House of Floyd keeps fans in the Pink
Fish and Floyd are Pat Potter’s fish and chips.
When he isn't playing in the House of Floyd, he helps out at his family’s Oakland seafood company.
“Last Christmas, I cracked 2,000 pounds of crab,” Potter said. “I couldn’t play guitar for a month.”
Not good. Potter emulates the distinctive style of David Gilmour in the East Bay tribute to Pink Floyd, a band that remains as vital an English staple as fish and chips, a half-century after its formation in Cambridge.
Potter, 62, and his six House of Floyd colleagues stage their “immersive” version of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame band’s stage show Saturday at Stockton’s Bob Hope Theatre.
“Obviously, the first rule is the music,” said Potter, a life-long Alameda resident who formed the band 10 years ago with saxophone-playing friend Mark Showalter, 59. “We try to stay true to the songs. Old and new. It’s hard to do the old sound because it’s so primitive and whimsical. We just try to play the tunes right. That’s what people wanna hear.”
Sheri Showalter (married to Mark) choreographs the lasers and lighting, an aspect of Floydian psychedelia from the mid-1960s. House of Floyd and vintage Pink Floyd videos are included.
“All that is secondary, to an extent,” Potter said. “Except for the original videos. They were really outspoken and we want to reflect that. It’s a 50-50 mix. Some things they used and some we put together.”
The Showalters — Mark plays keyboards, too, while Sheri sings and adds percussion — are joined by Lou Portela (bass); Stewart Burr (drums); Melissa Harley (vocals, percussion) and Greg Studley (guitar). At 32, he’s the youngest member.
“That gives us a good blend of the young guy and old school," Potter said. "People all feel comfortable.”
Potter is very serious about playing electric guitar.
Gilmour, now 69, released his fourth solo album (“Rattle That Lock”) on Sept. 18. Pink Floyd officially reached its end with 2014’s “The Endless River.”
“I’d like to play exactly like Gilmour,” said Potter. “But I don’t want a paint-by-numbers kind of thing. He’s very tasty. Very melodic with a lot of ‘sustain.’ The main thing is he’s tasty.
“It’s not overly distorted. I wanted to see how he gets that sound with (foot) pedals from the ’80s. I looked on-line and went, ‘Wow, forget about that’.”
The first Gilmour solos Potter attempted were from “Shine on You Crazy Diamond” (1975), a five-part, 26-minute elegy for founding member Syd Barrett (1946-2006) written by Gilmour, Roger Waters, now 72, and Richard Wright (1943-2008). Nick Mason, 71, was the drummer.
“Luckily, as I get older, he’s not a shredder,” said Potter, who also plays lap-steel guitar. Gilmour's respected for his instinctive, no-showboating style.
Mark Showalter, who toured for three years with Gregg Allman and Friends, and Potter started House of Floyd after playing in Ghost Train, an R&B band. Not much of a Pink Floyd “fan,” Procul Harum, Jethro Tull, Queen and the Beatles appealed to Potter. In 1999, Showalter chose the first Floyd songs they learned:
“Us and Them,” “Money” and “Brain Damage/Eclipse” — from 1973’s “Dark Side of the Moon,” which still sells 10,000 copies a week. “Shine on ... ,” too.
Potter, one of five siblings, grew up in Alameda when dad Robert was stationed there as a U.S. Navy mechanic following the Korean War. Mom Ruby was a homemaker.
In fifth grade, he tried violin because a “cute girl” took the class. While watching the Beatles' August 1965 show at San Francisco’s Cow Palace, though, “I saw the excitement. The girls’ reactions. They were just screaming. I thought, ‘OK.' "
After ordering a “piece-of-crap” guitar from a Montgomery Ward catalog, Potter became a newspaper boy to pay for the instrument and six months of lessons. His baseball team converted to a rock band.
After graduating from Alameda High School, he kept working at the family’s seafood company (now JPC Food) until deciding, “I don’t wanna do that just yet. I wanna do this while I’m young.”
Though he “quit” the fish gig in 1977 and technically is “retired,” Potter works there when needed.
After Ghost Train and Showalter’s tenure with Allman, House of Floyd was built in 2005.
“He’s just getting better and better,” Potter said of Gilmour. “Those guys were so tight. You can feel the closeness, love and admiration” (before the inevitable acrimony).
“You work so long and hard to make sense of it” — especially “Shine on You Crazy Diamond,” Potter’s personal favorite. “It’s embedded in our brains. ... I just feel proud and thankful to play this stuff.”
— Contact Tony Sauro at (209) 546-8267 or tsauro@recordnet.com. Follow him on Twitter @tsaurorecord.
House of Floyd
What: Pink Floyd tribute
When: 8 p.m. Saturday
Where: Bob Hope Theatre, 242 E. Main St., Stockton
Tickets: $39-$49
Information: (209) 373-1400; ticketmaster.com
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