Matt Goodluck was just "a little tacker" about five years old when the phenomenal album The Wall was released by Pink Floyd 40 years ago.
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"It's amazing to think we are doing this 40 years later," Goodluck says. "Celebrating an album like this won't happen again."
It was a different time for music with a different level of quality according to Goodluck. "Pink Floyd was a huge band, and to produce a concept album about some dark themes, and have it be one of the all time biggest albums, it was because of who they were. It was unique times, and they were a unique band - it was a perfect storm."
Goodluck is the lead singer of the six-piece Adelaide-based band Echoes of Pink Floyd. Other members are Daniel Hunter on lead guitar; Jason Miller on drums; Mark Dole on bass; Paul Bindig on keyboards and synthesizers; and Mark MacNab on rhythm and acoustic guitar.
"I came to Pink Floyd a bit later than some of the other guys in the band. I was in my late 20s. I had always liked them, and was living in UK at the time." A friend suggested he should listen to Pink Floyd. "He started drip feeding me some. It was a slow process. As I got older in my 30s, I kept going back to them." He slowly became a really big fan.
When he came back to Australia after seven years overseas, he got a job as a public servant. He had taken singing lessons in his late teens, but didn't have the confidence to perform. So he was quite late when he started playing in bands. "It takes a bit of guts to get up and believe in yourself." He was in a Beatles cover band for a few years, then did rock covers in pubs, with different friends around the Adelaide music scene.
"Then I saw an ad for a Pink Floyd band seeking a vocalist. I took the more serious approach different to a front bar band, and put in the time and energy to get it right. So I slotted in very easily and they made me feel incredibly welcome. To be the front man is not the easiest job. I'm very lucky my vocal range is close to Roger [Waters]. People say to us we sound exactly like the albums. You want to give the audience that experience."
The band was started by Hunter, who is "a Pink Floyd nut", about 10 years ago.
"It's kind of flavour of the month to perform albums in their entirety and we already had devoted a large chunk of our show to The Wall. So we started to listen more seriously to the whole album, knowing the 40th anniversary was coming up.
At each performance, the band gets a local choir or performance troupe on stage for the seminal Another Brick in the Wall (Part II). "It means there is always a difference in the show. And it gives the youngsters a chance to do something creative, and be exposed to music they have probably not previously been exposed to. We encourage the kids to sit and watch the end of the show. It really lifts the show, at that moment when the kids walk out, it's a great feeling to hear the audience erupt."