Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Even a torrential downpour hitting Liverpool throughout the day could barely dent the anticipation of Brit Floyd’s welcome return to the place in which it all started.  If anything, it only heightened the expectation of what was to come, what time would allow the people of the city and its neighbourhoods to revel in, the feeling of wonderment and nostalgia that the music being skilfully recreated of Pink Floyd’s greatest moments by the finest musicians and one very special guest.

The Echo Arena in Liverpool may well be considered the natural home for Brit Floyd, the people of Liverpool the first ones who were touched in a unique way by the spirit of one of the finest Progressive Rock bands to enter the music lover’s conscious. Spirit is perhaps the apt word when Brit Floyd were tapping into the energy of the final ever tour by Pink Floyd in 1994, the sensational P*U*L*S*E journey.

With Damien Darlington once more leading the band through the almost herculean task of recreating the memory that still lives long and hard in the minds of all who were present in The Royal Albert Hall, the multitude of magnificent musicians on stage took the Liverpool audience on a rollercoaster of emotions as they kicked off the night by performing tracks from arguably the best Progressive Rock album of all time, the epic The Wall. The sinister In The Flesh and The Thin Ice were greeted warmly before the eruption of noise greeted the band as Another Brick In The Wall and the overwhelming feel of Mother got the crowd animated and vocal as the graphics on display urged the audience to show their displeasure in Government.

P*U*L*S*E was perhaps one of the defining acts of David Gilmour, Richard Wright and Nick Mason’s time with Pink Floyd and one that deserves respect for what they achieved on that tour and following in very big footsteps takes some doing but not for nothing are the men who make up Brit Floyd considered important in keeping the Pink Floyd flame alive.

With tracks such as the sublime Us And Them, Brain Damage, Dogs, the fantastic High Hopes, the haunting tones of The Great Gig In The Sky and the song that is consistently voted the finest in Rock history, the brilliant Comfortably Numb, all being given their rightful place in the sun, it was time for a while slowed down and the audience were transported back to a place where things seemed to be a lot pleasanter to be around. With the amazing Guy Pratt coming on for the last few songs as a very special guest, the intention was clear, no matter what Pink Floyd’s music is as relevant, sometimes as life changing, as it was when they first started. The keepers of the flame, Brit Floyd, make sure of that.

Ian D. Hall