd’s most popular songs — “Wish You Were Here” and “Comfortably Numb.” Darlington wound out the song’s epic solo while a disco ball springled shards of light throughout the venue’s four levels and acoustically transparent domed ceiling, which is constructed of ornate plaster and metal grillwork to allow sound to travel up into the attic volume before being diffused or absorbed.
For the encore, they returned with “Run Like Hell,” often the encore at latter-day Pink Floyd shows. By the end of the night, that Pink Floyd feeling felt familiar and comforting. The surviving members of Pink Floyd may not be as active, but thanks to Brit Floyd, the music and the experience are here and waiting to entice future generations. As they sing in The Wall: “The show must go on…”
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