Reggae outfit puts new spin on rock classic.

IT WAS a very brave concept - taking the definitive rock record of the past two generations and reworking it as a reggae album - but the ambitious experiment with reggae rhythms and trip hop beats is paying off.

The Easy Star All Stars' gig Dub Side of the Moon at the Brewery Arts Centre gave rock fans, reggae heads, and even Pink Floyd devotees something to think about.

One of the project's goals, according to guitarist Michael G, "has been to introduce reggae to more people, by using it to turn something familiar into something entirely fresh and different."

I'm sure many Floyd fans were dubious about the idea of Dark Side of the Moon being tampered with', so from the very beginning, the All Stars had some proving to do to an up-for-it, but slightly suspicious crowd. No fear. They won the crowd over within the first few beats.

The first set was all their own material, and it went down a storm with the crowd who rapidly flocked around the stage.

After a half-hour break, when everyone went to sit in the garden to cool off, eagerly awaiting the Dub Side of the Moon set, the anticipation was high as the All Stars trooped back on stage.

There was a build-up with Speak To Me, much like the original, but when, instead of Gilmour's loose string guitar sound playing in the opening bars of Breathe, an almighty reggae beat kicked in, the over-excited crowd were off, cheering, skanking and loving every second.

There were elements of Drum n' Bass, horn sections and some quality reggae vocals from different band members, especially Tamar Kali on Great Dub in the Sky, which received the biggest cheer.

Time was another highlight, but the whole set was a true complement to the original, well executed, with impressive lighting in the second half.

Nobody wanted it to end, least of all the All Stars (even though they only stepped off the plane from New York five hours earlier!).

Alas, after a 40-minute encore of original material, and massive reggae classics, the show was over - leaving the bouncing crowd shouting for more.