 |
| Scott Sharrard |
Last Friday, at Rockwood Music Hall in New York, guitar ace
Scott Sharrard and a group of musical cohorts marked the occasion of the
Presidential Inauguration with a scorching performance of Pink Floyd's classic
album, Animals. By his side was guitarist Connor Kennedy,
with whom Sharrard previously played this material at the Bearsville Theater in
Woodstock, and who, additionally, handled much of the vocals. The band also
included friends and frequent collaborators including Scott's bandmate in Gregg
Allman & Friends, Brett Bass on bass, along with Eric Finland on keyboards,
Fab Faux drummer Rich Pagano, erstwhile Ratdog sax player, Kenny Brooks, and Broadway
performer, Joshua Kobak, providing additional vocals and spoken word interludes.
Together, they blazed through the entirety of Floyd's scathing work of
progressive rock socio-political criticism, making no bones about where they
stood in regards to the events of the day.
The band bookended the set with other memorable Floyd pieces
which highlighted the evening's theme. Opening
with "Us and Them" from Dark
Side of the Moon, the show began on an apocalyptic note as the band vamped
behind Kobak while he recited the classic Robert Frost poem, "Fire and
Ice," in which the author asks himself in which of these two will the
world end, and whether it will be brought about through passion or hatred. Segueing
into the song, the sonic tone of the evening was firmly established. The
dynamics inherent in the original material were even more emphasized in this
intimate setting as the band glided between delicate passages and dramatic
bursts of incredible power and flesh-melting volume.
The set ender, "Comfortably Numb" from The Wall,
arguably one of Pink Floyd's most well known songs and a crowd-pleaser,
provided a cathartic conclusion, and the audience was encouraged to sing along.
The song, originally about a jaded rock star, took on a new meaning in the context
of this performance, and contributed to the theme of the evening.
 |
| Sharrard and Kennedy |
The event was organized as a benefit for ProPublica, a New
York based, public interest oriented, non-profit newsroom. Sharrard was intent
that the evening was to be "a celebration of freedom of speech and
transparency in media that is vital for our collective survival." The band
pulled no punches, musically or politically, but in the end, the feeling in the
room was of unity and not anger. And though Roger Waters' caustic lyrics on Animals seem even more relevant today, I felt that the real theme
of the evening was summed up by the first and last songs, and that we must
recognize and heal the divisions between us, that we must be vigilant and
aware, and not allow ourselves the luxury of simply becoming "Comfortably Numb."
No comments:
Post a Comment