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Maria's Celebrates 40th Anniversary of Pink Floyd's 'Dark Side of the Moon'

By Casey Cora | February 28, 2013 4:22pm

BRIDGEPORT — Joe Bryl can remember catching the Pink Floyd concert “Live in Pompeii” at the Marina Cinemas, a long-shuttered three-screen theater at the Marina City towers.

Fast forward a few decades and Bryl, 59, is the music director at Maria’s Community Bar, arguably one of the coolest jobs in the city.

On Sunday — roughly the 40th anniversary of the release of the band's "Dark Side of the Moon" album — he’s planned an event to mark the heyday of the iconic band’s music: “The Dark Side of the Floyd: The Music of Pink Floyd from 'The Piper at the Gates of Dawn' to the 'Dark Side of the Moon.'”

Included will be a screening of "Live at Pompeii" — a 1972 concert film in which the band blasts all sorts of psychedelic goodness across a desolate Roman amphitheater — and a curated set of Floyd tunes by Chicago musician Stan Wood. Wood's set will encompass Pink Floyd’s early years up to the solo work of the band's late madcap co-founder Syd Barrett.

Bryl, a Back of the Yards resident who ran the Noble Square DJ lounge Sonotheque, is responsible for bringing a diverse music lineup to the bar, 960 W. 31st St., which hosts guests DJ sets or live music every night. Here's their calendar.

The music selection ranges from spacey and soulful to far-out and funky. It's often accompanied rare, exotic footage on a video projector, like clips of Buenos Aires garage bands in the 1960s and vintage reels of Vaudeville acts.

“I’m dealing with crowds half my age sometimes...and introducing them to different things and they might not have the historical layer that I might have,” he said. "I'm not trying to act as teacher. Maybe subliminally, because that’s how I learned."

"Dark Side of the Floyd" takes place Sunday from 8 p.m.-2 a.m. No cover.