Pigs on the Wing is a Portland-based Pink Floyd Tribute band, set to perform at the McDonald Theater on Dec. 7 as part of their Echoes of Pink Floyd tour. In true Floyd tribute fashion, they will be playing a three hour show with a 20 minute break and no opener. That means there’s nothing but enough Pink Floyd music to space out to, with the required chance to pee in between. 

However, unlike many Floyd tributes who pride themselves in feeling like a direct note-for-note replica, Pigs on the Wing say they allow themselves to explore the sonic space and go where the music takes them, all while staying faithful to Pink Floyd songs. Instead of playing one album straight through, they’ll play their favorite hits and deep cuts.

Because Pacific Northwest tribute bands deserve all the love in the world, Eugene Weekly sat down with Pigs drummer Brian Fairfield over Zoom to talk about learning three hours of Pink Floyd when he was not already a fan, what to expect from a concert, and general nerding out about one of the best bands in history.

There’s a tribute band for every musical entity out there. How did you come to choose Pink Floyd?

How it all kind of began was, our keyboard player Matt Jones and our guitarist Jason Baker were playing in an original band in the early 2000s, like all of us [currently in the band] were. They were playing a show in downtown Portland at some bar, and they thought, ‘instead of playing our songs, let’s play Dark Side of the Moon, just because it’d be fun.’ 

And it was well received. Then it kind of turned into, ‘Maybe we can play Pink Floyd more.’ Then people started coming up to the shows, and it just kind of grew. That’s how Pigs on the Wing blossomed.

How did you come to join Pigs? 

In that time, I was playing in other bands, and we had played shows with two of the guys from Pigs. And then Pigs on the Wing needed a drummer. They had heard that I wasn’t playing in a band at the time because I took a break, and they reached out to me. I thought, ‘Maybe I’ll try something different here.’ And I’m glad I did. 

So it’s really as easy as that. They just kind of knew of a drummer that they liked. I was available. They called me and now we’re very, very close friends forever. I’ve been in the band for 10 years.

How much Pink Floyd did you listen to before you joined?

I honestly, never bought a Pink Floyd record. I heard lots of classic rock, Pink Floyd included, because I had an older brother. When I was a kid, he was in the room next door to me, blasting music every day. So I honestly heard Pink Floyd through our wall. That’s how I even understand any of these songs and who they are now. But as far as playing them, I never tried to play them until I was asked to go and join Pigs. 

Can you tell me about the difficulties of learning the intricacies of Pink Floyd since you didn’t know very much about them before you joined?

Now, these songs are to the point of muscle memory. But I will say, when I joined the band, I had a lot to learn. I had to learn three hours of music, and I had never played these songs before. So for me as a musician, there were two most difficult things for me. 

The first one is the tempo of Nick Mason [Pink Floyd’s drummer]. I pride myself in my tempo, but he plays such laid back, slow tempos, which is a good thing, because everything else musically around him colors it. So it was a challenge for me to not hurry parts and rush parts, keep that groove like we hear on the album. 

And then the other challenge for me was most of the arrangements. Like, their arrangements are really creative and unique. They’ll add an extra beat, or they’ll play this long, drawn out progression for eight or 12 measures, and it’s insane. You can get lost in that stuff if you’re not paying attention. 

How do you guys honor the legacy of Pink Floyd while still allowing yourselves to experiment as a band? How do you balance that?

Our number one goal is the music. We try to keep really true to the actual songs, how they are on the albums. If you change a Pink Floyd song, people are gonna get really angry. So we try to play it exactly, but we also allow ourselves to be a band and take a few liberties. We add some art here or there. 

We approach it more like a unit as a rock band. We come out there as the band, and we play the music that you know. But if you keep doing it cookie-cutter style, it gets real stale. And I think it translates to the crowd. We’re not going to change anything drastic, we’re not changing words or the tune. 

But for example, we like to incorporate the saxophone maybe in some parts that aren’t on the album, because we have an awesome player, Matt Sulikowski, and when he comes out on stage, people love it. We like to just go out and showcase all of our tools and our strong points. I think you have to have a good mix of people, and in my opinion, our current lineup is the best we’ve ever had.

What is your favorite Floyd song or album to play?

Collectively as a band, the Animals album is hands down, our favorite album. I would say for me, tunes that I like to play live there’s obviously a lot. I’m a huge fan of “One of These Days” live. It’s such a fun, just awesome tune. 

“Run Like Hell” is a really fun one. I also like playing “Echoes” because it’s a journey of a song, and when you’re done, you’re almost exhausted. Like ‘we just went around the world and back here.’

Who is your favorite Pink Floyd leading man? Roger Waters or David Gilmour?

Gilmour all the way. Obviously you know, I have all the respect for all of them. And Roger is awesome too but I just like David’s voice better. What I do like about Roger is that really sort of artistic edge to him. But as a musician, I would pick David. 

What can Pink Floyd fans expect from your concert?

They can expect a Pink Floyd show. Meaning lots of music that’s going to go across a lot of the albums. And then they’re going to get energy. They’re going to get a live show, a live experience, and they’re going to get crazy lights, crazy projections, eye candy, that kind of stuff. People have their drinks, do their drugs, whatever makes them happy. You’re going to hear Pink Floyd and you’re going to have a good time. It’s a very fun show for us to play every night.

Pigs on the Wing is playing 8pm  Dec. 7,at the McDonald Theatre. Doors open 7 pm. Tickets start at $35 at McDonaldTheatre.com