Posted by Its not uncommon for The Machine to perform back to back shows in the same night. As was the case the first time I saw them at the Bear’s Den at Seneca Niagara Casino. And if you followed them back then, you knew that each performance was a different, yet equally entertaining, setlist! More than 75% of the patrons that attended the first set had tickets for the second set! I had never seen a Pink Floyd tribute band and I truly felt I would be let down. But as soon as Joe Pascarella (may he rest in peace), Tahrah Cohen, Ryan Bell and Scott Chasolen hit the stage, they took me to an intimate setting of a true Pink Floyd performance, complete with a 14’ circular truss and video screen!
Their performance at The Boulton Center for the Performing Arts was no different, albeit a more “unplugged” performance and the newest addition on bass and vocals, Chris DeAngelis. Starting the night with “Learning to Fly” it quickly proved to be a side of Pink Floyd Id never heard before; for nearly 2 hours, I was mesmerized!
One could easily imagine a full setlist complete with nothing but acoustic Pink Floyd songs like “Pigs on the Wing”, “Goodbye Blue Sky”, “Is There Anybody Out There?” and of course a few more choice picks from the Syd Barret era other than “Arnold Layne” which was released in 1967!! But what really highlighted their performance were the renditions of “Mother”, “Young Lust”, “Shine On You Crazy Diamond” complete with a 5 minute classical piano intro by Mr Chasolen, and a Jam Band Rendition of “Set the Controls For the Heart of the Sun”. As Im sure most Pink Floyd fans are aware, Alan Parsons engineered Atom Heart Mother and of course The Dark Side of the Moon. He had a knack of adding sound effects such as frying bacon, footsteps, animal sounds and background dialog, so when people around and back of me were jibber jabbering, it almost made the song authentic for some reason! Other favorites included “Breathe”, “Wish You Were Here” and “Comfortably Numb” as their encore!
Thanks to Ben Stein for the hospitality and opportunity to cover their incredible performance. As a fan for more than 15 years, I will definitely be seeing them again. Here are a few highlights from their performance.
For more information for tour dates, merch and bios, visit www.themachinelive.com And for upcoming events at The Boulton Center visit https://www.boultoncenter.org/
Long Island Sounds 