The Bleeding Heart Band (IZZCAT)

Pink FLoyd - The Wall February 25, 2000 Manhattanville College, NY Reviewed by Robert Lewis

'The Castle', a gorgeous, yet imposing Medieval hall nestled in the middle of the Manhattanville College campus in Purchase, New York set the scene for an evening of musical tribute on February 26, 2000. The culmination of a senior project organized by Manhattanville student John Galgano, the evening's presentation brought downstate New York bands Schrodingers Cat and IZZ together to perform the classic Pink Floyd concept album, "The Wall." The show came complete with a cast of characters and a simple, yet interpretive set of props to designed to drive home the visual aspects of a story which is often described as the highlight of writer Roger Waters' career.

I don't generally go for tribute shows. It's been my experience that the performers either take themselves WAY too seriously or they just plain suck. But when I received a personal invitation to this show from Schrodinger's Cat Keyboard guy, PJ Muller, I couldn't resist. Schrodinger's Cat is one of the finest 'local' bands I've ever heard. I've had an opportunity to see them perform on several occasions and I'm crazy about them -- so it only made sense that having their name attached to a tribute made it a no-miss show. While I wasn't familiar with the other band, IZZ, I was assured they were great. I had to go.

The room held maybe a hundred fifty guests and this night they had to bring in a few extra seats. I had talked to PJ before the show and he lamented that the previous night's performance had been lightly attended. Obviously attendence would not be an issue for the second show.

The performance began with a simple, quiet flute solo by Alyssa Martinez. When the band crashed in with the opening crescendo, any minor concerns I might have had about the quality of performance were shattered. Guitarist Paul Bremner began with a vengeance that never dulled through the whole evening. Bremner absolutely, positively kicks ass!

John Galgano ("Pink", for the evening) sauntered onto the stage and began with the haunting "So ya, thought ya, might like to go to the show . . ." He began a bit stiffly, falling off a bit on some of the high notes (who wouldn't?), but quickly fell into the groove and ended up with a positively riveting performance.

Backing vocalists Anmarie Byrnes and Theresa Papa added an angelic backdrop to start with, but on the second tune "The Thin Ice", as the show proper began, they established themselves as more than a back-up section. Young 'Pink', played by Christopher Baldini sat in a folding chair as Anmarie stood on one side of him and John Galgano stood on the other. The two traded lyrics as they lovingly gazed upon the pensive, obvlivious young Pink.

For "Another Brick in the Wall" a whole host of children tossed a ball to one another in the dry-ice fogged, dark area in front of the stage. Galgano floated among them like a ghost. Drummer Greg Dimiceli donned a white wig and became the schoolmaster as a bit of play acting brought a bit of the feature movie presentation to the stage.

So the show continued. John Galgano fell more and more comfortably into the role of Pink and the band shwoed their prowess. PJ Muller played keyboards and kept up with the pre-recorded samples (bits from the original album mostly). Tom Galgano supported with keyboards and a very surprisingly strong vocal presence that threatened to steal the show in a couple spots. Mike Armstrong played flawless bass guitar and just appeared to be having a great deal of fun through the whole night's adventures. Brian Coralian played drums and percussion opposite Dimiceli who, next to Bremner, really blew my mind with their skill.

The show ended with a piece from Roger Waters' second solo release, Radio KAOS. After a brief admonition from Galgano about how the world can be changed, "The Tide is Turning" was a perfect song to end the evening with. This song was as flawlessly performed as the rest of them and I left 'The Castle' with a renewed love for my favorite local band.

I have to admit that I hadn't heard "IZZ" before this evening, but I will definitely be hearing more of them in the future. Schrodinger's Cat of course, remains the hottest thing out there in my opinion. These are two local bands that I can assure you will someday achieve much greater levels of fame. Their twentieth anniversary performance of the wall re-established one of my core beliefs: PROGRESSIVE ROCK IS NOT DEAD!