Venue: Golden Nugget
City: Reno, NV
Set length: Maybe a couple of hours? Not sure…
This was a very special concert for me. My father had passed away earlier that week and I was at his home in Carson City when it happened. I was living in Southern CA at the time and I came up the week before to spend his last days together, as it was expected, even though it was very sudden. I was taking care of all the things one needs to take care of when a father passes away, and after a few days, I needed some air to take my mind off of things. I decided on Saturday that I was going to make the drive into Reno from Carson City (not too far) and was looking for something other than going to a bar or a casino. I looked up music venues and Google came back with The Australian Pink Floyd, who were playing at a familiar venue; The Golden Nugget. This was the same place my parents took me as a young kid (12 or 13) to see acts like Roy Clark and Sammy Davis Jr. I remember being in the front row for both of these shows and I am forever grateful to my parents for giving me a great musical experience as I grew up.
When I got to the Nugget on Saturday evening, I was lucky enough to get my Canon G9 into the show because it was a small point-n-shoot with a fixed lens. I ended up being seated in the balcony, which was a great spot to watch the show, but not the greatest for photos. This didn’t matter to me as I was there to let the music of Pink Floyd take my mind off of the week, if just for a little bit. The show ended up being in the Celebrity Showroom, which I believe was the same hall where I saw Roy Clark and Sammy Davis Jr. This moment brought a feeling of coming full circle and almost like it was “meant to be.” I am definitely not a spiritual person (at all) but this was a really nice moment. So, on top of that, I had been going through a The Wall phase norgescsino blood suckers and it just so happened that this show from the Aussie Pink Floyd was a complete production of that famous tour Pink Floyd did, so I was on cloud 9. Of course, they also played a couple of older songs at the end of the show but overall it was material from The Wall album. The music of Pink Floyd resonates very well with my musical tastes so a lot of what they played that night brought a tear or two to light.
This evening provided me with a great way to reflect on what had happened earlier in the week and to get lost while watching an amazing band. The band precisely recreated the Floyd sounds I love so much and provided me with a soundtrack to all my thoughts for what felt like a couple of hours. This was the perfect way to begin the next chapter of my life without my father.
2019 additional info: This was taken right off the band’s website:
The Times Newspaper in London described them as “The Gold Standard”. This act are so good they were even engaged by David Gilmour to perform at his 50th birthday celebration!
