Schleyerhalle
From: Werner Pastula
Waters and band don't play music, they celebrate music. The 3 hour program is
divided by a short break into two blocks lasts. In the
first half Waters builds a carpet of enthusiasm by playing four
songs in a row from "The Wall". Later he's strolling on this carpet going
back in the Pink Floyd catalog and even presenting "Pigs On and The Wings"
and "Dogs", songs, that need a little more time and understanding. "Shine
On You Crazy Diamond" and "Wish You Were Here" were not missing either.
All of the songs are accomplished with the theater of picture and video projections. Waters
doesn't speak much (apart from a "Dankeschön" once or twice), but
surprisingly communicates a lot with his audience. It's the gestures and
going from one side of the stage to the other talking at and hugging the audience.
In the second half Waters turns to "Breathe", "Money" and "Time" and then
to songs from his solo works. Titles of "Amused To Death" are in the center
and the audience celebrates them with the same enthusiasm as the
Floyd-Songs before. Cuts like "Perfect sense" and "The Bravery Of Being Out
Of Range" - partly backed by current film-/ pictorial material - show
relevance here and now.
Waters finally gives the crowd "Comfortably Numb" and closes with the one
and only new song "Flickering Flame", which he had to start twice asking
for silence, as the audience-reaction confused him on the first try.
It was an intensive, impressive and inspiring evening. Waters seemed loose,
rolled and bobbed up and down from time to time and completely seemed
to be ease with his role as an on-stage-artist. No small wonder for anyone
who is familiar with his career (incl. twelve years of stage abstinence).
The Sound in the Schleyerhalle was easily wabberig, but for a multi-purpose
hall okay.
It remains thrilling whether Waters tackles a new album after the tour and
become a "normal" active musician again. We will see. However, the joy of
the present experience will remain.
This review was originally written in German for drylightning.de Click for
a dry kick.
(In German)
Roger Waters (schwarze Hose, schwarzes T-Shirt) betritt den Steg. Ein Spot
wird auf ihn gerichtet und er zählt ein: "Eins-zwei-drei" und los geht's
mit den vertrauten Klängen von "In The Flesh": "So you thought you might
like to go to the show". Und was für eine Show es werden wird...
Waters und Band spielen keine Stücke, sie inszenieren Musik. Drei Stunden
dauert das Programm, das von einer kurzen Pause in zwei Blöcke geteilt
wird. Im ersten Block legt Waters zunächst einen Teppich der Begeisterung,
in dem er vier Songs von "The Wall" am Stück spielt. Auf diesem Teppich
wandelnd geht er weiter zurück im Pink Floyd Katalog und präsentiert mit
"Pigs On The Wing" und "Dogs" auch solche Songs, die etwas bombastischer
und zeitintensiver sind. Auch "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" und "Wish You
Were Here" fehlen nicht.
Alle Songs werden mit Bild- und Videoprojektionen untermalt. Waters spricht
zwar nicht (außer mal ein Dankeschön), kommuniziert aber überraschend viel
mit seinem Publikum. Es sind die Gesten und das Wandern von einer
Bühnenseite zur anderen, die Nähe vermitteln.
Im zweiten Block wendet sich Waters nach "Breathe", "Time" und "Money"
Songs seiner Solo-Werke zu. Titel von "Amused To Death" stehen im
Mittelpunkt und das Publikum feiert sie nicht minder wie zuvor die
Floyd-Stücke. Cuts wie "Perfect Sense" und "The Bravery Of Being Out Of
Range", zum Teil mit aktuellem Film-/ Bildmaterial angereicht, zeigen
Relevanz im Hier und Jetzt.
Zum Finale schenkt Waters die Hymne "Comfortably Numb" und präsentiert als
letzten Song das neue "Flickering Flame".
Es war ein intensiver, beeindruckender und begeisternder Abend. Waters
wirkte locker, wippte und tänzelte ab und zu und schien ganz mit sich und
seiner Rolle als auf der Bühne stehendem Künstler eins zu sein. Wer mit
Waters Werdegang vertraut ist (inkl. quasi zwölf Jahren Bühnenabstinenz),
wird wissen, dass dies nicht unbedingt zu erwarten war.
Der Sound in der Schleyerhalle war leicht wabberig, aber für eine
Mehrzweckhalle okay.
Es bleibt spannend, ob Waters nach der Tour ein neues Album in Angriff
nimmt und wieder ein "normaler" aktiver Musiker wird. Wir werden sehen.
Einstweilen trägt die Freude einen abgetauchten oben auf schwimmen gesehen
zu haben.
drylightning.de
(In English)
The stage set was meager. Only a gigantic projection screen for a background -
which awakes the expectations of the "show". A small catwalk completes the
picture.
Roger Waters (black pants, black T shirt) enters the footbridge. A
spotlight is turned towards him as he counts: "eins - zwei - drei" and
the familiar sounds of "in The Flesh" blow the arena away. "So you thought
you might like to go to so the show ". And what a show it was...
von drylightning.de
Die Bühne ist karg. Einzig eine riesige Projektionsfläche, die sie nach
hinten abgrenzt, lässt Inszenierung erwarten. Ein kleiner Laufsteg, vor die
Projektionsfläche gesetzt, komplettiert das Bild.
Die original Setlist ist auf drylightning.de verfügbar!
The concert started with Rogers Bass being a bit out of tune (no wonder with the heat in the hall). Again, the show was absolutely fantastic. I could do without the 15-minute-break in the middle of the show, but that's ok.
The crowd in Stuttgart was a bit more
enthusiastic than in Munich and rushed to the stage before the encores. After
knowing the show, I could enjoy it even more. It was absolutely hot - in
every way!
Shine on!
Koko
You know, I don`t like superlatives and I use them very seldom but in this case, it's the only way to express what I (we) felt. I say "we", because the atmosphere in the hall seemed to be filled with a kind of sense of community which I have really never realized before at any other concert. People around us were shouting: Hey, Roger you`re welcome, everybody seemed to be in a friendly mood (except the Security Guards), some people behind us distributed sparklers...
The things mentioned above and of course the excellent music created a great, exceptional and outstanding feeling. I would have liked to travel to Paris, Dublin or London to see it again, but we have two girls aged 9 and 6 and it is absolutely OK, the way it is. I had my chance one time and that's marvellous.
Being back home and still deeply touched by this great event, I took out my "old" guitar after about 10 years and I said to myself that I had to do something in order to keep these precious impressions in mind. So I started to record some songs on our computer. This record is my most personal review of the concert.
There is still remaining a lot of fun and joy with the music of Roger Waters!! Even my two girls, especially the little one is singing some songs with heart and soul. It sounds sweet with her childlike English! pronounciation...
In the end I would like to say thank you very much to Roger Waters and band for
this excellent performance. I hope he/they will come back soon so that I can keep
my promise and take the two with us next time.
Salut Elke
