Roger Waters
Best night of my life? Yes, I know so. And it'll probably be the best concert I ever go to.
Well I might as well start from the top. My Dad and I went together. We took the T to Boston (the T is a nickname for the subway around here). The buzz on the train was amazing. Everyone was just so pumped. There was people of every age. There was a girl who was..I'd say 14 years old with her father (around my dad's age, 53). Then there was a man on the train, I'd say around 67 years old. And you know he was going to the concert, trust me, you would, haha. Then we got there at the right time as gates opened.
The pre-show music was just a bunch of Bob Dylan songs. It was really nice. On the back screen it was a picture of an old fashioned radio, some liquor, cigarettes, pills. And then everything went black. An arm appeared on that same picture, changed the radio station, drank some liquor. Some of the stuff was quite funny. Like he switched the chanel and it went to the song "Dancing Queen" and he quickly switched it back to something else, some old fashioned osng.
Then he shut it off if I remember correctly, and the show officially started. The setlist has been close to the same the entire tour (one song was retracted, one added in the middle of it). It opened up with "In the Flesh" off of The Wall and god, amazing way to start the show. He went into an acoustic with Mother, which was great. Everyone was singing along. Then they went into Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun. Not a lot of casual Pink Floyd fans know this song but I'm so glad they used it for the concert. Pictures of Syd were on the back screen, it was just just really cool. They went into Shine On You Crazy Diamond and it was a highlight of the show for me. Real emotional, eveyone was singing. With a change of pace he went into Have a Cigar. It was a surprise because after the song they just froze, like mimes. The Wish You Were Here commentary starts, and as that's going on they all switched to acoustic instruments. WYWH was great, really great.
The next three songs were Roger's solo stuff. He played Southampton Dock and The Fletcher Memorial Home back to back. Both are beautiful lyrical songs, but musicically they aren't up to par with other stuff. I thought it was disrespectful people left for snacks because they missed out on the next song...Perfect Sense! Amazing song, one of my favorite solo songs by Roger (off of the album Amused to Death). The message is great, the song is great. Everyone that actually knew the song was singing, including me. He went into Leaving Beirut (another one of his solo songs, that he released as a single in 2004). Great story that really changed his life.
And he closed the first set with Sheep. Incredible. Another highlight of the show for me. The place erupted when the pig came flying out from backstage. It featured the phrases, 'All Religions Divide Us' and some naughty words I can't post on this board. :) I forget what it said on the other side of the pig, but it was true. Sheep was just outstanding. Musically, lyrically it's great. Incredible. And that was it for the first half.
They took a 15 minute break. On that same back screen appeared a distant moon. As the show came closer to a start that moon got bigger. Guess what was next? The Dark Side of the Moon.
They were back and this satillite started moving closer and closer to us via the video, it was just so real, and it cued the start of DSoTM. Breathe was great. On the Run was amazing. The effects on the screen were stunning. It went into Time, which is another highlight for me. Snowy White and Dave Kilmister played an extended solo together which was damn awesome. Roger was bouncing around the stage like a 20 year old kid. I never thought a 63 year old man could run around the stage so much. Then started The Great Gig in the Sky. I was a bit worried if this girl would be able to handle the vocals of the song. I was floored, I mean...floored. She captures the fear in the song, it was like hearing it on the actual album. Outstanding. Next came Money, one of Pink Floyd's most famous songs. Great, great. The entire crowd was singing, really great.
Us and Them was good as well, and seemed a bit extended from the studio version, but it may have been my imagination. Any Colour You Like, much like On the Run was pretty amazing. Dave Kilmister was great on this song. Around this time this 3d prism started showing high above, in front of the stage. It's basically a laser effect of the Dark Side of the moon cover. Hard to explain how sweet it was without a video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APrkG6nK3-w You get a solid look at it in this video (at around 5:15-the end), but it's better from a bit futhur away. Then Brain Damage started (one of my favorites), amazing, this and Eclipse are the perfect way to end an album. Then came Eclipse as I just said. Put it this way, I get shivers everytime I hear that song. Multiply that by 100 at a concert. Amazing. Perfect way to end an album. Just perfect.
DSOTM was amazing. It's just amazing how they make it sound so much like the album
Then they faked their bow to the crowd, walked off. Everyone cheered and yelled like hell for the encore. They came out and went straight into The Happiest Days of Our Lives/Another Brick in the Wall Part II. I love this song, despite how much it's overplayed, but Roger is incredible on this song, his showmanship. Really different from when he was in Pink Floyd. He went into Vera Lynn/Bring the Boys Back Home. I love the song Vera, there's just somthing touching about it for me, and Bring the Boys back Home was great with the bombs going off in the back. And they ended the show with Comfortably Numb which was great. Everyone was singing, everyone.
I obviously missed a few highlights in this mini-review, but it was just really amazing. I mean jeez...incredible. My expectations were high from what I heard about it, and from my flat out love for Roger and Pink Floyd. But my expexations were exceeded. Incredible.
I hope some of you guys and gals get to see him, if he comes around another time. My dad said it was his favorite concert of all time, not just because he was with his son, but he said everything was just so amazing. The effects, the lighting, the atmosphere...most of all, the music.
A+. Even if you are just a casual fan of Pink Floyd, I think anyone would really enjoy this show.
