Dark Side of the Wall Rocks the Red Barn

WFPK’s Live Lunch last Friday featured an experience larger than the Red Barn could ever capacitate. And it is probably the best music that has been played inside the Red Barn thus far. Dark Side of the Wall has prevailed as a cover band in Louisville, beating out Black Sabbath imitations by their accuracy in the notes. A fully-stocked Dark Side show features plenty of psychedelic lasers and nearly identical video projections of a true Pink Floyd set. But that equipment doesn’t exactly fit in the Red Barn. They bestowed a proper Pink Floyd opening with “Shine on You Crazy Diamond,” stripped of visual arrays. It was on point, down to the unmistakable rumble that builds before a David Gilmour-inspired, poignant solo.

It’s a given challenge for cover bands that modern equipment may not allow for absolute precision in reviving classic sounds. Nobody is perfect. Imagine trying to match the wail of Gilmour in the first guitar solo of “Dogs,” a 17-minute narrative (from 1977’s “Animals”) that Dark Side of the Wall played in full. “That’s absolutely our favorite song to play,” said guitarist Allen Needham, who was seen kissing the neck of his guitar after a nasty solo. “It all is a challenge,” he said. “Everything has got so much substance and depth to it. So, it’s a labor of love and joy.” Anyone can see in their conscious care, playing the timeless music that explores dark history and lost time, their aim is true. This Saturday they bring the full production to Iroquois Amphitheater, including both sides of “Dark Side of the Moon” and the rest of 1970s-1980s-era Pink Floyd.