Local cover band rocks it to the dark side of the moon
Like Pink Floyd? You’d never think an ace cover band would reside right here in the Yampa Valley, but it does in the form of Wish You Were Pink, whose tribute to Floyd brings you right back to the ‘60s and ‘70s, minus the mustaches and hairstyles. Swillin’ caught up with ringleader Pat Waters for his take on their take on one of the best-selling rock bands of all time.
When did you guys form?
I’m pretty sure it was 2012, although I’m not sure exactly when our first show was.
Why Pink Floyd?
Our bass player Skip Warnke thought of the idea and approached me about it. Then we recruited all of the members and started learning and rehearsing the songs. We’ve had the same line up since then with the exception of Stephanie Blake replacing Laura Lamun (aka “Little Laura”) several years ago.
How hard is it to play their songs?
The songs are more complex than I think most people realize, especially in terms of chord progressions. And the guitar solos are particularly difficult. Fortunately, we have two extremely talented guitar players that have been able to split up the solos and cover the multiple guitar parts.
Favorite song you play?
My personal favorite is “Dogs” off the Animals album. It is just such an epic song with so many different parts to it. Also, Animals was the first album we learned when forming, followed by the Wish You Were Here album.
How often do you add new songs, and how hard are they to dial in?
We’ve been adding new material fairly consistently over the years. Most recently we’ve added “Childhood’s End” off the Obscured by Clouds album, and the stretch of songs between “Hey You” and “Comfortably Numb” on disc two of The Wall. Some are easier than others to learn, but I wouldn’t say any of them are easy. The more we play them, the better they get.
Does the crowd seem to like it?
Yes. We consistently get really good feedback on our shows.
Who does the lights, and how important are they?
We used to consistently have a really good light guy named Benoit Warren (aka “The Pilgrim”) run lights. He’s awesome at what he does. Unfortunately, his talents have landed him jobs as lighting director at Mishawaka and other venues in the Ft .Collins area, so it’s hard to nail him down for our shows. He’s occasionally available though, and a treat for us and the audience when he is.
Wish You Were Pink Band Members:
Pat Waters: drums/lead vocals/acoustic guitar/samples
Dan Koebnick: guitar/vocals
Graham Waters: guitar/vocals
Todd Leestma: keyboards
Skip Warnke: bass
Stephanie Blake: female vocals
