All in All, It was...Another Floydian Slip at the Paramount Theatre

My tenth rock concert of 2014 last night was my first show at the historic Paramount Theatre in downtown St. Cloud, MN. Several years ago, when I worked for a local non-profit arts magazine and website, I went to many shows at this classic venue. It seems like I've been in almost every corner of this building. Last night's show was my annual trek to see local favorites the Fabulous Armadillos perform their Pink Floyd tribute.

I also saw this show at the Paramount in August of 2013, and the setlist from last year's show remainded the same. I was surprised when I went to get a ticket last week how quickly the seats were being sold. I also remembered that the group packed Lake George for an annual summer concert in August with over 16,000 people estimated in attendance!

The show began shortly after 7:30 p.m. as the house lights went down and the familiar strains of "Welcome to the Machine" began playing. This was followed by a delightfully campy rendition of "Have a Cigar." The tune was highlighted by an amazing guitar performance by local guitar legend Paul "Stretch" Diethelm. Stretch and a couple other bandmates are also in the local group Slip Twister, hence the Floydian Slip show title.

The Armadillos then led into their full rendition of the classic album Dark Side of the Moon. At one point, during the song "Money," hundreds of play dollar bills floated down from the rafters. I grabbed a couple of them at the end of the set, and snagged three more before the night was over. I already had my show souvenirs before the night was halfway over!

The second half of the show featured choice cuts from the Pink Floyd classic "The Wall." Singer/actor/local coffee shop owner Jeff Engholm showcased his vocal and theatric abilities during this set. It was also nice to see local schoolchildren singing and marching onstage to the beat of "Another Brick in the Wall."

The show ended with the Floyd hits "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" and "Comfortably Numb," which featured another one of Diethelm's impressive guitar solos. I'm glad I was able to chat with Stretch a bit after the show as the crowd exited to congratulate him on another great show!

If you've never seen the Fabulous Armadillos live in concert before, you don't know what you're missing! They have one more Pink Floyd show at the Paramount, but they also have a string of other concert series coming up at Pioneer Place on Fifth. Grab your tickets before they're gone - they have a tendency to sell out quickly!