Seriously. Polka Floyd is a Pink Floyd revival band from the Toledo, OH, area, whose particular schtick is that they play Pink Floyd polka-style. Not all of the time. Sometimes they play it pretty straight. Other times it's got that polka beat and polka sound. But put it all together and it's Polka Floyd and it is nothing less than very, very strong "Echoes" of Pink Floyd. I mean, as in fabulous.
My old Toledo/Bowling Green friends introduced me to Polka Floyd on a recent visit to northwest Ohio. Yeah, yeah, we went to the Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame, where they were featuring some band called the Rolling Rocks, or something like that. Oh, wait, Rolling Stones, yeah, that's it.
But then we drove back home to Toledo and caught Polka Floyd at an Octoberfest celebration somewhere in Toledo, I couldn't say where. I wasn't driving.
We got there must in time to hear their set from "The Wall." The temperature was plummeting and it was starting to rain. Over the next two hours it probably hit 45 degrees with a half-inch of rain. It was not pretty. But Polka Floyd held our attention.
"The Wall" set opened with "In the Flesh." You know: "So ya thought ya might like to go to a show/To feel that warm thrill of confusion, that space cadet glow/Well, I got some bad news for you sunshine/Pink isn't well, he stayed back at the hotel/And he sent us along as a surrogate band/Tonight we'll find out where you fans really stand." Yeah, that one.
"Are there any Polacks in the audience tonight," Polka Floyd continued. "Get 'em up against the wall.... If I had my way, I'd buy you all shots."(Oh, that's not the original lyric? Well, what did you expect? This is polka.)
But the music...the music is vintage Pink Floyd. Lead guitarist Ken Haas has managed somehow to clone David Gilmour, mirroring his most famous guitar solos note for note (and I mean that in a good way), but over the top of a polka beat. It's not academic, it's not studious, it's not fawning. It captures the eloquence of Gilmour and Floyd, and if anything adds energy. You know, polka energy.
The set continued with "Another Brick in the Wall" and lots more of "The Wall." But finally they got to "Run Like Hell" and, OK, now I had to have their live CD featuring the song (Live at the Ohio Theater). It's a Pink Floyd fave, of course, with the most beautiful energetic guitar wash by Gilmour which, again, Haas replicates perfectly (again, in a good, good way). And the lyrics are delivered with tremendous energy by Haas, accordionist Eric Hite and bassist Chris Zielinski. They just flat out nail it.
One other thing they nail is the screaming and shouting on "The Wall." "Okay, okay, just a little pin-prick/There'll be no more AHHHHH!!!! but you might feel a little sick."
Later, they closed the show--well, okay, not quite--with "Echoes," the 22 minute magnus opus from side 2 of "Meddle," complete with the instrumental section consisting of outer space/animal noises, though I have to admit that part was truncated a little bit. This was all done complete straight, no polka, no tricks.
So, like I said, I bought the CD, and it has all kinds of other stuff on it. I mean, no, it does not have "Echoes," but it has "Welcome to the Machine" and a couple of Syd Barrett oldies and "Seamus" and stuff like that. And it's just absolutely uncanny how much they sound like Pink Floyd, except of course when they crank up the polka beat and the accordion.
Well, except for one thing. The vocals are delivered with energy and passion, as I said. But sometimes they don't sound that good. Haas is a mediocre singer, Hite is, well, a mediocre singer, Zielinski--well, there's a reason why Haas is the lead singer. The vocals are mostly passable, sometimes worse, sometimes better, as when there's a scream or a shout to be interjected.
But mostly their appeal is in Haas' ability to replicate Gilmour's most famous guitar parts. It is just absolutely amazing. And, sure, they're a novelty act. The bloom probably wears off the rose after while. But I've seen them once, and I've listened to their CD 6 or 8 times, and it ain't worn off yet.
So for all you folks in the Toledo or Detroit areas who happen to like Pink Floyd, Polka Floyd is very, very highly recommended. In fact, don't miss 'em.
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