I T may be a tribute, but The Australian Pink Floyd Show recreates the live performances of the ground-breaking prog-rockers so well that Floyd guitarist David Gilmour has endorsed it by asking the band to play at his 50th birthday party. And Floyd drummer Nick Mason went on record to say "they probably do Floyd better than we do".

It helps that all the band are Pink Floyd fans. It also helps that some of the backroom team for original Floyd shows are on board. One such veteran is front-of-house engineer Colin Norfield, who introduced a 3D element last year.

"It actually went very well," says keyboard player and founder-member Jason Sawford.

"OK, it was a bit of an experiment but it was pretty successful. Definitely a Floydy thing to do."

Sawford is in Wroclaw, ahead of the Polish leg of their Exposed In The Light Tour.

"We've just arrived here from the Czech Republic and so far the tour is going well. From Poland we go to France, Germany, Holland, Ireland and then the UK."

The band, which formed in 1988 in Melbourne and still has two of the original members in Jason and guitarist/vocalist Steve Mac, set out to improve the show for every tour.

"This year we have more video material with some psychedelic themes, a redesigned light show, the inflatables and quadrophonic "surround" sound; all of which is controlled by Colin Norfield, who handled Pink Floyd's Division Bell tour."

From humble beginnings in Australia, TAPFS has become a worldwide success story, with ticket sales of over three million.

Bassist Colin Wilson, who joined the band in 1992, says: "For us, of course, the music has always come first. We like to breathe life into some material that would otherwise not get heard."

During last year's tour, they did indeed cover some lesser known tracks, such as Dogs from the Animals album.

"Yes," agrees Sawford, his once strong Australian accent now almost non-existent. "We're still doing some older tunes, but a different selection exploring the psychedelic, space-rock side of Floyd. We are doing Set The Controls For The Heart of the Sun and a newer version of Astronomy Domine. And from Animals we've got Pigs and Sheep.

"We've also got a few references to Syd Barratt," he says of the one-time frontman whose drug abuse led to his sacking.

The boys from Oz are not forgetting the best-known songs though.

"We are doing a fair selection from Dark Side of the Moon, such as Us and Them, Time and Money, plus Shine On You Crazy Diamond and Within The Flesh".

Also, for this tour, they have special guest Lorelei McBroom, who toured as a backing vocalist with Pink Floyd on the Momentary Lapse of Reason and Delicate Sound of Thunder tours.

"It's quite an honour to have Lorelei with us," says Sawford. "It makes for a spectacular performance of Great Gig in the Sky and she has been telling us stories about Floyd."

There's been a few new faces in TAPFS recently.

"David Domminney Fowler on guitar in particular," he says. "He's a great asset."

Some of the venues on the tour are in theatres and some in arenas, but apparently the size of the venue doesn't detract from the shows.

"We have a capable crew who can get as much of the show in as possible. All that may happen is that we might not be able to fit all the inflatables in at some of the smaller venues."

He continues, "However, we should be able to get all the lights and lasers in – plus the smaller places are a bit more intimate. We try not to alter the show too much."

But what happens next?

"We could perhaps pay tribute to another album like we did with Dark Side... a few years ago or we could do different themes. Our plans vary from year to year, but for this year we are looking at doing some summer shows and we hope to do a lot more in America."