I’m not going to lie to you. The first thing I thought when I stepped into Vinyl Music Hall to watch “The Machine performs Pink Floyd” was…

“How many people here have watched the local White Tie Rock Ensemble?”

Nothing against the New York based company that have traveled the world performing Pink Floyd for the past 20 years, but how would these guys compare to the local ensemble who recreated Pink Floyd’s “The Dark Side of the Moon”?

Both were perfect sonic renderings of Pink Floyd. The Machine, smaller in number were led by Adam Minkoff (bass/vocals), Scott Chasolen  (keys), Ryan Ball (guitar), and their newest addition Tahrah Cohen (drums). A light show and smoke were the accouterments of their (mostly) standing room only show at Vinyl.

The White Tie Rock Ensemble led by Jonathan Clark, Jerry Dawson, Mark Ellis and a company of local musicians and music students added an orchestra and painstaking detail to their concert at the Pensacola Little Theatre.

Pink Floyd fans were thrilled by both, but I’m curious to know if anybody else saw both performances. Did one stand out over the other?

I’m biased on this one, but both companies rocked.

– Michael L. Smith