There’s been big news in the Pink Floyd camp lately as the band’s David Gilmour has announced that the band is officially finished. Fans can continue to hear Pink Floyd’s music performed live though, courtesy of The Australian Pink Floyd, a 10-piece tribute band that’s been performing note-perfect renditions of Pink Floyd songs for more than two decades now.

So good that Gilmour asked the band to play at his 50th birthday party, The Australian Pink Floyd will perform two shows in Arizona. The group is playing mostly outdoor shows on this tour but their first Arizona stop will be for an indoor show at the Ikeda Theater at the Mesa Arts Center in Mesa Sept. 2. On Sept. 3 the band will appear in Flagstaff for an outdoor show at the Pepsi Amphitheater. Both shows will feature the band’s elaborate stage show with lasers and inflatables.

We sent some questions by email to band keyboards player Jason Sawford, asking about the current tour, those sometimes misbehaving inflatables and the band’s rapidly approaching 30th anniversary. His responses, given exclusively to AXS.com, are below.

AXS: Is the set list for your “Tour 2015” shows different from the “Welcome to the Machine” shows? Could fans in the U.S. theoretically see two completely different shows while you’re in the country this year?

Jason Sawford: Yes, we've been doing two different sorts of shows while we have been touring the U.S. this summer. We began 2015 in Europe with a show in which we performed the entire Wish You Were Here album and a set of Pink Floyd's greatest hits. For this current U.S. tour most of the shows we are doing we have been touring with a support band, Led Zeppelin 2, who do an hour of music before we come on. We then do a greatest hits set. There are a few shows we are doing around the states in which we are only playing by ourselves so those shows we will be performing the whole of Wish You Were Here in addition to the greatest hits set.

AXS: You normally don’t tour with a support act. How did the shows with Led Zeppelin 2 come about?

JS: It was an idea that was suggested to us by our agent who thought it would attract a more diverse audience to our shows. Also it was thought that many people who enjoy classic rock would appreciate the chance to hear the music of two of the greatest rock bands performed live in an outdoor setting so we thought we'd break out of our usual mold and try it out as an idea and see how it is received as an offering over the summer months. It's been going really well.

AXS: Your show includes the use of inflatables. Have you ever had a mishap with any of them during a performance, something that surely wasn’t amusing as it happened but that you can laugh at now?

JS: Sometimes the inflatables have not inflated properly or they deflate too early, and the effect tends to be comical. We have an inflatable teacher who has a rather distinctive appearance and he holds a cane which, when inflating, has been known to get caught between his legs jutting out and looking like, well, you know, a bit phallic. And one of our crew have to quickly correct it!

AXS: Some band members play in other bands and it looks like you’ll have a break from touring the Floyd show towards the end of this year. What will you be doing musically during this time?

JS: Several of us are involved in separate projects. As for myself, I'll be doing a bit of recording with our guitarist Dave (Domminney Fowler) for a side project we've been working on called Audial. I'm sure some of the other band members will be doing other things too; our drummer has a couple of bands that he plays in, one called Coroner for the Police, and our backing vocalists have their own projects as well. Mike, (Kidson) our saxophonist is involved in another project with the interesting title of Unprotected Sax, just to mention a few things. So yes, we all have a few things that we'll catch up on when we finish this tour.

AXS: Does the band need to spend much time in rehearsal before going back out on tour? What is the normal routine for that?

JS: Normally we decide what we are going to do some time before the tour and then we assemble a set list, and maybe book a week to rehearse solidly with the core band. Then when that is done we'll rehearse as a full production for a couple of days in a suitable venue with all the musicians and technical crew. The time for rehearsal varies from a few days to weeks depending on what we are doing, but these days we know the music pretty well so many of the songs don't need too much rehearsal, provided everyone does their homework. As we constantly play the music on tour it gets ingrained in the memory. But if we want to tackle a new album or production then there may be some extensive preparatory work involved as well, even before we start rehearsing.

AXS: The band is not too far away from a 30th anniversary now. Are you thinking about that yet, or how do you think you’d like to celebrate that significant event?

JS: How time flies! I haven't thought about the 30th anniversary because it seems that we've just finished our 20th but you're right; it's not long until the "big three-oh"! Not sure what we'll do but I'm sure we'll celebrate it somehow.