Saturday 25 May
 
 

IndianGiver — Plafond EP

If you were to peruse the “About” section of IndianGiver’s Facebook page, you’ll notice how the instruments attributed to each of the Oklahoma City band’s five members are described with downright flippancy: Dylan Jordan plays “sticks & animal skins,” while Jazzton Rodriguez earns his keep with “shanties & loud noises,” and so on.
05/22/2013 | Comments 0

Various artists — Never Give Up: Celebrating 10 Years of The Postal Service

Few indie bands have had the impact on current music that The Postal Service has. Even fewer have done so with only one album.
05/15/2013 | Comments 0

Big Worm — Bench All-Stars

Fans of the comedy classic Friday may recognize the name Big Worm, but the Big Worm behind Bench All-Stars is rooted not in South Central L.A., but on the streets of Oklahoma City.
05/08/2013 | Comments 0

Code 22 — Going Soft: The Acoustic Album!

The guys of Oklahoma City’s Code 22 seem like a likable group of fellas. Their latest release, Going Soft: The Acoustic Album!, is likable enough as well — so likable that on first listen, I took its clean, acoustic sound and clear, unstressed vocals as an alternative praise-and-worship band.
05/08/2013 | Comments 0

Eureeka — Polysynthetic Fields

It’s always refreshing to hear music that embraces its own eccentricity, yet presents it in an accessible and meek fashion. Eureeka — the Norman-based duo of Jordan Vargas and Devin Wahl — has tapped into this rarified air on its self-released EP, Polysynthetic Fields.
05/08/2013 | Comments 0
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Music

Great ‘Wall’


Metro musicians band together to re-create Pink Floyd’s classic concept album live.

Charles Martin November 9th, 2011  

The Surrogate Band
9 p.m. Saturday
VZD's Restaurant & Club
4200 N. Western
vzds.com
524-4203

Filmmaker Mike Walsh latched onto Pink Floyd’s “The Wall” when he was 3 years old. His much older brother would come home stoned and play the 1979 double album on Walsh’s Fisher- Price record player.

“It gave me nightmares and, ever since then, I’ve been fascinated with Pink Floyd,” he said.

Being about isolation and abandonment, the record struck a chord with generations of malcontents, as did the subsequent 1982 film adaptation. To celebrate that timeless appeal, a group of metro musicians and artists will stage a live performance of “The Wall” on Saturday as a fundraiser for World Neighbors.

Operating as The Surrogate Band, the collective features members of The Venditos, Kite Flying Robot, Unmarked Cars and Metal Nutz. On the tech side, two projectors and an assortment of actors and stagehands will ensure the visual element holds up to fans’ lofty standards.

“That’s my biggest fear. I’ve lost sleep over it,” said Walsh. “Even coming close to meeting their expectations of what this music is terrifies me.”

To prepare, he was sent as a “forward observer” to Roger Waters’ recent tour, where the former Pink Floyd front man performed the album. Walsh returned even more intimidated.

“Oh, crap, how are we going to do this?” guitarist Justin Hogan recalled saying. “It’ll have to be a budget ‘Wall,’ but it’ll still be in the spirit of it.”

Hogan started working on the project a year and a half ago, when an impromptu rehearsal with his former band, Unmarked Cars, and members of The Venditos shifted to a rehashing of songs from “The Wall.”

“‘Wow, what if we just covered the whole thing?’” Hogan asked himself. “I started asking around to see who might be interested, then word came back to me that I was doing it.”

Aside from a few tweaks, the goal is to perform the material as faithfully as possible.

“We wanted to play it as intended,” Walsh said. “We don’t have the credence of The Flaming Lips, who could play ‘The Dark Side of the Moon,’ but make it their own.”

Come Saturday, as supplies last, attendees dressed in black pants and black shirts will receive a specially printed armband designed to re-create the film’s jackbooted army of disciples.

Hogan believes that the album continues to resonate with younger audiences because its themes of alienation and oppression are just as relevant today as three decades ago.

“You have Occupy Wall Street, the Arab Spring — there are all these things going on, and people are seeing these walls in their lives and they are tired of it,” he said. “So, it will be monumental ... on a budget.”

 
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11.09.2011 at 08:23 Reply

nice! excellent job sir! thanks :)

 

 
 
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