Thursday, April 20, 2017

Childhood's End - Pink Floyd Tribute Band

Brit Floyd
Ian Cattell (left) in Brit Floyd
There used to be a Pink Floyd tribute band in my area called Childhoods End (no relation to one in Italy nor a track by Marillion for that matter).  I have seen them at Palace Theatre and Westcott Theatre in Syracuse.  They went the way of the real Floyd a couple years ago.  Their site said so but then it had something else and then was taken off.  Ian Cattell would be hired several years ago by The Australian Pink Floyd Show former member Damian Darlington (above right) to form Brit Floyd who I saw the other night after missing the last two times local boy (Cattell) was back in town.  Childhoods End meanwhile carried on with another lineup or two until they broke up amicably.  Two regular venues, Uptown Theatre in Utica and Suzys Tavern in Auburn have also gone out of business.  End had fewer resources than the others and the furthest they've played was Jim Thorpe, PA if not somewhere else outside CNY to my knowledge.  They released no CDs or DVDs.  Even a gofundme or indiegogo appeal now might not gain as much traction as an all-original project would.
There have been a plethora of Floyd tribute bands founded over the past three decades such as The Machine who I saw in town as well.  The two Commonwealth ones can have more people on stage like backing vocalists and additional musicians to do the songs justice.  CE at least staged The Wall but having fake bricks like solo Roger Waters would was either a fire hazard inside a smaller place or not practical on a budget as licence royalties may be considered among other possible costs.
Steve Schad who played keyboards in CE has gone on to another tribute act called Beatlecuse who I saw twice last year but is the name of a show with a collective of local people and guest doing Beatles et al.  Other members such as Tom Robinson (guitar), Eric Garboushian (drums), Jimmy Simpson Puma (bass) , Gregory John (guitar), and others have moved on to other things for all I know.  Did see former manager Greg Jackson and his wife Sandra (who took photographs of the band during the show) at the chippy last year.  At least one could see Waters if they can make the trip.
I just wanted something to give the band and fans closure as there's nothing saved on record about the End of Childhoods End which is named for a track on Obscured by Clouds which true fans know.