Last week saw us celebrating my husband’s 71st birthday by attending our first indoor concert (come to think of it, our first concert, period) since the start of the COVID era. Both of us have been fully vaxxed since last spring and within the past month got our boosters, so we felt mostly comfortable with the idea, especially as the omicron variant had at that point not been identified in Oregon. Also, the concert would be in the Historic Rogue Theatre in neighboring Grants Pass, a venue which, at max capacity, hosts a fairly modest crowd of just over 500, and we planned on keeping our masks on throughout the evening. (Oregon law requires wearing masks in crowded indoor public settings unless one is actively eating or drinking.)

The draw? A well-respected Pacific Northwest Pink Floyd tribute band, Pigs on the Wing. Harry’s a fan of Pink Floyd’s music, and we figured it was a fitting time to push the boundaries of our entertainment bubble. We’d never been inside the Rogue Theatre, so we purchased our (very moderately priced) general admission tickets online and showed up about half an hour before the show was to begin on a very wet and chilly evening. The brightly lit neon marquee and Art Deco style of the exterior welcomed us in to a small lobby where patrons purchased glasses of wine, beer or spirits before making their way to the main floor or up the stairs to the balcony.

The Rogue opened in 1938, one of the few theaters to open in the depths of the Great Depression. It continued showing movies to the end of the century and then closed as movie goers headed to more modern multiplexes. It reopened in 2000 as a regional nonprofit performing arts center, has undergone many repairs and now boasts state-of-the-art lighting and sound as well as a designation as a National Historic Landmark. As I mentioned, it’s a fairly cozy venue, with a little over 330 seats on the orchestra level and just under 200 seats in the balcony. We wondered if the band’s sound would be too big for such a space and actually brought ear plugs, just in case.

We were very pleased to find the sound was beautifully balanced and appropriate for the space, making for a most enjoyable experience. Pigs on the Wing has been performing its tribute act for about 15 years, based out of Portland, Oregon, and playing in venues throughout the Northwest of a similar size to the Rogue Theatre, so every aspect of its performance is polished. The lighting effects, videos and projections (with many references to Pink Floyd album and concert art) complemented and highlighted the music.

During the first set, the band gave a full-album performance of Wish You Were Here, and after a 20-minute break returned to play a number of Roger Waters-era Pink Floyd classics, and some extended solos and riffs allowed the artists to really show their talent, staying true to the original material but with their own refreshing delivery.

All told, we enjoyed more than 2 hours of music and the experience of being at a live performance after too long an absence. We noted that once most of the crowd got inside, their masks came off, ostensibly because most had purchased some liquid refreshment, but the masks for the most part were not later put back on. With the median age of the concert goers apparently around 60, we figured most, like us, were vaccinated, and we never really felt uncomfortable. We agreed that the Rogue Theatre offered a very enjoyable concert experience, and we’ll be keeping an eye on performances booked there in the future.

— Patty Vanikiotis, associate editor/copy editor