Floydian Slips & The Eugene Ballet -- Videos

First up, apologies to those who have seen this in other places on the Web, as this has been flying around a lot this week.

But for those of you who are more casual followers of all things Isorski, I have been in a Pink Floyd tribute band called The Floydian Slips for about 13 years and we had a really cool milestone weekend the weekend before last.

This all started as a lark, playing off of an idea I and two college buddies had way back in 1988 to possibly play The Dark Side of the Moon live.

We realized that while sonically killer and obviously classic, the music was not that hard to play -- and I have tape somewhere of us doing Breathe, Time and Money (I think - it's been a long time).

Anyway, that project died on the vine after one rehearsal. Fast forward to 1997 when I was in between projects/bands. My buddy played bass and also happened to book The Wild Duck, a music venue in Eugene Oregon that held about 450 people and hosted nationally touring acts and local bands alike.

We put a group of local ringers together -- great players from other bands, and our friends too, and rehearsed Dark Side for real. The gig was booked and that was that.

Needless to say, the first show was a hit. We did all of Dark Side, Have A Cigar, One of These Days and Pigs and that was all we knew! For an encore we just winged it and jammed some songs.

Over the next 13 years we augmented the band, and tackled Dark Side and The Wall in their entirety, along with most of Animals, Wish You Were Here and Meddle, along with a smattering of pre-Meddle and post-Wall stuff (Set The Controls for the Heart of the Sun, Learning to Fly etc).

The venues got bigger and we started selling out the Cuthbert Amphitheater and McDonald Theater in Eugene, The Aladdin Theater in Portland and the Triple Door in Seattle. We only play a couple of times a year to keep it fresh and kept the same core sound and lighting crew for most of the time.

New Years Eve and a summer show at the amphitheater were our usual big shows, though we did play on Main Street in downtown Eugene one summer (they closed the intersection so the stage could be set up there), as well as the Oregon Country Fair, a big hippie fest that happens every year outside of Eugene.

To avoid things getting stale, we kept pushing the musical boundaries, and recent musical additions include Dogs, Sheep and the epic Echoes.

But after every show, the feeling is, what's next? Do we keep doing this? How do we keep this from getting stale? The answer this year was easy -- The renown Eugene Ballet approached us to perform The Dark Side of the Moon. We would do the music live and they would dance in front of us.

The shows would be at the ornate and gorgeous Hult Center in Eugene, a concert hall that holds 2,500 and we'd do a evening show and a matinee.

Well, the gigs were last weekend and far exceeded everyone's expectations. The choreography was unreal and playing that big stage was a hell of a kick (we were on risers behind the dancers -- see the videos).

Saturday's show was to 2,100 people and we had 1,700 the next day at the matinee. Seeing dance interpretations of the lyrical and musical passages that make up Dark Side were very emotional for me and there were times I had a hard time singing.

I also was terrified I'd mess up the words or lose count in one of the instrumental passages but overall we put in a flawless performance. I was telling people that the last 13 years have been a dress rehearsal for these gigs! Hopefully there will be more. In the meantime, enjoy these videos from the shows:

Any Colour You Like - Brain Damage - Eclipse


Money


Time - Breathe

Floydian Slips Videos from the Weekend

In addition to blogging and having an actual job, I play guitar and sing in various bands. One of the more fun and long-standing is The Floydian Slips, an 8-piece Pink Floyd tribute band.

We have been playing shows for the past 12 years - usually one or two a year, as they are big production deals. Also, most of the other folks in the band are full time musicians and getting a date that works for all of us, plus the crew and venue, is sometimes a challenge.

But it all came together last Saturday and we did a pretty decent show at the McDonald Theater in Eugene. The first set was a little challenging, as the computer with the samples for Money, Time, the front of Wish You Were Here, the end of Fearless etc went down and we had to wing it. Musically, that was OK but we had to have these quick conversations among ourselves onstage, which is never a good thing in front of 1,000 people.

Second set crushed, though, with the computer working again and all of us determined to overcome the challenges and put on a kick ass show. Below is the set list and videos of some of the stronger songs from the night.

Our next show is in February in Eugene Oregon with the Eugene Ballet at the Hult Center. We are playing the Dark Side of the Moon live and they are dancing. That is all I know for now.

Set 1

One Of These Days
Set The Controls for the Heart of the Sun
Money
Fearless
Have A Cigar
Wish You Were Here
Echoes
Time
Great Gig in the Sky

Set 2

Pigs on the Wing Part 1
Dogs
Pigs (Three Different Ones)
In The Flesh?
The Thin Ice
Another Brick in the Wall Part 1
Happiest Days of Our Lives
Another Brick in the Wall Part 2
Mother
Goodbye Blue Sky
Young Lust
Hey You
Comfortably Numb

encore:

Shine On You Crazy Diamond
Learning To Fly
Run Like Hell

Pigs (Three Different Ones) - Part 1


Pigs (Three Different Ones) - Part 2


Run Like Hell


Hey You


Comfortably Numb

Floydian Slips Debut “Echoes” on New Year’s Eve

On New Years Eve last week, my Pink Floyd tribute band The Floydian Slips played for close to 1,200 people as we entered our 12th year as a band. That is longer than my oldest kid – who is in 5th grade – has been alive. Clinton was President when we started!

The band only plays a couple of times a year, so it stays very fresh. The other thing that helps is that we don’t let the song list get too stale. The band started out all those years ago by performing The Dark Side of the Moon all the way through. After a couple of years of that, we did The Wall end to end (that was fun and I’d like to do it again soon). But that too got a bit stale after a while.

So next, we did what the real Floyd had been doing, which is to just play a bunch of songs, and to make that interesting we delved into the back catalog, learning One of These Days and Set The Controls for the Heart of the Sun, as well as Learning to Fly from the Waters-less Momentary Lapse of Reason.

Our latest full album was Animals, and we have been doing that for a year or so. Dogs is one of our faves by far, and Sheep is a new fave.

But for New Years Eve, we decided to give Animals a rest too, and embarked on an endeavor we had talked about for years but thought might be too daunting – to play the 20-plus minute Echoes – side two of the Meddle album for those who still spin vinyl.

We’d seen Floyd do the piece as a simple band of four musicians on the Live at Pompeii movie, but it still seemed somehow too epic for us eight musicians to pull off. But everyone did their homework and we were all pleasantly shocked at how fast it came together.

Due to Arctic Blast 2008 in Portland, we were not even able to rehearse until two days before the show. So, the videos below represent our fifth complete run through of the song. I think we did OK but I am looking forward to playing it more so we can get to that state where you are not really thinking, you’re just playing.

Not sure when our next gig is, so for now enjoy the below videos. I had to split it into three parts due to YouTube’s video length limitations. And apologies to Asher on the keyboards, as my camera slid on the tripod a bit and therefore periodically cuts him off when he is on the Hammond organ on the far right of the stage. D’oh!

Part One


Part Two


Part Three

Floydian Slips Halloween Videos

Two weeks ago, my Pink Floyd tribute band The Floydian Slips played a Halloween gig at the Roseland Theater in Portland. The turnout was pretty good for all the competition we had downtown.

We made a lot of little mistakes first set, although no one really noticed except for the band. But second set ranked up there with one of my all time favorites. We played great and did the 1978 album Animals all the way through.

But I have to say, the real stars of that show were the lighting guys who really did a great job with the stage, lights and lasers. I got my paws on the video this week and here are some of the highlights of that second set:

Sheep


One of These Days


Run Like Hell

Isorski to Appear on KPSU Radio Friday - Live Web Stream Available

To help promote tomorrow's Halloween Floydian Slips show at the Roseland in Portland, I will be appearing on Portland State University's KPSU radio between 10 AM and 12 PM Pacific Time. The show is called Fabulous Fridays and is hosted by Goa Constrictor. I will probably be on the air by about 10:30 AM PT. We plan to talk smack, play some music and give away a few tickets.

To listen in live via the Web, go here. You might want to test it out beforehand, as depending on what computer I was using, I had some issues with staying connected. But it ought to work. I am glad to have this opportunity for those of you around the world to actually hear what I sound like! If you happen to catch the show, drop me a comment.

From the station's Wikipedia entry:

KPSU is one of only a few college and community stations left in the United States which provide fully freeform programming. This means that the station's DJs choose all the music they play, without any required cuts or forced rotation. KPSU's programming features a wide gamut of musical genres including, but not limited to, indie and punk rock, electronic music, hip hop and rap, experimental, underground metal, jazz, world music, folk and alternative country, psych and garage rock, rockabilly, exotica and lounge, soft rock, and noise and even talk radio and public affairs programming.

Floydian Slips to Rock Portland on Halloween

Time yet again for shameless self-promotion. Tomorrow night after the kiddies rake in their candy stashes, my Pink Floyd tribute band, The Floydian Slips, will take the stage at the Roseland in Portland to bust out, among other things, the full Animals album. If you are in or close to Portland, please come say hi.

Take a peek at our rehearsal from Monday night, from which I assembled a short "promo reel"

Floydian Slips at the Cuthbert - The Lead Up

This coming Saturday is the Floydian Slips show in Eugene at the Cuthbert Amphitheater. Outside of the McDonald Theatre, the Cuthbert is kind of our home base summetime gig, and we love it. It's outdoors and we usually sell it out (or come really close), meaning it's my personal largest gig of the year.

I am also excited about it because we are going to debut an album end to end that we have never attempted before. We have done The Wall and Dark Side, so it's one of the others. You figure it out. Ha ha ha.

We get together tomorrow to make sure we still remember the chords to Brain Damage. I will try to post something. In the meantime, here is a repeat from New Year's Eve this year, at the McDonald:

Floydian Slips Soundcheck Jam

Many of you know that I am in a Pink Floyd tribute band called The Floydian Slips. You can check out videos I have posted, etc, here.

I thought I would share this little gem today. It came up on my iPod today and I think it's neat. It's a very random jam we had during soundcheck at the Cuthbert Amphitheatre in Eugene, Oregon last August.

It's based around Shine On You Crazy Diamond but there are some other things thrown in the mix, and I love Uncle Reeotch's Bono impression in the beginning. Thought you all would enjoy it. Download the jam here: http://www.sendspace.com/file/lkc8d0

Oh, and we just confirmed for August 16 this year at the Cuthbert, for any of you located in the Northwest. More info TBA.

Floydian Slips NYE Rehearsal Video and Portland Review

While lounging around in Mexico, I put together a montage (sing it like on Team America - it's a montage!) of clips from The Floydian Slips rehearsal on December 30, 2007.

We were prepping for the New Years Eve show, and doing sound check to boot. The clips were filmed by a friend of the band and I just stitched them together.

Also, we had a nice review of the Portland show from Glide Magazine here.

Enjoy.

Floydian Slips Videos from Seattle

Had two great shows (same night) at The Triple Door in Seattle last Saturday. That place is the bomb. It's basically a supper club that holds 300 people and serves awesome food and beverage.

The room was acoustically very good and the sound was consequently pretty awesome. The first show was sold out and the second had about 175, which was great for our first trip up there.

It was challenging to have to prove ourselves to an audience who has never seen us before. We are so spoiled with the Eugene audiences who hang on every note. These Seattle folks were not as easy to turn. But in the end, we got a great response and the club wants us back. We're thinking summer time.

In the meanwhile, here are a couple of vids:

Time


Have A Cigar

Floydian Slips Video - Brick Part Two

The Pink Floyd cover band I am in, The Floydian Slips, rang in the new year in Eugene, Oregon Monday night to a sold out house of 1,200 raving lunatics. We had a blast! Below is a video I managed to pop onto YouTube today in between getting my head back into work and tackling a million things.

We play Saturday in Seattle and next Saturday the 12th here in Portland. That'll give me my Floyd fix for a few months.

Enjoy the vid.

Shameless Self Promotion Part Three

A couple of personal vids to post. One is from a loose, acoustic appearance at Macadam's in Portland with my pal Bruce Kracke. I met Bruce this year at a Matt Vrba show and we found a mutual appreciation for all things Neil Young. Our first one of these Macadam's Thursday gigs was to do 30 minutes of Neil tunes. Great if you like Neil. Not so great if not. We had a blast!

Anyway, we've played a few times since then, usually trading off taking the lead vocal on a song we both know. For this one, our bass buddy Chris Chard joined for his first ever run through of Won't Get Fooled Again. It's loose but fun, and I commend Bruce's playful pseudo-windmills at the start of the song!

The other video is from one of last years' Floydian Slips shows. Once you get past the first minute or so of the Blair Witch shaky camera, you get a sense for how our show rolls out.

We have four Slips appearances coming up in the next two weeks. New Years Eve at the McDonald Theater in Eugene, two shows (same night) at the Triple Door in Seattle and one performance at the Aladdin Theater in Portland. We've never done a string like this, so I am looking forward to eating, sleeping and breathing Floyd for the next two weeks. Enjoy!

Won't Get Fooled Again


Run Like Hell

Floydian Slips Rock Eugene

It was a busy weekend, as the Pink Floyd tribute band I am in, The Floydian Slips, played for 2,600 raving fans at the Cuthbert Amphitheater in Eugene Oregon last Saturday. It was our 10th anniversary show. Yep, we've been doing this for 10 years!

Drove down Friday for a four hour soundcheck and rehearsal, which went really well, but was tiring. It's always great to hook back up with the crew - the same guys we use every year. This is how we are able to pull of the stunning visual and audio part of the show. These guys know the music as well as the band does and we function like a well oiled machine. For the most part.

We decided to introduce a new song (to us), Learning to Fly, which is the most recent Floyd song we do. The oldest is Set The Controls for the Heart of the Sun but we left that one out of the set this time. Over the years we have done The Dark Side of the Moon all the way through, and we've also done The Wall a number of times. This year we opted to just do a bunch of songs, from Dark Side to Momentary Lapse.

It was a great show. Maybe one of our best performances. Standouts for me were Dogs and Great Gig, which Nicole Campbell absolutely slayed. I am still poring over the video to hear all of my mistakes, as usual.

It's cool to see how many young people come out to the shows. 10 years ago it was all old frowning hippies with crossed arms - these dudes are very serious fans and they soak up every note. But then it turned slowly into a more varied crowd with teenagers and yeah even younger, all up font wearing Floyd, Stones, Who and Zep shirts. My little clones. Bwa ha ha ha! They know the words to even the obscurities, like One of My Turns.

Our next shows are in Portland (Aladdin Theater, January 12), and Seattle (Triple Door, January 5), and a rumored New Years Eve show in Eugene TBD. So it won't be too long before we are doing this again. That makes me glad!

For some INSANE photos of the show, go here.

Band members:

Nicole Campbell (vocals)
Ehren Ebbage (vocals, guitar)
Ned Failing (drums, percussion)
Asher Fulero (keyboards, vocals)
Paul Lesinski (vocals, guitar)
Brendan Relaford (bass)
Rich Sellars (vocals, drums, percussion)
Al Toribio (lead guitar, vocals)

Set list:

Shine On
Learning To Fly
Have A Cigar
Young Lust
One Of My Turns
Hey You
Wish You Were Here
Run Like Hell
Pigs

Pigs On The Wing
Dogs
Speak to Me/Breathe/On The Run
Time/Breathe
Great Gig In The Sky
Brick 1
Happiest Days
Brick 2
Mother
Any Colour You Like
Brain Damage
Eclipse