MUSIC :: JULY 14, 2004

The next best thing to time travel
By WHITNEY SPOTTS

OK. So there are no floating pigs or giant-size blow-up figures to boggle over, but it’s the next best thing. This Friday, July 16, Pink Floyd will be resurrected in all its glory for the humble denizens of Lansing, passing years be damned.

Thousands of dollars of lighting equipment and, undoubtedly, hours and hours of study and rehearsal have spawned Floyd’s bastard step-child, an impressive group of people gathered under the name The Surrogate Band, to test the boundaries of personality and step into the overly-large shoes of one of modern rock’s most revered bands.

The tribute bands are back.

Assuming the guise of the super-group that kept an album on the charts for over 700 weeks (“The Dark Side of the Moon” graces top 10 lists the world over) can hardly be an easy task, but The Surrogate Band makes it look so easy you seriously have to wonder how much time these people have on their hands. The band’s song list covers most of Pink Floyd’s career, focusing primarily on Floyd’s biggest successes, “Dark Side” and “The Wall,” the concept album that was made into a captivating and extremely disturbing movie some 20 years ago.

And it’s not just the music that’s breathed into life: The accompanying light show is elaborate enough to make even those of us who missed the ‘70s feel a twinge of nostalgia for the theatricality of old, down to the floodlights at the base of the drum set.

And this time, they’ve brought company. In what must be a moment of major historical import, Led Zeppelin will be the opening act for the Floyd wanna-bes. Well, almost. Welcome Hammer Gods, who will attempt to slither and slide its way into the tight leather pants of Robert Plant and Jimmy Page. (Seriously, any man with the balls to attempt to be Plant even in the privacy of his own home has my support.)

This monumental showdown will take place at The Temple Club, 500 E. Grand River in Lansing’s Old Town, in a special outdoors show, set up in the parking lot behind the building. Pay attention because there’s an early start time for the show, with Ham-mer Gods commencing to wail at 8 p.m. and The Surrogate Band taking the stage from 9:45 to midnight. All of this is following The Temple Club’s patented Friday happy hour from 4-10 p.m., featuring the smooth tunes of Jazz Dog. The happy hour is free, but the rock will cost you $7 if you’re over 21, $10 for 18 and up.

Ahhh … A psychadelic light show and classic arena-rock under the stars — the young’uns have got a second chance to witness the spectacle of the ‘70s, recreational drugs and cheesy hair optional.

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