OnRush and United Housing present The Dark Side of the Moon live in concert

Tim Harrison will join the Eclipse Players in a live performance of Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side of the Moon to raise funds for United Housing June 6 at Avondale United Church.

A very exciting collaboration between OnRush Music Festival’s Tim Harrison and United Housing’s Rebecca Scott has brought together local musicians for their interpretation of the decades long chart-topping Pink Floyd album The Dark Side of the Moon on June 6 at Avondale United Church.

Harrison and Scott came together through the philanthropic mission of OnRush Music Festival and became friends who have a passion for music and wanted to come up with another way to raise funds for United Housing. This brainchild of a classic album live was bandied around and they felt that this would be a great way to attract a broader audience of people who are familiar with the music.

“We thought about it for a while and felt this is a great opportunity to get people who are familiar with the music to come out and see it. We’re at what, 54 years now and it’s still relevant today. And students today are now going back and listening to music from the ‘70s and ‘80s because it’s human. It was created by artists together in a room and they are looking for that genuine connection to music again,” said Harrison.

Getting those two demographics together would be a sharing experience as the younger generation would get to hear some great live music perhaps for the first time, and those that have a familiarity with the album have the opportunity to be immersed in this live representation.

“Rebecca said this would be a great thing because we can talk about the humanity of this album, we can talk about how you’re experiencing different emotions and they were all written from the point of view of 22-year-olds, but it’s still relevant today. And when we talk about those fears, those desires, those experiences and emotions that come through that album it’s all human experience. So it’s great for people to connect with and then we connected that to the housing ideas, which is near and dear to my heart, we have United Housing,” said Harrison.

United Housing, created by United Way Perth-Huron, is the region’s first non-profit housing organization dedicated to creating and sustaining mixed-income rental units.

This is not a tribute band performing, instead, it is a gathering of musicians who will be familiar to locals, united as The Eclipse Players. Local artist Eric Lundgren and Dan Beacock out of Baden will be on guitar and vocals, local actor-musician Andrew Iles on keyboards, recent resident Frank Heisler on bass, Woodstock’s Tracy Frank on sax and in a much-anticipated return to performing is Harrison on drums. Additionally, members of the Stratford Concert Choir and Canaris Women’s Choir will provide background vocals and who will be featured on “The Great Gig In The Sky.”

“It will be a modern version of the song so it won’t be the vocal gymnastics that you hear from 1973, it’ll be more reverent, more emotionally mature version, kinder, gentler that with all luck there won’t be a dry eye in the house. We’ve got United Housing as sort of the sponsor of the show so I think people will see it as something that is focused on housing and on the community and community members joining that gives me a lot of hope that we can bring different communities together to support something that is so incredibly important to our most vulnerable – that need stability so that they can heal and feel safe,” said Harrison.

Audience attendees can expect a full immersive experience with screen videos, great lighting and some really great sound surrounding them.

“I want this to be an event, I want people to come in and experience this as an event and feel like they got their money’s worth and that we’ve delivered a show that makes them feel they’ve been included in something because as we talk about community, I want the audience to feel part of that community, because they are helping fund what we’re doing and there is a direct connection,” explained Harrison.

Those that wish to contribute but are unable to attend can visit the United Housing website. Sponsors for this show are welcome and Harrison has created a challenge. If he can raise the production costs through sponsorship, his six-year-old son will choose a hair colour and Harrison will dye his hair that colour for the show.

This multi-generational event of Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon Live at Avondale United Church is on June 6 at 7 p.m. Tickets are available online for $50 and information on sponsorship can be found at www.onrushfestival.ca.