Milan Forum
From: Francesco Segoni
Anyway, let's talk about the music. A lot was already known of course to those
who had seen the DVD video before going to the concert. But the impressive thing
was that, despite having already seen the concert film before, the gig did not
fail to literally send me and my friends over the moon. I appreciated the choice
of songs, playing some old Floyd songs that had not been played live for a long
time was just fantastic. The place was packed (the capacity is approx 12,000
people) and the atmosphere electric. Roger of course said the usual words of
thankfulness in the local language, but he really sounded genuine and he seemed
impressed with the audience's enthusiasm. Of course this could be my wishful
thinking, but I really thought he appreciated it.
Now let me also say a couple of things which might be less enthusiastic. I hope
nobody objects with me being a little critical as well, after all, we are all
Rogers Waters fans and we are all very familiar with all the great things he has
done, so I think people might find it useful to hear some opinions about what was
not as great as the rest.
Regarding the song's arrangements, this of course is only my personal opinion,
but I was slightly disappointed by the versions rendered of "Wish You Were Here"
and "Set the Controls". "Wish You Were Here" was of course one of the concert's
highlights, but I think he opted for unusual arrangements, perhaps in order to
make it really different from the one Gilmour and friends played in their "Pulse"
and "Delicate" tours. That's not a bad idea, but the version he played had a
strange sound which I almost found "country". I think it slightly spoiled it, to
be honest. Same thing for the saxophone in the "Set the Controls", maybe
somebody thought it was great and of course every opinion is legitimate as such,
but I thought it did not quite fit into the song. But at least one can say he did
something new.
Also there were a couple of technical mistakes by Snowy White, whose performance
I found definitely sub par. In particular, when he started "Wish You Were Here" he
had the acoustic guitar's mike turned off and that was a huge letdown, it really
spoiled the beautiful intro as we missed the first few notes
I hope nobody feels put off by these comments though, that was not my intention.
I once more repeat that I thoroughly enjoyed the show, it was a fantastic night.
The most important thing one can say about it is that the concert really
transmitted to the audience what Waters' and PF's music is all about. That does
not happen very often in a live show.
Hello, I just wanted to say a few words about Roger Waters' Milan date, on 10th May.
Firstly, let me say I have long been a huge Pink Floyd fan and more recently have
enjoyed Roger's solo work, although I did not get to love his own stuff nearly as
much as I love the old PF albums (sorry if that sounds nostalgic). I was
absolutely thrilled by the live performance and I consider this to be one of the
best concerts I have ever been to, and I have seen a few big live acts in the
past few years, including David Bowie, Peter Gabriel, REM and The Cure. The sound
was perfect, the quality of the show quite excellent. Roger was in very good
shape, much more than I expected. It was good to see a member of Pink Floyd who
does not have a huge beer belly for a change!
All the best from Italy
Francesco Segoni
Then we entered the arena and were very pleasantly surprised about the fantastic mood in the stadion. Very nice mellow and open minded people, a lot of older Pink Floyd fans with t-shirts were there, all the people were nice, smiling with excitement, knowing that they were going to see one of the finest rock concerts ever.
Exactly at 9 o'clock the concert began. It was an absolutely fantastic beginning, sound and light effects were perfection. No one was disappointed about anything. The acoustic parts were great, and in the middle of "Dogs", the quadraphonic sound was absolutely stunning. I have never heard anything like that.
After the break, we were very surprised by the audience participation. The crowd as the whole was singing "Perfect Sense", just like the recording. As if it was one of the most famous Waters' songs ever. On this point, it was clear: There are really a lot of Roger Waters fans who know his fabulous solo works exactly word for word.
One of the biggest moments was of corse the never ending standing ovations for PP Arnold, after her solo, and for "Amused to Death". It was so great, tears were falling down my cheeks. Also great was to know that 24 hours later, we would see him again in Zurich!!!! What could be better, than a double feature of a Roger Waters Gig!!
I'm looking forward to seeing him again in Stuttgart as well on May 17th. That is a must for me (only 3 hours away from Zurich)
Thank you Roger, thank you so much to playing for us on this tour, all the best wishes
for the band and I think, now, the whole world knows, who Roger Waters is,
and I hope, the new works will be coming out in the beginning of 2003.
I also hope to become a member of the REG fan club.
Michele
The concert began at 9 o'clock p.m. with In the Flesh, and the crowd was very excited to see for the first time the really "creative genius of Pink Floyd". The crowd sang all his songs and when he sang Perfect Sense there was a standing ovation (like before when he entered).
I liked very much Snowy White (even if he started Wish you were here with the amplifier off!!) and I would like to hear more solos from him.
Very funny when Roger introduced the three female singers... the crowd applauded them for 5 minutes! We're italians and we like the beautiful girls! and he had to wait to introduce the others members.
I also want to say
that it was the best concert I have ever seen. Roger is the only member of Pink Floyd
who can recreate the feelings and the atmospheres of those songs.
I have very beautiful photos taken with a 400mm Nikon and 1600Iso film
so I can see roger very near to me if you want them for the Reg fanzine.
All the best
Ciao
GUIDO
I appreciated both the 1st set and the 2nd one... When the lights went down and 'In the Flesh' started I think that we all entered in another parallel world for the whole concert!!! Great execution of "Another Brick in the Wall" and "Mother" especially!!! Dogs was unbelievable... it seemed to listen the original!!! Great performance!! And when I saw Roger and the other guys in the band playing cards during the solo I said....'he is a genius'!!!
Set the Controls was perfect... but according to me the visual and musical experience reached the highest point during the Wish you where here set. Firstly with 'Welcome to the Machine'... the video was simply great!!! Then with Shine on You Crazy Diamond (great great performance) when I saw Syd's face become nearer and nearer and then it seemed that you would enter his mind!!! I felt an unbelievable emotion!!!
After the 20 minute break the 2nd set started!!! "Breathe/Time/Money" performances reminded me the great Dark Side of the Moon period... we in the crowd went really crazy!!! I also liked the solo period songs, especially "Perfect Sense!" and "It's a Miracle"...
But during and at the end of Comfortably Numb the energy was really so high!!! I think that the whole audience (11.000 people) screamed together with Roger!!!
Flickering Fame (the new song) closed the concert after 3 hours of pure art!! The band was simply great!!!
I was there with Rosy my girlfriend and a close friend Holly, who many years ago
introduced me to the Pink
Floyd world... nothing more to say... THANX ROGER for this unforgettable evening!!!
Lele
12,000 people sang throughout almost the entire concert: perhaps this is not good for listening to music but it makes for a really emotional atmosphere and I think that Roger liked it. The acoustics of Filaforum is very good (I attended two great Eric Clapton concerts last year) and the instruments were well balanced, specially the vocals.
In this tour there is a new guitar player instead of Doyle Bramhall II: Chester Kamen. I didn't listen to him playin' before but I must say that he played very good. Many people said that Snowy White was better but I'm not in agreement: Snowy had some problems (like in Wish You Were Here when he played the first two notes with the volume off) and above all he played a very bad intro in Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Pt.1-5)! Though the rest of the song was great, while a silver wheel spread bright lights on the raptured people! However the two guitarists played a monumental Comfortably Numb! They went up on a raised platform at the back of the stage (where Roger sang In The Flesh) and they alternated in an unforgettable great dualing guitars solo.
In the first part of the concert Roger and his band played all the best Pink Floyd '70 songs: Dogs, Another Brick, Mother, Welcome to the Machine (While projecting very beautiful drawings on the screen!) but my favorite moment of the night was the end of a strange (but not so bad) Wish You Were Here: Roger takes off the acoustic guitar, straps on his bass and plays the first two notes of Shine On... (part 6-9): unforgettable!!
After about 20 minutes began the second part of the concert: Breathe-Time-Money in sequence! Very strange but nice the Andy Fairweather Low solo in Money: for me he's a great guitarist and a great bass player too (specially in Time)!
The Night ended with a very nice new Roger song: Flickering Flame. In the Solo Years Volume I album there's a demo version but in the concert it was completely re-arranged.
I would have liked to have heard Have a Cigar or other solo songs like Radio Waves or
Three Wishes but...perhaps the next time!
Giorgio Bertin from Turin, Italy
The Filaforum had been sold out for more than three months! in advance. It had been a very warm day and the temperature inside the venue was very hot. At 9 o'clock the show started with In The Flesh. The set list was the same as always (I would like to see some changes, but Roger is too much a perfectionist!). The first set was amazing...incredible! For me it was unbelieveable to hear Dogs and the complete Shine On You Crazy Diamond with all the solos! Absolutely stunning! I enjoyed also Set The Controls... very psychedelic and with a sax solo, and Mother. Only Wish You Were Here sounded a little too country, and during the song Snowy White also had some problems, so it was not so good.
The second set couldn't be on the same level, but it was shorter than the first one. After some DSOTM tracks they played the usual tracks from the solo albums. I think that it would have been better for the balance of the show to have put some of these tracks in the first set, and to change some of them. Why not play The Tide Is Turning instead of Perfect Sense for example? It's A Miracle was great, but the sensation of these songs in sequence was that it became a little monotonous.
Anyway the end was great with Confortably Numb and
The Flickering Flame. The band played well, only Snowy White seemed a little
absent. The sound was better than the last Pink Floyd show, more natural, and
Roger was very relaxed and in great shape. I think that he looks now at the
audience in a more positive way. I hope that they will come back soon to
play in Italy!
