Formed in 1988 in South Australia, The Australian Pink Floyd Show (TAPFS) is a tribute band of Pink Floyd. They are considered to be the duplicate of the actual Pink Floyd concerts, and are so popular that they also do Arena tours.
The band consists of:
Paul Bonney – Drums
Ian Cattell – Bass guitar, vocals
Damian Darlington – Guitar, vocals
Mike Kidson – Saxophones
Steve Mac – Guitar, vocals
Jason Sawford – Keyboards
Colin Wilson – Bass guitar, vocals
Ola Bienkowska – Backing vocals
Emily Gervers – Backing vocals
Amy Smith – Backing vocals
Jacquie Williams – Backing vocals
Additional Touring Members
Jamie Humphries – Guitar, North America 2006
They are the only Pink Floyd apparently tribute band to have: Recreated David Gilmour’s guitar set up, with custom Pete Cornish pedalboards Currently, they are on a world tour.
TAPFS not only include music originally written by Pink Floyd in their shows, but also a psychedelic lightshow modeled after the lightshows used by Pink Floyd during their 1987 and 1994 world tours. The show includes a round screen with intelligent lights arranged around the edge. Movies and animations are displayed on the screen during each 2½-hour concert. The shows follow the format of one-hour music followed by a 20-minute interval, resuming with another hour of music, often closing with an encore of ‘Comfortably Numb’ and ‘Run Like Hell’.
History:
Starting off with the first International Pink Floyd fan meeting at Wembley convention centre, The Australian Pink Floyd Show were the first Pink Floyd tribute band to tour in the UK back in 1993. At the second PF fan convention in 1994, they met, and shared the billing with, Atom Heart Mother co-writer, Ron Geesin. David Gilmour and percussionist Gary Wallis attended an Australian Pink Floyd gig at The Fairfield Halls, Corydon UK in 1994. They enjoyed the show and invited the band to the end of ‘The Division Bell Tour’ party.
On October the 23rd 1994, The Australian Pink Floyd Show attended The Division Bell tour party at Earls Court. They met all the members of Pink Floyd. The Aussie Floyd received the ultimate support, becoming the only Floyd tribute band to perform for a member of Pink Floyd, namely David Gilmour’s 50th birthday celebrations in London in 1996. The Australian Pink Floyd worked with many crewmembers that had been on The Division Bell world tour. As Britannia Row supplied the production for the event, the sound and lighting equipment was the exact, been used at Earl’s Court. At DG’s birthday, Richard Wright and Guy Pratt joined the APF on stage, for an inspiring performance of Comfortably Numb. They handed over their instruments to David Gilmour, Richard Wright, Guy Pratt, Tim Renwick, Gary Wallis and Claudia Fontaine, and were treated to renditions of ‘Money’, ‘What do you want from me’, and various other jams.
As the 2nd billing on the Acoustic stage, The Australian Pink Floyd performed at the Glastonbury Festival, the biggest annual music festival in UK in 1998. It is remembered as one of the wettest ever, and the APF’s day started with Rolf Harris to push their bogged truck out of the mud. On November 26th 2001, APF became the only Floyd tribute in the world, to play at London’s prestigious Royal Albert Hall. They were joined by the choir from the Islington Green School for a rousing rendition of ‘Another Brick in the Wall’, and Roger Waters is said to have been in the audience.
The Australian Pink Floyd Show started out in 1988, playing pubs around Adelaide, part of a wave of Antipodean tribute acts including Björn Again and the Australian Doors. They moved to England in 1993. Today, they are huge in Canada and US. They have even received Pink Floyd’s seal of approval, playing at David Gilmour’s 50th birthday party.
Pink Floyd have sold 250m albums worldwide, while Cole colorfully notes the Aussie Floyd’s punishing schedule “They’re doing 150 shows a year whereas a normal band with an album out might do 50” – means that “over the years we’ve had as many inter-band relationship problems as the real Pink Floyd”. Even at the bottom end of the business, says Haveron, “there’s Jimi Hendrix or ZZ Top tribute acts playing in a music pub for £300, but that’s still better than the £150 you’d get if you were a three-piece blues band. You can double your money by putting on a silly wig.” In the admittedly unlikely event that you reach the level of the Australian Pink Floyd Show, you’re going to be doing very nicely indeed. Not, as Chas Cole is quick to point out, as well as a “proper” band playing the same venues, but “the individual musicians get paid well. Let’s say they’re making a senior politician’s wage out of it.”