by Sarah Crisman

Pay no attention to the band behind the curtain (we're in good hands).

There are certain shows you walk into anticipating a deeply religious experience. Tonight served as a multi-media Mecca for me, and perhaps several others, packed into Dan's like mellow sardines. Pete Weise and Graham Richards put together a worthy tribute to the acid jazz world's second most infamous past time: playing Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon in time with The Wizard of Oz.

Before I go any further, it is important for you to know, Dear Reader, that there are three pop cultural forces ingrained in my psyche to the point of moderate-to-strong brainwash: Denton jazz, Pink Floyd, and The Wizard of Oz. It is also important to note that I have never, in all my years nancying around with musicians and hippies, experienced the Dark Side of Oz (though I've seen the film as many times as I've listened to the album, a number which crawls easily into the triple digits). I've never done them at the same time. This show was the Perfect Storm.

The musicians behind Dark Side are not kidding around. I'm fairly certain Pete Weise has played the album in its entirety nearly as often as David Gilmour. I've always found his guitar stylings to be rather Floydian (I've seen him play at The Greenhouse with his Quintet about as often as I've seen any single musician), so it didn't make me even slightly nervous when he told me he was taking on Dark Side – and I'm a snob. I get real weird and protective about music. But I also know that Pete can handle it, and he's going to surround himself with sick jazz freaks that worship Floyd and actually do it justice. I was right, by the way. Totally right.

Graham Richards, a wizard if ever there was one, was another driving force behind this project. He provided keys, vocals, and effects along with four powerful vocalists: Kathryn Lane, Melissa McMillan, Kaela Bratcher, and Lisa Horan. Four women plus Graham's subtle British accent sounded as hauntingly familiar as Gilmour and Waters, while still managing to capture the innocence and vulnerability inherent to the classic film. McMillan and Lane absolutely killed “Great Gig in the Sky.” These women never cease to amaze me.

As far as my state of mind, I managed to rediscover every phobia I developed as result of watching The Wizard of Oz nearly every day between the ages of six months and five years. I have tornado dreams at least three times a week, and now they sound like Pink Floyd. Not to mention the chilling image of Miss Gulch juxtaposed against clanking clocks of “Time.” I feel this show will perhaps be good fodder for a solid month of therapy.

Unfortunately, the album ran out before the film. The band played three bonus tributes: "Wish You Were Here," "Another Brick in the Wall," and "Comfortably Numb." It seems the timing of Pink Floyd matches up naturally to the pace of any given moment in this film. I was fairly heartbroken when the music was over, but mostly because I wanted to finish watching the movie (and I never want the music to end). Oh, Dan's, there's no place like home.

What do you think?