Wish You Were Here keeps Floyd music alive

By John Benson

Ticking away the moments that make up a dull day is something fans of Pink Floyd find themselves doing now that their favorite classic-rock act has seemingly called it quits.

However, just because Roger Waters, David Gilmour and company aren’t talking, and thus aren’t touring anymore, doesn’t mean the act’s deep catalog of influential rock music doesn’t live on with cover bands across the globe. And in Northeast Ohio, that’s the group Wish You Were Here – The Sight and Sound of Pink Floyd, which has booked a return gig Friday to the Warren Community Amphitheater. By the way, that’s the same venue where it broke attendance records last year.

“This is our 14th year, and the band has evolved over those years,” said Wish You Were Here bassist-vocalist Eric “Eroc” Sosinski. “Right now, we have a great group of musicians. We’ve always had great musicians, but everybody is really focused on what we’re doing, and we’re tending to do more theme shows in terms of albums in their entirety, along with everything else. This past summer, we did a show where we did three albums, but I think for Warren we’ll do a general hits and classics kind of show.”

Aside from a stellar light show and a floating pig (a must-have for a Pink Floyd cover band), Wish You Were Here will be playing all of the band’s most popular tunes, such as “Time,” “Money,” “Wish You Were Here” and “Comfortably Numb,” as well as a few obscure songs that include David Gilmour solo material “There’s No Way Out of Here” and Syd Barrett-era “Jugband Blues,” “Arnold Lane” and “See Emily Play.”

Perhaps the biggest question is why do fans continue to flock to see the eight-piece Wish You Were Here, which is based in Cleveland and averages 15 shows a year?

“Basically, the timelessness of the music, and each new generation discovers the classics like ‘Dark Side of the Moon,’” Sosinski said. “It appeals to everybody because of the concepts of the lyrics with birth, school, work, death. It hits a resonant chord, so to speak, with each new generation. We always have a young fan base that always keeps regenerating.

“That wasn’t as evident in the first few years of the band, but then we saw it more and more as Floyd continued their popularity, even after not playing anymore live. So we fill that niche for people who want to experience Pink Floyd music in a communal setting. People like experiencing music with other people and hearing it live.”

For the band members of Wish You Were Here, the Floyd catalog has provided not only a lucrative side business but also the chance to be a part of the group’s lore, at least from a local standpoint. Remember, in 1977, more than 80,000 fans packed the old Cleveland Municipal Stadium to see the group tour its “Animals” album. In many ways that fervency has yet to subside, and in turn fuels the cover band’s existence.

Sosinski said those Pink Floyd fans who have yet to experience Wish You Were Here are in for quite a memorable evening.

“I’d expect to hear their favorite and timeless Floyd classics performed with a reverence towards the music,” Sosinski said. “It’s a tribute played by people who love the music and with a reverence for the music. We’re not just a bar band playing these songs. It’s just stuff we’ve put our heart and soul into over the years, and it’s become very personal for me.”