Concert Review: Roger Waters Undiluted

Shoreline Amphiteatre,
Mountain View, CA.
October 10th, 2006.

As we walked into a packed, sold-out stadium, you could almost smell the excitement in the air. Judging from the miles-long line of cars extending on to the freeway and the throng entering the venue, this was clearly no ordinary night. For some, it was the event of a lifetime. Roger Waters, founder-member and bassist of Pink Floyd, was going to perform their groundbreaking classic album The Dark Side of the Moon in sequence, in its entirety.

Floydian Screen: The Opening
On stage, you see the now-familiar Floydian screen. On it, there's an amazingly sharp picture of a fifties-style radio with a model airplane on it, a bottle of scotch with a glass, and an ash tray with a cigarette. Filled with so many shades of brown and amber, it might even be sepia-toned. Almost imperceptibly, the picture comes to life as smoke begins to swirl up from the cigarette and a hand pours some scotch into the glass and replaces it half empty. Then it picks up the cigarette and takes a drag as smoke machines fill in for the absent smoke exhalation. The hand turns the large dial on the radio. The first song we hear is a scratchy, static-filled "We'll Meet Again", by Vera Lynn, recognizable from The Wall. Next, we hear Elvis' "Hound-Dog", followed by Abba's "Dancing Queen" which is quickly cut short as the radio is retuned to "My Funny Valentine" which is played to its finish. Then, for a few milliseconds, which feel like hours, there's dead silence. This is utterly shattered as the Emperor of Floyd walks on to the stage accompanied by the adrenaline-charged, distortion-laden slide guitar and drums from the opening of "In The Flesh". The screen displays marching hammers. Fireworks erupt on stage. And the crowd erupts into wild and ecstatic cheers.

After his performance with the rest of Pink Floyd at Live 8, Waters expressed an interest in revisiting the classic Pink Floyd album, The Dark Side of the Moon. Performed in Europe and North America, The Dark Side of the Moon tour consists of Waters playing a spectrum of songs from early Floyd up to his more recent solo work in Set One, followed by a performance of the entire The Dark Side of the Moon album in Set Two.

In the 1960s, Pink Floyd used to project surreal images from a slide projector on to a regal Syd Barrett performing on a giant pillow in the middle of a resplendent stage. In the 1980s, they used to construct an entire wall brick-by-brick between themselves and the audience as they performed The Wall. Throughout their careers, Pink Floyd and Waters have been pioneers in immersing their audience into a complete audiovisual environment during their live shows. This show was no exception.

Set One

In addition to the powerful guitar riff, another reason for opening with "In The Flesh" was to highlight the fact that Pink wasn't well, he stayed back at the hotel and sent Waters along with his surrogate band. Rumor has it that although Waters would like to perform with the rest of Floyd, it is Dave Gilmour who opposes it.

"In The Flesh" was followed by a fifties-style radio announcement having to do with Soviets in Cuba. This was followed by a subdued "Mother" whose solo acoustic guitar parts were played by Waters. Gilmour's vocals were performed on this number (and several others) by Dave Kilminster. After the classic line,

Mother, should I trust the government?

Waters couldn't resist mouthing,

No fucking way!

"Mother" was followed by "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun" from Floyd's second (1968) studio album A Saucerful of Secrets, which included a few Syd Barrett songs. Barrett, who passed away last summer, was one of the founding members of the band. He left shortly after the band's inception, before their rise to fame, owing to mental problems stemming from his excessive psychedelic drug use. At points the screen showed what I thought were black-and-white snippets of Syd running and jumping in some fields. With a fantastic drum solo by Graham Broad and an excellent guitar-sax jam between Ian Ritchie and Dave Kilminster, "Set the Controls" was followed by "Shine On You Crazy Diamond." It was a condensed version of Parts 1-5. This is a well-known tribute to Syd, and the screen displayed his picture throughout the tune, with a close-up of his eyes during the line,

Now there's a look in your eyes, like black holes in the sky

It continued on with "Have a Cigar" with a "bright lights, big city" kind of montage on the screen. Like the lyrics, the visuals displayed the effects of a small-town artist enveloped by fat cat big-city producers, who smoke cigars. The act of the producers offering a cigar to the innocent artist makes them feel he is somewhat complicit in their greed. Also like the album, the song abruptly morphs into radio, and the screen shows the original still life with the vintage radio which, after some tuning by the hand, plays a tinny version of "Wish You Were Here" exactly as it sounds on the album of the same name, going into the actual version. What was notably different from the original however, was the background vocalists performing a bluesy version of the chorus that acts as a bridge in the middle of the song. This song was also written for Syd, and during the guitar solo, the screen showed candles in his memory.

The next few songs were numbers from Waters' solo albums and although I am not a big fan of this part of his career, it was entertaining nonetheless. These included "Southampton Dock" and "Fletcher Memorial Home" from The Final Cut. Technically, I know this was a Pink Floyd album, but it was principally a Waters project, and the style of music and lyrics is largely echoed in his solo albums. During "Fletcher Memorial Home" an inflated astronaut was sent floating around the stage. He also sang a new 2005 track "Leaving Beirut", about his experience as a teenager in Lebanon. The song's lyrics are interspersed with spoken word commentary reflecting Waters' strong stance against the Iraq war. For the show, the spoken word parts were displayed on the screen somewhat like a graphic novel.

Leaning Left
In addition to "Leaving Beirut", there was certainly a left-leaning political coloring to the entire show, which was reflected in occasional anti-war propaganda on the screen, alternating with the surreal imagery. His performing songs from The Final Cut, which has a strong anti-World War II slant, reinforced this. Waters lost his father in the Second World War and since The Wall, his anti-war views show up every once in a while in his songs. In some concerts, I heard that there was concerted booing, especially during "Leaving Beirut". But in this bluest of blue states and in a significantly left-leaning city, there were rampant and united cheers every time Waters made some kind of anti-war statement, musical or otherwise.

A Floating Pig

The last song in the first set was "Sheep" from Animals, and following a classic Pink Floyd tradition, an inflatable pig was released into the air. Left from the stage, it floated from the rafters out on to the lawn and then went hundreds of feet into the air. The graffiti was interesting and included 'Impeach Bush Now' scrawled across its backside. A magnificent spectacle, it was a grand ending to the set.

Set Two

The second set consisted of The Dark Side of the Moon played in its entirety. Starting with the familiar heartbeat, onto which all of the album's songs are superimposed, the entire performance was fantastic and words fail to describe the perfection with which the album was replicated on stage.

Backing Waters was an excellent line-up, especially the band's three guitarists, including The Who and Clapton accompanist, Andy Fairweather-Low, ex-Thin Lizzy member and a regular with Pink Floyd since 1977, Snowy White and Dave Kilminster who, along with keyboardist Jon Carin, did an excellent job of filling in for Dave Gilmour's vocals throughout the show. The drummer Graham Board shone in an extended drum solo in "Time", and Jon Carin's virtuosity was revealed in "Us and Them". Of course, the significance of the song in this time of war was not missed by either Waters or the audience. Carol Kenyon blew everyone away with her rendition of "Great Gig in the Sky". With those lungs, I'm surprised she didn't literally blow everyone away! Waters did not perform much on this set, except of course, with his bass guitar and by walking around on the edges of the stage almost interacting with the audience.

The quadraphonic sounds enveloped the audience and the alarm clocks in "Time", the cash registers in "Money" and the constant maniacal laughter almost floated out towards you. The visuals of course, were fantastic, with the set beginning and ending with a close-up of the moon.

The Encore
After some wild applause, the group came back to perform, "The Happiest Days of Our Lives" and "Another Brick in the Wall II", along with "Vera", followed by "Bring the Boys Back Home". The blue-leaning audience did not let Waters down, and cheered loudly for that one. The band ended with a magnificent extended version of "Comfortably Numb" during which everyone held up their lighters. It was amazing as everyone in the audience sang along with Waters, word for word. Caught up in the moment, I was no exception.

For someone who has been listening to Floyd since the age of twelve, on old cassette recordings, this was an epic moment in my life. And Waters, to say the least, did not disappoint. After last year's Pink Floyd reunion on Live 8 last year, everyone was hoping for a reunion tour. Unfortunately, that did not happen. This certainly comes in at a close second. Waters left all of us comfortably numb.

Set List
Set One
1.In the Flesh
2.Mother
3.Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun
4.Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Parts I - V) (abridged)
5.Have a Cigar
6.Wish You Were Here
7.Southampton Dock
8.The Fletcher Memorial Home
9.Perfect Sense, Parts 1 and 2
10.Leaving Beirut
11.Sheep

Set Two (The Dark Side of the Moon)
1.Speak to Me
2.Breathe
3.On the Run
4.Time
5.Breathe (Reprise)
6.The Great Gig in the Sky
7.Money
8.Us and Them
9.Any Colour You Like
10.Brain Damage
11.Eclipse

Encore
1.The Happiest Days of Our Lives
2.Another Brick in the Wall, Part II
3.Vera
4.Bring the Boys Back Home
5.Comfortably Numb

The Band
Roger Waters - Vocals, bass guitar and acoustic guitar
Andy Fairweather-Low - Guitar, bass and backing vocals
Snowy White - Guitar
Dave Kilminster - Guitar, vocals and additional bass
Jon Carin - Synthesizer, guitar, lap steel guitar and vocals
Harry Waters - Hammond organ and synthesizer
Ian Ritchie - Saxophone, EWI and additional bass
Graham Broad - Drums and percussion
Katie Kissoon, P. P. Arnold, Carol Kenyon - Backing vocals