Preussag Arena
From: Detlef Felischak
In the second half, all my wishes were fulfilled. The sound was much better, and the band
was in a better mood - and they played some really great songs. The voice of P.P. Arnold
made me ready to die. All in all, it was a wonderful evening with many shivers up and down
my spine.
I attended the concert in Hannover on May 22. The first half of the show was a
little bit disappointing - bad sound, and much too loud. The band looked
"overworked" - and were too often playing "out of tune" - especially Snowy White on guitar.
Did I expect too much? But Roger was great, as was the new guitar-player.
The crowd was very quiet during the songs, but loud between the songs. No sing- alongs, only a bit during Comfortably Numb. - The Band was IMHO in a bit better shape than in Oberhausen. Snowy was in a better mood and his solos were outstanding compared to the previous two shows. A few mistakes by the band here and there, but this time they didn't screw the beginning of Breathe.
The encore was Flickering Flame again (BORING!), although a lot of people (including me) screamed for Each Small Candle in the first rows, after the crowed rushed the stage at the end of Comfortably Numb -
Someone with a poster, fixed on a cardboard, managed to get it signed by Roger before Comfortably Numb. The security wanted to push him back, but for Roger it was OK and he signed it, just like he did for a fan with a Relics LP two days ago in Oberhausen.
The average age of the German audiences is higher than the audience I saw in the US back in 1999. This can be a result of the high ticket-prices (72 Euros for the best seats) here in Germany. - Met Simon again, had a nice chat with him and saw a lot of familiar faces again. Looks like there are A LOT of people doing more than one show ;-)
Now, Arne, needs a little rest after 3 shows but will be back on tour in Berlin.
The crowd was unappreciative throughout until Roger said goodbye during Brain Damage. Is that a strange crowd? Roger was totally getting shy when realising that the crowd didn't even wave back to him when he walked to the side of the stage!
Many of previous reviewers think that Flickering Flame is a boring song. Well, it might be on a concert, but it was the only song which I kept whistling after the show for four days!??!
The security was really harsh here tonight. Over all though, I must say Hanover was better because the sound was so much better, at least from my seats (again, center stage, row 11).
Chester, Snowy and Harry had musically a better night here, really. Again, "Every strangers Eyes" and his "Amused to Death" parts were the highlights for me, followed by the new and complete version of "Shine on...," which is really musically 100% better and much more interesting than the version they played in 1999!
If anybody wants to sell me his Stuttgart Ticket, please mail me!
The setlist in Hannover was a little bit different than mentioned on the website. Set the controls, was not played at the beginning of part two; Roger played it after Dogs, so that the intermission was after the great work of Shine-On.
Just days before the show, I was so very nervous at seeing Roger again live after more than 10 years. And when the day came, the temperature was 27C when we got into our car and drove towards Hannover (about a 2 hour drive). Arriving in Hannover, it was raining and only about 16C, and I thought to myself: Oh oh, this journey has not begun very well... hopefully the concert will be better. But after a few minutes it stopped raining, and then it was time to go to the Preussag Arena, where I than distributed hundreds of the REG Fan Club flyers. I gave them to the waiting people, and put them under the windshield of their cars or just on the tables inside the arena. I hope this will bring us many more members.
I have been to many different concerts here by various artists before, but the atmosphere seemed to be a different tonight. There were no screaming teens and no pushing at the doors. We just went into the arena to our seats (a seated-only concert) and had enough time afterwards to walk around.We were able to go up to the front of the stage to look at the instruments and all the technical stuff. At first as it began to get closer to show time, I thought there would not be enough fans to fill the entire arena, but just before the concert began, the arena was well filled. And then it began..."Eins,zwei,drei..." Well, the sound was good and so was the band. Roger and his band members seemed to have fun playing. Roger walked up and down the stage, waved at the audience and sometimes he seemed to talk with us. We had a good seat in the first row on the right, just 20 meters from the stage, so we had a good view and I could hear the surround-sound very well. The effects during Southampton Dock, Dogs and others were perfect. It seemed that the plane crashed directly through my head. Whow...But sitting on a chair during a concert was new for me, so it took a while before I became comfortable with that and had the time to enjoy the concert.
Every time I listen to the song "In the flesh" I have togrin at the part "Pink isn't well, he stayed back in the hotel... We're gonna find out where you fans really stand". Is Roger intentionally playing this song to see where his fans really stand - on his side or on the side with the other three? Pink isn't well - does he nowadays mean: The other three are not well? Or is it just because this is a good opener?
Well during Dogs, Ihad finally managed my discomfort with the seating, and so was able to concentrate on the music. For me, Dogs wasthe best song during this concert. All band members had the chance to show what they can play. And they definitely played it well. During the keyboard part Roger, Chester, Snowy and Andy sat down at a table and started playing cards. It was funny watching them and it seemed that Roger was winning....
Harry had some troubles with the keyboard during this song (the same troubles he had two days later in Oslo?) and I had the same feelings like Ralf Lofstad mentioned in his review. Hopefully there won't be any more problems so the concerts can continue without further troubles.
And it went on. The whole Shine-On part was perfect. I liked the old Syd-photos on the screen. They reallyinformed the audience for whom the album was written.
During the intermission I met a guy, who has been writing a Pink Floyd/Roger Waters book for more than ten years now. I gave him a REG-Flyer and we talked a little bit about Roger and his further plans. I told him about Ca Ira, but he didn't know that. He said he would inform me, when his work is finished and I told him to contact our club. Perhaps he will. But sorry, I don't now his name. I only gave him my email-address... We went back to our seats waiting for the second half to begin. Also for music during the intermission they played some nature and other sound effects all in surround-sound, just birds, sheep, a plane and so on... Very nice sounds.
The second part of the show started with some DSOTM-material followed by Every Stranger's Eyes. And than came another of my favorite parts of the show: the Amused to Death album. During Perfect Sense II there was an oil rig on the screen which Roger as a submarine-captain launching torpedo's which blew it apart... whow what a great sound and effect.
I did not read the concert reviews before this show so I was surprised to hear a new song at the end. Flickering Flame is a very good song and I also think it is a good song at the end of a concert. The audience crowed around the stage, they all embraced each other and waved to Roger. It was a very good feeling and an atmosphere of brotherhood. But then the lightstuned on, and I realized that it was over. Roger played three hours, but I thought it seemed so short.
In an earlier concert-review someone wrote that you can not compare a Roger Waters concert with a Pink Floyd one. Why not? I've been now at two PF-concerts and also two Roger concerts. And I think both kinds of concertswere brilliant in their way. But there are differences between such concerts. I think that Gilmour, Wright and Mason are playing the PF-stuff more perfect and closer to the albums than Rogers Band does. And the effects and the show is much more bigger and amazing. But you do not have the chance to get so close to the stage, so that there is still a wall between the band and the audience.
At Rogers concert they turned back to the old days. They play in smaller arenas and the stage is not so high above the audience. This keeps a very good relationship between the band and the fans. At the end of this concert, Roger gave some autographs to some fans. Could this happen at a Pink Floyd concert? And I think, playing a song not too perfect or just playing it different than on the album is what makes a live concert a unique happening.
But one thing is clear: Roger is the genius and was the leader of Pink Floyd. He
had the ideas and wrote such strong music.
And then a second later I thought: perhaps in earlier days Gilmour, Wright and Mason
were just his band... Maybe if Roger is searching for new band members he can ask them.....
What about that?
Kind regards
Martin Hammoor
