Pigs bringing Floyd sound to P.G.
Pigs are flying back into Prince George.
Billed as Canada’s most authentic Pink Floyd tribute band, this Victoria act tours from coast to coast bringing Floyd fans what the original band can’t do anymore. The megastar British band hasn’t toured themselves since 1994’s Division Bell album, and part of the difficulty the icons face is the epic and elaborate staging and effects they use to accompany the music.
Pigs goes to inflated lengths to recreate that incredible impression, visually and sonically. Part of that sensation comes from the lineup. They carry seven band members, each of them assigned to a “character” from the Pink Floyd lineup. Josh Szczepanowski is David Gilmour, Geoff Howe is Roger Waters, Adam Basterfield is Richard Wright, Mike Quirke is Nick Mason, Jon Baglo is Snowy White, Amy Konowalyk ads those signature backing vocals and Sharon Driver provides sax.
“We do a good job of living up to it all. We can’t say we’re doing Pink Floyd and not deliver the goods,” said Pigs bandleader Szczepanowski, who has to carry the freight on those jawdropping, Gilmour guitar solos. He admitted that was a large part of the fun for him, but there was always more to Gilmour than just complex fret work. “The additional challenge is the Gilmour voice, he has these amazing soaring vocals and I don’t think he gets the credit he deserves for his voice. I was lucky to accidentally have a voice that sounds similar to his in a general sense, but I didn’t really appreciate just how good he was until I had to try getting it to those same places.”
Pigs has performed in Prince George before and Szczepanowski promised the same Floyd feel again but it will be a different show. The Pigs family has a lot of team meetings to discuss variations that keep each new tour on entertaining but altered footing.
“We may well, as a special treat, do Dark Side of the Moon all the way through,” Szczepanowski teased. “People love it when we do that. And there will be a lot of other stuff too, just because we like you guys so much. We really had an enjoyable show in Prince George last time, and I really loved your playhouse.”
Pigs tends to centre on the 1971-79 era of Pink Floyd, but the actual band put out material between 1965 and 1994 (except an ambient rock album The Endless River released on 2014 with posthumous keyboard work by Wright who passed away in 2008) so there is a great volume of music to work with.
“The bull’s eye for us is 1977. That’s the sound we are designed around,” said Szczepanowski. “We approach all the songs like they were done live, and yeah, for sure we work outside of that.”
Even as modern as Division Bell?
“Yes, yes, sometimes we even do things that far along. And
I did just get the red strat all polished up (a guitar that figured prominently on that latter album) so read into that what you will.”
Pigs might be a tribute act, but they have their own following and real-time touring schedules to keep. They formed in 2008 and have had some lineup changes but have mostly remained the same, out on the rock ‘n’ roll road.
“We’ve often joked we should do Pink Floyd across the country one way then turn around and do Supertramp all the way back, because the configurations are largely the same,” Szczepanowski said.
They are progressing now to international attention, with pending appearances in the United States, Europe and Asia. With the help of VJ Photon (Erik Nortman), one of Canada’s premier visual artists, a worldclass laser and video experience goes along with the music, just as Pink Floyd pioneered throughout their career.
They bring the Pigs emulation evocation to the Prince George Playhouse on May 18. Doors open at 7 p.m., showtime at 7:30. Tickets are available online at the Central Interior Tickets website.
Pigs might be a tribute act, but they have their own following...