Classic Albums Live will perform the 1973 album at CityStage in downtown Springfield Saturday night.
Cover art for the 1973 Pink Floyd album "Dark Side of the Moon."Classic Albums Live returns to Springfield on Saturday night when an ensemble of some nine musicians comes to CityStage to recreate one of the most popular records in rock history - Pink Floyd’s “Dark Side of the Moon.”
“It’s our flagship show, the first we ever did nine years ago, and at that moment in time when it hit the stage, I knew the album series would turn into something of weight,” said Craig Martin, founder of the Classic Albums Live moniker.
“It’s hippy trippy stuff with blistering guitars and crazy keyboards with some beautiful vocals. We’ve performed the album on stage now over 100 times and have done a lot of tweaking along the way. For example, the clock sounds are done organically on stage with everyone up there hitting something. And, we recently added a layered vocal sound to the performance, just like you hear on the studio album,” he added.
“Dark Side of the Moon,” a landmark recording characterized by its sonic nuances, experimental sounds, and advanced recording techniques, was released in 1973. It became the group’s first number one album on the U.S. charts and went on to stay on the Billboard Top 200 for a massive 741 weeks, establishing a world record.
Classic Albums Live takes some of the world’s most enduring recordings and recreates them live on stage, as Martin is fond of saying, “note for note, cut for cut,” minus all of the “gimmickry and cheesy impersonations.”
Martin gave birth to the idea of recreating an entire album on stage while driving back from a gig in Montreal. The Canadian pitched the idea to the Phoenix Concert Theatre in Toronto and their first performance of “Dark Side of the Moon” was a sellout.
“Why not start with ‘Dark Side of the Moon?’ I’m 50 years old and grew up in the seventies with it, and I used to put the album on to help me study. I have some weird connection with it,” said Martin.
“What makes the album so special is the fact it turned all of us into internal movie makers. We had to become directors when listening to it and rely on our imagination since there were no elaborate videos to promote a song or album back then,” added the show producer.
“It’s funny, we’ve spent years striving for no personalities on stage, for our players to be faceless, and the exact opposite is beginning to happen. Some of the performers are actually starting to have their own fans,” said Martin.
One of those performers is Rob Phillips, who performs the licks of guitarist David Gilmour from Pink Floyd.
“He is amazing and looks just like Jesus. Rob understands and loves this music and people just love him. He’s a master of Pink Floyd, you won’t find any better Pink Floyd guitar player in the world. He is note for note and sound for sound, with no disrespect to Gilmour. If you’re playing on stage with Rob, then you better step it up a notch,” said Martin.
In addition to “Dark Side of the Moon,” Classic Albums Live has brought some of the greatest classic rock albums to the stage including “Sgt. Pepper” and “Abbey Road” by the Beatles, “Thriller” by Michael Jackson, “Rumours” by Fleetwood Mac, “L.A. Woman” by the Doors, “Let It Bleed” by the Rolling Stones, and a host of others.