From: Jaime Silva
The same Journal called "Pblico" said that from the first song he played it was obvioius to
everyone that the show would be fabulous. Roger appeared on a tall platform and
screamed: ien.. svie...drie... aka.. and then it was a total floydian orgie!! "In the
Flesh," "Another Brick in the Wall," "Mother," some titles from The Final Cut and
Animals and then "Shine on...1-5" "Welcome to the Machine," "Wish you Were Here" and
"Shine on...6-9" the last part was especially very well played!!
In the second half, I must recognize the value of the Waters solo work. It was
incridble how he can transport us to an atmosphere that's very difficult to
describe. It's indescrible. Themes from songs like "Every Stranger's eyes," "Perfect Sense,"
"It's a Miracle" and "Amused to Death" were, for me, the most important part of the
second half. "Time," "Money," "Brain Damage/Eclipse" and "Comfurtably Numb" were very
interesting, but the Waters solo work is phenomenal. We know that this work is
less knouwn than the Floydian work, and it sells less too, but the quality of the
musical art cannot be considered less only because of sales.
I only beg for one thing: I've heard about a new opera piece called Ca Ira, I wish
that Roger would finish that and take it to the live stage again and not forget to come to PORTUGAL.
Because it seemed in the past, that he forgot that Portugal exists. But because of
the great and sectacular shows he performed on here on the 4th and 5th of May, he is now forgiven.
Congratulations Roger Waters!!
One of the most read journals in Portugal wrote that we can call him Roger
"Floyd" Waters and that's the truth. Once he got to the stage, the crowd never
stopped cheering and at all times enjoyed the whole show. I was there and of course enjoyed it very
much too. As I watched Roger Waters' performance. I thought to myself how much
younger he looked! Unbeliveble! He sings like he did fifteen years ago. It was an
enormous surprise for me and for the thousands of people who were there to watch
the first live performance of Roger Waters in Portugal. One result was that
the In The Flesh DVD was sold out everywhere.
For the moment, I can only tell you that the show was awesome (it couldn't be any other way). I went the die-hard fan trying to get to the Big One, ...as if I were only 17, but I'm afraid I'm a bit too old to stand all the effort and waiting, etc. My friend Jose Abellán and I were on the watch for the members of the band for long hours. I'm knackered and suffering from the goddam spring hay-fever, but I can tell you in advance of a real review, that we were lucky enough to spot Mr. Snowy White, who signed autographs for us. And I can attest to the fact put in the REG interview with him that he is as nice and charming as can be.
Also, funnily we spotted some guys who looked like two stray brats outside the venue, and it turned out they were Andy Wallace (I didn't recognise him at first!) and Harry Waters! Both of whom we got to sign autographs too. The funny anecdote is; I don't know why they had came outside as it was only 1 hour before the show was due to start, but when they tried to get back in again, the security guard wouldn't let them in! They had to explain who they were! and that they were IN THE BAND!!
Roger ruled! My hightlight was Set
the Controls... and ... I'm so tired now... I'll try to post decent reviews of Lisbon
+ Barna shortly.
Now a few days after the Barcelona show, I am finally relaxed enough to write a decent review.
Well, it was the 1st gig of the European leg. It had been sold out well in advance; although I'm not sure, I have been told attendance was about 20,000. The list of the songs was the same as the first leg of the tour, except: Set the Controls came after Dogs and Welcome to the Machine. And Wish You Were Here came between the two parts of Shine On... and of course The Flickering Flame was the encore.
There was a lot of excitement! The audience was noisy and everyone was enjoying the show. Roger commented: "Well, you've been a deafening audience, which is good!" The sound was good, and never loud. Although I didn't notice a lot of people in their 40's or 50's, I spotted a kid half way through the show who couldn't have been more than 7, hoisted on someone's shoulders having fun and partaking in the spectacle of the show.
For me it was a bit frustrating to be so tired (after my 950 km.trip to get to Lisbon) and quite ill with hay fever. But the quality of the performance and the musicianship of all members quite compensated for it.
Highlights for me where: (not necessarily Dogs!) Set the Controls..., and Welcome to the Machine. (Snowy played great guitar here and the awesome animation pictures going with the song left me breathless with enjoyment and wonder) and of course... Perfect Sense, when the whole arena went wild!
Chester Kamen played very well (any relation to Michael Kamen?). I dont know anything about his background; he's so dark complected or tanned he doesn't look English or American. PP's performance was delightful in Perfect sense, and of course: Andy (in his modesty) was wonderful in musicianship and particularly cool on his Money solo!
Roger was in good shape, although there were rumours that he has been having back pain, and often needs massaging sessions. He was warm toward the audience, and I think I am certain he is one of the few rock stars who walks the length of the stage to say a sincere and heart-felt thanks (P.Sense, C.Numb) to the audience. You cannot doubt his sincerity.
To sum up, the show was up to expectations, and on a personal note, I spent most of the afternoon on the look-out (as if I was still seventeen!) trying to get some contact with or autographs from the band members. My friend Jos Abelln (editor of the Spanish Pink Floyd fan magazine Animals) and I were lucky enough to get them from Snowy White as he came back from some signing at a local record shop; and he was nice and wonderful to the utmost. I can attest to the fact that he is a friendly and likable guy just as was stated in the REG interview with him. When he said he couldn't sign anymore because he had to eat some food before the gig, he still autographed a dozen and half again more!
I was able to have a guard and a staff girl take back stage and give Roger two bottles of the finest Spanish red wines as a gift from me. Roger is lately talking about love, etc. So I had attached a sticker on the bottles telling him how much his music, words and ideas have meant to us and how dearly we appreciate him, love him and even worship him.
Also, as I mentioned above, just before the show stared, to our surprise we spotted two people who looked like two stray brats just outside the venue. They were Andy Wallace and Harry Waters, and I cant think what they were up to outside the venue so close to when the show was about to start. We got autographs from them and when they tried to get back into the Pavilion through an access meant for the audience, the security guard wouldn't let them in. They had to explain (Harry): "Im in the band!" it was so funny, I tried to help, although me and my friend had been too busy with the camcorder, tape recorder and the autograph hunt! I said something to the guard like: Jesus Christ,! he's the son of the one and only Roger Waters! And although I can't recall it in detail, according to my friend Jos, THAT's what finally got the guard to be convinced and he let them in.
After it was all over, it was on to Barcelona for me, where I expected to be not so physically exhausted and barely standing on my own two feet.
P.S.: I did my best to hand out over 300 hundred copies of our REG fan
club leaflet (one of them translated into Portuguese), and I hope a lot of people learned
about our club, and may soon be joining.
Benito
The beautiful place, the 16,000 enthusiastic fans, the marvellous sound, the
hypnotic images, the magic of the music, the brilliant musicians, all this atmosphere
during the 3 hours of the concert, made me feel that for the first and maybe the last time in
my life I was breathing with my ears. What a memorable night!!! Thank you Roger Waters!
Regards
Armando Ferreira
For my birthday, last December, my son bought me a ticket to see Roger Waters in May. Ever since I was young, I've told everyonge that Pink Floyd, was for me, the best band in the world. When they split apart, I kept well informed about the work of both: the band, as well as it's mentor, Roger Waters. So, he thought I might like to go to the show.
I hate crowds, so at age (44), it was the first time ever that I went to a concert! Imagine that, Imagine that. I went alone. I got a place in 1st balcony (my son thought I would better be seated, than on standing in the ground, for three hours). I had a great seat, and saw the whole stage, and all the people and instruments. Suddenly the pavilion began to get crowded, nearly 20.000 people (it was said) were there, and I felt the warm thrill of confusion.
Here was the show that I had yearned to see all my life. A dream come true. Miraculous you call it babe: In the flesh (love those hammers!), The Happiest Days..., Another Brick..., Mother; and you ain't seen nothing yet. The audience was so excited and totally thrilled. We sang, we clapped, we danced... It was an impressive sight. We were all very happy, and it seemed Roger was in a cheerful mood. He was among real fans, and people who loved him, so I think he was surprised and delighted at the same time with the crowd.
It is said, that the interest for the concert, is showed by the frequency people go to the bars to get drinks during the performance. This only happened during the break. The rest of the show there were no empty spaces. So...
The show must go on, we were all treated to a lot of great music. From Animals, Wish you were here (Shine on... was superb), Dark side of the Moon (Time - that song!!! - and what a drummer!!!). All that, gave me chills up and down my spine several times during the show.
We came to Roger's solo work. I've always found Amused to Death a masterpiece, as well as The Wall and The Dark Side of the Moon (what a genius Roger is). Not only is the music beautiful, but the lyrics are something more wonderful... The more you listen, the more you want to hear it, and hear it...
So we heard 5.06 AM, and then Perfect Sense 1 and 2, which I found was the most emotional moment of the show. The crowd knew all the lyrics. We heard the Bravery of Being "Out of Range". Even today when I remember it, I steal feel a shiver down my spine. The Bravery of Being... It's a Miracle, Amused to Death, absolutely fantastic. A pity though that Roger hasn't risked more at stake and played a little bit more music from on his solo career in this show. Any of the songs: Too Much Rope; Late home tonight; Watching TV; even The Tide is Turning would be worth it. Three Wishes is simply amazing (perhaps it was too personal to be played??). But then we'd had a almost four hour show. Did anyone mind? I don't think so.
The only but... Flickering Flame is a very beautiful song indeed, but not the proper one to close such a concert. For all the energized people in the audience, it lacked closing punch of songs like Run like Hell.
This was not a surrogate band, and you could obviously see where the fans really stand. It was a perfect night. Great sound, lights, the big screen behind the stage. Roger's voice, sometimes wild, at others like a whisper, and matching perfectly with the backup vocals (and what a trio they are). His almost theatrical way of playing, the feeling he adds to the songs, enthral us. It was the greatest show on earth (that's the reason why the DVD was already sold out everywhere before the show, and is still on the top of the sale's charts). But then it was over, we drove our racing cars, we ate our last few jars of caviar, no feelings left, no tears to cry.
I don't know if this will be read by anyone of this magnificent band or crew, but I have
to thank Roger Waters for giving me the most magical moments I have ever had, after my
children's birth that is, and I hope his extraordinary stuff runs for years and years and
years. And of course, my thanks too, to my beloved son, for the ticket.
