Hartwall Arena
From: Harri Huhtanen
I will write a proper review at in short while.
But anyhow, I enjoyed the show. Although I would have wanted Roger
to include more of his solo material in the set.
I have never seen PINK FLOYD live, so it was a nice experience to hear
all those old Pink Floyd songs with the famous quadrophonic sound, which
was a new and refreshing experience for me, because my seat was at
the back row and there you could hear very clearly all the additional
sound effects. More later.
REG member Harri Huhtanen here from Finland. I saw the show here in Helsinki,
but my last train home (to which I had bought a ticket in advance)
was leaving before the show ended, so unfortunately I wasn't able to
see the whole show.
Compared to the megalomaniac Pink Floyd shows in the 90s, Roger Waters seemed to trust in a relatively small amount of equipment. The most notable objects on stage were a large screen and a smallish wall. The set also included some lamps and tables, but the rest was just the amps and lines of Stratocasters waiting for the musicians. I thanked the higher powers for the numbered seats since I got mine in the second row.
Before the show I had some blasphemic thoughts about Roger criticizing Pink Floyd greatest hits shows and then doing practically the same himself, but as soon as the show got going I knew I was wrong. His attitude was so humble and he seemed to pretty much enjoy being up there. The set list was the tour standard, lasting about three hours including the intermission.
Personally I've always enjoyed a lot of the strong visual side of Roger's music. The compositions create lively visions themselves, and get an extra boost from the phenomenal artwork which has grown to be a part of the music itself. The Arena concert included a lot of magical moments - the marching hammers during 'In the Flesh', the slowly fading Syd Barrett imagery in SOYCD, the DSOTM pulse... There was also some new artwork by Tim and Katya Coupland (according to the tour book) which was nice, but never got to the same level as Storm Thorgerson's or Gerald Scarfe's best shots.
I've seldom experienced such intensity and feel in a rock concert. The audience sat silent during most of the songs, giving only applause after some solos and between the songs. (It really was a taper's paradise...) It was most enjoyable to listen to SOYCD 6-9 live with almost no disturbing noise! The slowly evolving Waters compositions and lyrics fit the situation perfectly.
The show itself was a slowly evolving memorial of Roger's career so far. The set didn't contain any surprises being almost identical with the 'In The Flesh' Live CD. Still, it would have been nice to hear masterpieces like 'Hey You' or 'Us and Them'. Or 'Echoes'. Or... Well, in my dreams, a three hour set would probably be way too little.
Roger himself seemed to be in rather good shape though he missed some high notes or let the background singers take care of them. The solo career songs in the middle of the second set did the best job at giving goosebumps. Feeling that way, I wonder why they have to keep on playing 'Money'? It was the only song sounding boring and outdated despite the clever and ironic lyrics... Where was 'The Powers That Be'? Or 'The Final Cut'?
The sweet sounding guitarizmo of David Gilmour was replaced by three other fellas: Andy Fairweather Low, Snowy White and Chester Kamen. Most of the time their playing sounded enjoyable, but on occasion Kamen's playing lacked soul... He had learned all of the Gilmour parts note by note, but the feel side was way beyond. I missed Doyle Bramhall who dared to play from his soul and not just copy somebody. Snowy and Andy seemed to have fun on stage which also was evident in their playing. Snowy let us hear some really good sounding licks with his old Les Paul Goldtop.
Another thing I missed was 'Each Small Candle'. The replacing tune 'Flickering Flame' never got to the same level which is a pity. The 'Flickering Flame' just didn't have that certain something that a closing song in a concert of this caliber should have. Luckily the show had a lot of highlights too - a magnificent version of 'Dogs', the magical, mesmerizing feel with 'Set The Controls' and 'SOYCD 6-9' in the first set and the Waters solo material in the second let Roger's dark visions take their places.
This, maybe, wasn't the gig for somebody looking for extraordinary musical innovations, but as a sensitive evening for a Waters fan it was perfect. The sound with the quadraphonic effects was excellent, visuals looked good and the audience contained no floyd-roolz-doodz. Roger showed he still has energy to recreate the magic every other night but will we hear something new one of these days? We've heard rumours about some new stuff and heard a couple of new songs. Wish for the new album and the opera to get finished though every year is getting shorter and he will never probably find the time...
I also like The Wall, surely it must be one of my all time favourite albums. And by the way, the greatest rock guitar album ever. I play guitar (somewhat) myself, so listening to The Wall has always been a great inspiration.
So back to the show in Helsinki.. Audience was around 11,000. Almost sold-out but it felt like sold-out since the crowd was great. Except for the 2 ladies behind me who were constantly talking about who had said what at their work.. this went on for almost whole of the Set the Controls... I don't get it how some people come to concerts just to talk to each other ..what is the point? Anyway...
The setlist was what it has been for the whole 2nd leg of the tour. I love the visuals and the whole setting. Must be the best stuff I've ever seen. Better than U2, better than Depeche Mode. Who ever did the design knew what he/she was doing. Not Corbijn though? Especially Set the Controls.. the 3 views of the wheat-field, slow motion etc. Great stuff! Another high point of the night was visuals during songs from Animals.. Battersea projections..oh man.. I'll never forget that. After strumming the Pigs on the Wing with my old guitar a million times, it was great to hear it live.
Dogs was another high point. What a great choice. So thank you Roger for choosing a great set of songs! Every song felt like an essential part of the list. Thin Ice would have been great in the beginning as well but you can't have it all I suppose. If you compare the sets of the Division Bell and this tour.. Roger wins the game clearly.
The band was great, especially Roger. To be honest... I have to say nobody can really replace Gilmour. Nobody! For me he IS one of the greatest players ever. An essential part of the Pink Floyd sound. But the guys did a good job. There was no complaining about how the band played, any of them. And damn, did the girls sing beautifully (not to mention how they looked J!)
BUT the best thing, and the thing I will always remember of 3.1.5 hours in Helsinki was Roger's smile. He clearly enjoyed the night, he has truly as they say 'found a peace in his heart'. It was great, great to see him smiling and waving to the audience the whole night. His music has been such an inspiration for me thorough the years so I felt happy seeing him happy.
Anyway. One of the greatest evenings of my life. What the future will bring us, we'll see. I just hope he keeps on touring. Look what Dylan is doing.. There is no reason for him stopping as long as he himself enjoys it and Roger clearly loves what he and the band are doing. I heard he has made peace with Nick.. How about David, Roger? You know, one life is all we get.. Oh well, who am I to say anything.. but I can always hope ;-)
Thank you for the whole band for a great tour!
Pasi
