In the Flesh: Echoes of Pink Floyd at the Rust Belt -- April 12.
Friday, April 12, 8 p.m.
The Rust Belt, 533 12th Avenue, East Moline IL
Lauded by WIRE as a tribute band that "has it all: the songs, the performances, the visuals, and the energy," the touring artists of In the Flesh: Echoes of Pink Floyd headline an April 12 concert at East Moline venue The Rust Belt, the seven-piece outfit delivering a mind-blowing laser show, costuming, and projections while performing from classics such as Dark Side of the Moon and The Wall.
Pink Floyd was founded in London in 1965 by Syd Barrett (guitar, lead vocals), Nick Mason (drums), Roger Waters (bass guitar, vocals), and Richard Wright (keyboards, vocals). Under Barrett's leadership, they released two hit singles, "Arnold Layne" and "See Emily Play," and 1967's successful debut album The Piper at the Gates of Dawn. Waters went on to become the primary lyricist and thematic leader, devising the concepts behind Pink Floyd's most successful albums: The Dark Side of the Moon (1973), Wish You Were Here (1975), Animals (1977), and The Wall (1979). The musical film based on the latter recording, 1982's Pink Floyd – The Wall, won two BAFTA Awards, and Pink Floyd has also composed several film scores.
After Wright left Pink Floyd in 1981 and Waters followed by Waters in 1985, Mason and longtime guitarist and vocalist David Gilmour continued as Pink Floyd, rejoined later by Wright. They produced the albums A Momentary Lapse of Reason (1987) and The Division Bell (1994), backed by major tours, before entering a long hiatus. In 2005, all but the previously retired Barrett reunited for a performance at the global awareness event Live 8. Barrett died in 2006, and Wright in 2008. The last Pink Floyd studio album, 2014's The Endless River, was based on unreleased material from the Division Bell recording sessions, and in 2022, Gilmour and Mason reformed Pink Floyd to release the song "Hey, Hey, Rise Up!" in protest at the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
By 2013, Pink Floyd had sold more than 250 million records worldwide, making them one of the best-selling music artists of all time. The Dark Side of the Moon and The Wall were inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame, and these albums and Wish You Were Here are among the best-selling albums of all time. Four Pink Floyd albums topped the U.S. Billboard 200, and five topped the U.K. Albums Chart. Pink Floyd's hit singles include "Arnold Layne" (1967), "See Emily Play" (1967), "Money" (1973), "Another Brick in the Wall, Part 2" (1979), "Not Now John" (1983), "On the Turning Away" (1987), and "High Hopes" (1994). The band was inducted into the U.S. Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996 and the U.K. Music Hall of Fame in 2005, while three years later, Pink Floyd was awarded the Polar Music Prize in Sweden for their contribution to modern music.
In the Flesh: Echoes of Pink Floyd plays their East Moline engagement on April 12, admission to the 8 p.m. concert is $20, and more information and tickets are available by visiting TheRustBeltQC.com.
