Dark Side of the Moon, St Mary’s, Warwick
THE HISTORIC setting of St Mary’s in Warwick was packed to bursting as it hosted a concert celebrating the 50th anniversary of one of rock music’s enduring classics – Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon.
The church – well-versed in celebrating music of ten times that age and more – provided a spectacular backdrop for what proved a highly popular show on Thursday evening.
What started out as an idea by St Mary’s organ scholar Collin Millington to use the church’s celebrated double organ as a worthy interpreter of perennial list-topping album, grew into a full-blown virtual facsimile of the record.
A band including vocals, guitar, bass, keyboards, drums and more took to the floor beneath the towering walls and massive pipes shrouded in thick stage fog. Stretching the length of the nave a fine laser light show created colourful effects and visuals to match this classic set of Floyd moments.
In truth, the band virtually obliterated any chance to hear the organ and the drums then obliterated most of the band. But this was triumphant stuff, lovingly played and the overflowing collection buckets on the way out spoke volumes about how the whole thing had gone down.
Time will tell if the experiment of hosting rock music produces anything further, but with the 50th anniversary of Slade’s Old, New, Borrowed and Blue coming up next year, who knows?
