Pink Floyd Tribute Concert
As a grassroots arts organization, College Park Arts Exchange has the privilege of helping talented musicians from the local community present special concerts at the Old Parish House for their friends and neighbors. Hearing great music in such a small and informal venue as the Old Parish House is a special treat – like the great concerts we had from Brad Tatum’s brass trio on January 27, and John Peiffer’s jazz trio on February 8 — two expert horn players, bringing different delightful sides of the same instrument to the forefront.
Our recent Pink Floyd tribute concert (Jan 30, 31, Feb 1) was another tremendous success. Led by talented local musician / teachers Eric Maring and Allison Hughes (both CPAE board members), this concert showcased a young electric guitar enthusiastic, Theo Baum, playing the memorable solos from Dark Side of the Moon. Allison also gave new meaning to the idea of “rock opera” as her perfect voice floated through one of the most memorable vocal riffs in all of rock.
In this blog we’ll let a few of the performers speak out for what they loved most about the Pink Floyd tribute concert:
Eric Haag (bass): Dark Side of the Moon is practically sacred for people of my generation—we know every note and have feelings associated with the songs that go back to adolescence. To share it with our kids, and at the same time demystify it by taking it apart and putting it back together again, is very special. That the outcome was convincing enough to take the audience to “that special Floyd place” made it even better.
Theo Baum (electric guitar): The best thing I learned through this experience was how to combine and put aside differences to push forward with the best we had. It was an amazing thing to finally get to the date and have our best ready for everyone. It was great diving even deeper into a record that I’ve loved for years, thinking that I knew everything there was to know about the LP, but in reality the album has much more complexity and depth than I had previously believed.
Robert Craig Baum (Keyboards/Soundscapes): It was a very long process getting to the last show. But, the third night at Old Parish House was not just electric; it was interstellar. Both band and audience were transported to the Dark Side of the Moon. I could hear a launch code, a countdown, a collective sense of anticipation for the journey about to unfold. I also decided to fold a band named Swans into the opening mix as a shout out to my son Theo to get him hyped, to find that something extra for myself, to take a risk during a moment of great comfort and joy. I learned that age means nothing when you play Pink Floyd. Music that was created as an embrace with something beyond us — something eternal yet deeply present — can bring anyone together. You just have to sit inside it. It’s deeply humbling. And very challenging, too. The young musicians especially learned how to balance ensemble with featured performers much the way Pink Floyd did as a band comprised of four very different people. We all learned the power of pushing through problems and seeking solutions where none were immediately present. I personally learned how deeply indebted I am to [Pink Floyd’s] Richard Wright (keyboards, producer, vocals, esp. organ) in everything I do and have done for about four decades. I miss him every day.
Allison Hughes (vocals): The most memorable thing about working with this group of people was the amazing musical awareness and sensitivity among a group of mostly young musicians. It takes a balance of listening and leading to pull off a show like that and they were amazing!!
Eric Maring (vocals): I was really proud of the fact that all of the musicians were from our Calvert Hills neighborhood in College Park and that six out of ten of us were young musicians – 17, 15, 14, 13, 11, and 9 years old. Quite extraordinary. The kids displayed such amazing musical understanding, led by Theo Baum who deeply gets Pink Floyd. It was also immensely fun to revisit an album so special to me and the other adult musicians and to get to teach the younger musicians how to approach playing something as musically powerful and wonderful as Dark Side of the Moon.
