A moment of honesty: I am not really a fan of blues. Gasp! You mean a rock-and-roll fan like mean doesn't really like blues? Blasphemy! I will agree with--and respect--the fact that blues is in fact the root of Rock and Roll.

Eric Clapton is a great guitarist and his performances on Roger Waters' first solo album, The Pros And Cons Of Hitch Hiking, and its 1984-1985 tour make the songs so lively and fresh that I couldn't imagine any other guitarist doing the job better. But I can't really sit down and listen to blues as a whole from beginning to end (though I can tolerate a few songs at a time). Maybe it's the different style of guitar solo compared with the David Gilmour-style solo that I grew up with. Maybe it's how the lyrics are written and sung. Or maybe it's just a simple case of personal preference.

Roger Waters' In the Flesh tours in 1999 and 2000 were hugely influenced by the blues due to the lead guitarist, Doyle Bramhall II, and the rhythm guitarists, Snowy White and Andy Fairweather-Low. I have quite a few RoIOs from these tours, and one stands out above the rest. The RoIO is titled Life on Mars and the show took place at Mars Music Amphitheatre in West Palm Beach, Florida on June 3, 2000.

As usual with all In the Flesh concerts, this show opened with a powerful "In the Flesh" where you could hear the band having a good time performing the song. The brief "The Happiest Days of Our Lives" went by and segued into blues-heavy "Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2)" with rhythm guitar by Doyle Bramhall II during the first half. Doyle and Snowy White alternated the ending solos. I am not a fan of Bramhall's performance during this song as the solo, in my opinion, should have been left Gilmour-style. But hey, that's just me.

While I gave thumbs down for Doyle in "Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2)", I give him a big thumbs up for the "Mother" solo. Listening to other RoIOs from this tour, he usually ruined the fine guitar solo originally played by David Gilmour. But for some reason on this performance alone he nailed the solo! It was 100% blues the way he played it, but the way he made the guitar growl while bending the strings would surely make Clapton raise his eyebrows!

"Get Your Filthy Hands Off My Desert" flowed into "Southampton Dock." The latter song had a new guitar solo at the end to help complete the song, as the album version would segue into "The Final Cut". The outro solo is very good, but again, you would know me as a non-blues fan. It did, however, properly complete the song and help set up the next song, "Pigs On The Wing (Part 1)".

"Dogs" was next. Doyle copied Gilmour's solo note-for-note. "Welcome to the Machine" came by without any real blues touches in it. I hated how "Wish You Were Here" was done; Doyle's bluesy rhythm guitar is awful. I gotta have that beautiful acoustic playing the basic chords as the Gilmour-led Pink Floyd did during the 1987-1989 and 1994 tours. The way Doyle did it makes a blues non-fan like me go mad! "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" didn't help either; not even Jon Carin's beautiful keyboard playing could save the day. Doyle's opening guitar notes really differentiate from David Gilmour's slower note picking. The quicker pace is a disaster. I understand if there isn't time to perform the song--either stick with the original notes or don't play it at all!

The second half started with "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun" with an excellent bluesy guitar solo by Snowy White himself. There is a nice semi-bluesy slide guitar solo on "Breathe" by Jon Carin. The best blues guitar performance in the second half would be "Money" by Andy Fairweather-Low. He nailed that sucker without using a pick! You can see the actual technique on the In the Flesh - Live DVD from the same tour. "Every Stranger's Eyes" is one song from Waters' first solo album, which Eric Clapton originally played on. This song this time around was played by Andy and he did good keeping Eric's notes as well as creating his own interpretation of it.

"Perfect Sense (Parts 1 and 2)" went by before another song is botched. "The Bravery of Being Out of Range" from the 1992's Amused to Death album, had a guitar solo originally performed by Jeff Beck. Doyle's take of the solo is awful. I usually skip this song when listening to the live version. "It's A Miracle" and "Amused To Death" sounded like the original album version. The bluesy guitar chords on "Brain Damage" are perfect for this song and it resembles the original Gilmour's take on it.

After "Eclipse" came "Comfortably Numb", with the ending solo alternated between Doyle and Snowy. I don't know why they would need two guitarists to perform the solo when Gilmour was able to do it all by himself! The last song, "Each Small Candle", was a brand new song that was performed as the final song during the 2000 tour. Since this is Roger's own song, the guitar playing doesn't have to resemble Gilmour or any Floydian sounds at all. But the song turned out to be a good one. Everything about it is fresh, even with the Doyle's bluesy licks.

As I said above, I am not a blues fan, but do have respect for the music and the fact that it did influence Rock and Roll. With this RoIO, there are some good blues takes and some bad blues takes. As I also said above, it really comes down to personal preferences about music. Some may agree that Doyle Bramhall II's blues-heavy interpretations of Pink Floyd material is out of place, while others probably found it refreshing and exciting.

Rule No. 1 for good cover bands is to add your own style to the music.

It was with great anticipation that I placed this particular CD in the player. Formed by members of (and session players for) blues-rock giants such as the Allman Brothers Band and the Black Crowes as a diversion in 1999, Blue Floyd called their shows "Blues explorations into the music of Pink Floyd". As they stated in their early promotional material: "Through the crucible of a pioneering, improvisational/blues collaboration by an eclectic mix of acclaimed, contemporary musicians - BLUE FLOYD endeavors to deconstruct the classic compositions of the legendary PINK FLOYD, into their primal, elemental form. As much an homage to the influence of Howlin' Wolf, Willie Dixon, and Muddy Waters as a re-discovery of both FLOYD classics and rarities, BLUE FLOYD plays iconoclastically familiar songs, heard again as if for the first time." The group quickly made a name for itself (especially amongst jam-band fans and in taping/trading circles) on its inaugural tour in 2000. Though Blue Floyd have gone through some dramatic personnel changes, they continue to tour sporadically some six years later.

For several years I had read a few reviews of Blue Floyd's bootlegs, and the odd review of being at a show. Now, at last, it was my turn. Inspired by this issue's topic, I had--with the help of a local friend who is always more than happy to help out my Floydian addiction (Cheers indeed, Slooby!)--obtained a copy of Blue Floyd's show from February 21, 2000 at the House of Blues in Chicago. If ever I were to hear the Blues, surely this would be the place!

The set list itself is impressive, with the added extras of some standard covers such as "Whiter Shade of Pale", "Baby Please Don't Go" and "Crossroads". Beyond the predictable Floyd numbers, there were unexpected gems such as "Fearless" and "Cymbaline". It's hard to know if their rarity in being performed by Pink Floyd made them stand out, or if familiarity with the common songs (such as "Money") made those tracks less interesting--the bootleg collector's dilemma, I suppose! Either way, there is plenty to be happy about, and only a little to cringe at.

So armed with a little scotch (o.k.--quite a lot) and imagining smoke-filled blues club (accepting that I have only ever seen them in movies and documentaries), I set out on a different journey to a different Planet Floyd.

The first and most apparent thing is this was no copycat Floyd tribute band. This is a blues band that plays a lot of Pink Floyd. The other--and far more important--similarity is that Blue Floyd capture that feeling the Floyd music has, drawing you into another world.

At the other extreme, one obvious part of the Floyd equation that is missing is Rick Wright's keyboards, with those expansive chords that seem to fill the room. Another missing element is vocals, be it Gilmour and Wright's choral qualities or Waters' venom. But in both cases that is just fine. It's a blues band, so long keyboard notes are generally avoided, and that harsh, gravelly vocal the Blue Floyd have is generally accepted. I personally love it!

But the thing that really won me over was the guitar playing. Throughout the show the band displayed their copious skills, but particular pleasure for these ears came from "Fearless", "Shine On", "Wish You Were Here", and "Any Colour You Like". My leaning toward traditional Delta and Chicago Blues is well and truly propped up here. Of note especially is the introduction to "Fearless" and those first few familiar notes. Wonderful slide and plucking work that builds a perfect amount of tension.

Coming in at around four hours over four discs, the show may seem a tad long. But for my night out in an imagined blues club, it was a most enjoyable evening indeed. Tracks like "Any Colour You Like" need to be played for endless hours to let their full potential soar (the album version is somewhat of a let down compared to various live versions), and Blue Floyd certainly allow for such endless flight. The track seems to go forever, as do "Breathe" and "Cymbaline". And "Shine On" is given a true blues treatment to well and truly cement its true nature as a blues track.

Sadly, however, there are a few downers in there. "Hey You", "In the Flesh", and "Young Lust" don't seem to cut the mustard, sounding more like traditional cover versions of Pink Floyd by the numerous tribute bands out there, and completely losing that blues sound. Worse still, "Have a Cigar" doesn't fit the bill at all. Not the best of tracks to begin with, they simply rock it up. The Foo Fighters did it a lot better a few years back, and even they couldn't bring the thing to life. Not to worry. Add to this list of negatives the various other tracks. As good as "Whiter Shade of Pale" and such might be, in this situation they simply don't fit well. The Blue Floyd versions are commendable for sure, but I'm up for some Floyd, and only Floyd. Again, I can happily say this is my bias coming through.

Overall however, I am suitably jealous. As wonderful as it is to see all the flash and bang that Pink Floyd made famous--be it on DVD or in the flesh--the thought of a simple, stripped down Floyd show has always been a Holy Grail of mine. Add to it one of my favourite genres of music, the blues, and Blue Floyd provides a very good second best. Sadly however, as with most things Floydian, I live a long way from Chicago and the rest of Blue Floyd's tour destinations. I can only say that if they were ever within cooee of me, I would be there like a shot.

I don't particularly care for the blues, let me just get that out of the way right now.

That's a really funny statement when you consider that my favorite music of all time is rock... which has foundations in blues. But blues seems to become redundant rather quickly, in my opinion. I've always maintained that one only need to listen to fifteen minutes (or about three songs) of any blues band in order to hear everything that that band is going to do for the rest of the evening. I'll admit that there are exceptions, but they are few and far between.

The blues is famous for being the most expressive form of music there is because anyone with any amount of musical skill (however limited) can play it. It's the great egalitarian musical form. You don't have to be a virtuoso to play the blues, you just have to know how to play from within. Fair game, I suppose. There's nothing wrong with that. The problem, as I see it, is that due to its accessibility, there's not a lot that can be done with it. I mean, if a musical form is kept on a level where anyone from a novice to a master can play it, how versatile can it be?

I said all of these things, out loud, to my friend Ryan when he insisted upon pressing a copy of a Blue Floyd show into my hands. His logic went like this: it's interpretations of Pink Floyd songs, and Pink Floyd are your favorite band; you'll like it.

My logic was: yeah, but it's blues interpretations of Pink Floyd songs... and I can't stand the blues; I'll hate it.

Ryan is also an enthusiast of Warren Haynes' (one of the behind-the-scenes movers in the Blue Floyd camp, for those not in the know) work in both The Allman Brothers Band and Government Mule.

I am not.

Both of these bands are not only heavily blues-influenced, but are also laced heavily with what is my second most hated musical genre: Southern Rock. Now, before the hate e-mails start rolling in, I respect a lot of Southern Rock bands just for the societal impact they've had. But Southern Rock and Blues are kindred of my absolutely most hated musical genre: Country. And the lineage shows. The original Delta blues artists even had something of a country twang in their vocals. All Southern Rock artists have a country twang in their voice. This is perhaps the most annoying thing to me, but the syrupy sweet steel guitar twang is a close second.

All of this was running through my head as I was trying to talk myself out of even listening to this Blue Floyd show. I tried to think of things that I could say to Ryan the next time I saw him that might indicate that I had listened to the show even though I hadn't. Noncommittal review terms flew through my mind, but I also knew that Ryan would press me for specific details. I sighed. I was going to have to listen to this disc.

I spent three days dreading the listening; I've always procrastinated.

Finally, I just sucked it up, put the disc in and pressed 'play' on the CD player. The first thing I noticed was that for an audience recording, it was rather clean. The second thing I noticed was that I had no idea what Pink Floyd song was being interpreted. Ryan had not included a track listing, so I was going to have to listen long enough to determine what the song being played was.

It turned out to be "Sheep". Realizing that "Sheep" was one of the typically epic Floyd tracks, I didn't bother listening beyond the first verse. I didn't care for the swampy interpretation of what is supposed to be a very angry, driving song.

I started just sort of skipping through the CD. I heard nothing to give me any pause to keep listening beyond my recognition of which song was being butchered.

It was when I finally heard "Have a Cigar" (my favorite Floyd track) being abused that I finally hit the stop button and took the CD out of the player, never to be listened to again. (I don't even remember the date of the show I heard.)

Not to disparage the individual musicians involved... I'm sure they are fine players. Warren Haynes considers Gilmour as one of his influences, which stands as a testament to the fact that he does know good guitar playing when he hears it. I just feel it's unfortunate that they felt the best way to pay tribute to Pink Floyd was by mangling their songs beyond recognition.

Fortunately, I had a handy remedy: Les Claypool's Flying Frog Brigade's nearly note-for-note cover of Animals in it's entirety.