The Australian Pink Floyd ShowThe Regent, IpswichTRIBUTE bands; sad wannabes unable to create anything of their own or talented performers giving the fans of the original artist the chance to see something almost as good as their heroes in their home town? Discuss.

The Australian Pink Floyd Show

The Regent, Ipswich

TRIBUTE bands; sad wannabes unable to create anything of their own or talented performers giving the fans of the original artist the chance to see something almost as good as their heroes in their home town? Discuss.

There are myriad acts that fall into the former category but The Australian Pink Floyd Show is not one of them.

Their visit to the Regent on Thursday night was, for this life-long Pink Floyd fan, simply awesome.

Any fears that they were going to be Floyd Lite were blown out by the opening bars of In the Flesh; for over two-and-a-half hours they recreated the sounds - and, almost as importantly, the sights - of Messrs Walters, Gilmour, Mason, Wright, Barrett et al to near-perfection.

They've been at it for 20 years, so they should have got the hang of it by now, but presenting Pink Floyd's multi-layered, complex music with the same tight precision of the masters is a tough act.

There were some moments that sent a shiver down the spine - the solo from The Great Gig in the Sky was one such performed exquisitely by the backing singers, even if they looked like they were signing for the deaf at the same time.

The band went through the card. At the show's core was The Wall, but the standards were there, from Money and Time to Shine on you Crazy Diamond, along with Sheep and Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun.

Steve Mac, who viewed from the back of the theatre through a squint resembled a passable David Gilmour, and Damian Darlington, who didn't, shared guitar and vocal duties and both were hugely impressive, as were the keyboard skills of Jason Sawford and the voice of Colin Wilson.

The visuals were stunning, an eye-searing light and laser show with some superb video back projections, many suitably 'ozzified' (perhaps, given the age of the original band, that should be 'ossified'). The sound was of the highest quality, too, mirroring the originals' high production values.

It was a long set and by the time they got to the stop-start intro to the encore Run Like Hell one wag was prompted to invite them to get a move one, calling out from the darkness that “I've got to get up in the morning!”

If you missed them this week you don't have long to wait for a return. They're back at the Regent on August 2.

Dom Castle