Wiesen Festival
From: Michael Simone
Upon making hotel room reservations, I had expected prices in Europe to be a bit
less than the equivelent of over priced US hotels... but I was sadly mistaken...
Though it was stated on the Internet site that the location of my Vienna hotel
was close to the Vienna city center, where most old building tourist attractions
are located, the hotel was a good long way from the city center, but the hotel
room was adequate.
However, the hotel had NO air conditioning, and it was rather muggy during the
hottest week Vienna had experienced in some time (with temperatures between 80
and 90 degrees fahrenheit and high humidity). The room did come with Internet
access connection jacks... it would just have been nice if the connections in any
of the rooms worked! I was informed that something was wrong and there were no
connections possible from any of the rooms... I was offered the ability of using
the computer in the office... which was of little help to me however. The
distance from the city center, and the lack of air conditioning and Internet
access made my stay in Vienna a bit less than enjoyable.
As with many concerts on all legs of the tour, the cities mentioned in the tour
itinerary are often only landmarks, as the venues are often located in smaller
towns or cities of the area. This was the case for the Vienna Concert. This
concert venue is actually located in a small rural town called Wiesen about 50
miles South-East of Vienna.
I was supposed to meet up with REG member Werner Heider the day of the concert in
order to follow him to the Wiesen Festival grounds with my rental car. (It's
great to have REG members in the many countries around the world where I travel,
as there can be someone there to guide and help me. and even in some cases, pick
me up from my arrival point and take me to my hotel or concert destination. It's
easy to feel helpless in a foreign land when you don't know the language or
customs.) Well I could not locate Werner's phone number... so I got directions
from the rental car agency how to get to Wiesen. I was told by several people
that Wiesen was very difficult to find and that it would be best to take a bus
directly there or go with someone who knew the area.
Never rent a car in Vienna. Never drive in Vienna! Not able to speak the language
is one major handicap, and sometimes the lack of street signs can make getting
around very very difficult, but driving in Vienna especially, it is very hard to
find your way around. I left the car rental office confident that I could find my
way to Wiesen without much difficulty. I'd show those who said Wiesen was
difficult to find how easy it could be.
I was directed how to get back to my hotel, which seemed pretty straight forward,
after all I had walked all the way from my hotel to the city center where the
rental car agency was located. Well, after getting extremely lost after my second
turn, I finally located my hotel again after about a very frustrating hour of
turning this way and that and getting thoroughly lost. I gathered up the REG
flyers I intended to distribute at the show, and the other things I was to bring.
I confirmed with the hotel how to get to the highway entrance, and then set out
for Wiesen with plenty of time to spare in the case that I again got lost... good
thing too... After about an hour and a half of getting lost over and over and
over again... just trying to find the highway entrance and get out of Vienna, I
finally found the highway and I was on my way.
Traveling down A1 and connecting with A2 was easy, even though there was lots of
highway construction going on, and I found that the San Francisco Bay area has
nothing on Vienna as far as commuter traffic is concerned. The bumper to bumper
grid lock lasted quite a while. The construction however also had the lanes
divided by barriers and you were locked in unless you merged at only specific
points in order to take the correct exit. I found this out as I was forced to
pass the A3 exit I needed to take to get to Wiesen. I ended up having to drive 10
miles in the wrong direction to finally take the next exit and attempt to turn
around and find my way back to the A3 turnoff. It turned out that there was not
an A3 exit going back in the other direction. But luckily I found an exit a bit
further on where I could again turn around and go back the other direction once
again... this time ensuring I was in the correct lane to take the correct exit.
Then I was to take the S31 turnoff... which I did, however I was not told which
way to go, so I selected what seemed to be correct...and traveled about 15 miles
to a cross-road where a policeman stood, who informed me... no this was not the
correct way to Wiesen. So once again I backtracked the way I had come and
continued on... the correct way... to one small town then another and into what
seemed to be wine country turned out to be rolling hills of grape vines and
strawberry fields. I got a bit lost again, but was informed in another small town
by some local teenagers who had gathered on the side of the road that I should
take the road 3 blocks back the way I came to get to Wiesen.
After about 15 more miles of rolling hills and forests, I finally came to
Wiesen, a VERY small community, and attempted to find the festival grounds. I got
a bit lost again... as the festival grounds were outside the town proper... and
was directed to an entrance. When I got to the entrance, it was blocked and I was
informed that I should go back the way I had come and up over a hill in the
other direction to park... Unbelievable... I finally came to a dirt road leading
to various campsites... Paying my parking fee... I finally found a place to park
and gathered up my REG flyers and walked out on the dusty dirt paths and roads
towards the large tent like structure that was the concert grounds.
I was told that quite a lot of concerts are held here by major bands from all
over the world. The mostly open air amphitheater holds about 8 to 10 thousand
when fully packed... I gathered... and it was almost full by the time the show
started. Though it was hard to understand how any shows what-so-ever were
performed there let alone attended by anyone!!! It is hard to imagine that those
who live in Vienna or any place else in Austria would be able to find this venue
without considerable difficulty. It is as remote a location as you can imagine.
I finally met up with REG member Werner Heider, and I also met Simon Winpenny and
Phil Waters who run the In The Flesh Tour 2002 website. Traveling alone can
often be lonely and sometimes disconcerting. It is great to meet with friends
even though you've never met them before.
I arrived in Vienna via London from San Francisco and checked into my hotel. I
had made hotel reservations via the Internet before my departure, to ensure I had
a hotel but also that the hotel came with air conditioning (something that is
taken for granted in the US) and also that each room was equipt with Internet
access. I have taken my laptop and need to be able to access email, edit concert
reviews, and upload them to the REG website.
Above is a photo of me and some of the many fans I met and some of the royalty of Pink Floyd Fandom I have have known for the past 15 years. I can't remember everyone's names so if you see your self here let me know and I'll include your name. Please forgive me for forgetting. From the right is the infamous Kevin Bootleg (wonder where he gets his nic-name from?), and then me, Michael Simone (President of REG - The Interneational Roger Waters Fan Club), and then Werner Heider (editor of the European Pink Floyd Fanzine 'Pulse & Spirit' formally named Eclipsed). The third person from the left is Simon Winpenny (co-webmaster of the In the Flesh 2002 Tour Website, and a really great guy).
I passed out REG flyers, or at least attempted to. I had printed about 2000 REG flyers to pass out at the 5 shows I was to attend. In the US most fans were very receptive to the flyers and interested in anything Roger Waters, even if they did not intend to join a fan club. The Austrians however were EXTREMELY uninterested in accepting any flyer from anyone whatsoever, for any reason. So I had very few people take the flyers. And though the Austrians tend to be a very good looking people, it seemed to me that they tend to keep to themselves and are not by ANY means outgoing nor friendly to strangers (though people in the US are exactly the same and not in general as handsome). Perhaps though this had something to do with the language barrier, and consequently communication as well.
I was pleased to find the average age of the fans attending the show was so young. At some shows in the US, half or more of the crowd are 30 years of age and up. The age range of the vast majority of the crowd here seemed to be between 18 and 35. It's great to see that Roger's music can transcend generation to generation. It is indeed a special tribute to his genius.
The show itself was indeed spectacular and fantastic. It was a beautiful and temperate Summer evening, with wonderful cool breezes soothing after a long hot and humid day. There were no changes in the song set of previous shows. The entire band however were in great form. I was particularly impressed with Chester Kamen and Snowy White's performance. Though Doyle Bramhall II is one of the best young guitarist's I have ever seen, Chester Kamen is no slouch. This was my first time seeing him or hearing him play as Doyle's replacement, and I found he was quite good. Where Doyle seemed to play many of the songs both in Gilmour's guitar style and in his own style, Chester seems to be more true to the actual Gilmour style and recorded performance. Both Chester and Snowy seemed to be on top of their game, and really got into their playing and not just rehashing the same old same old riffs... Snowy especially played spectacularly.
This was also my first chance to see Roger's son Harry perform. Though it would be hard for anyone to replace virtuoso Jon Carin, Harry does and admirable job. And does not always play the songs note for note as they were recorded which gives them a bit of a live atmosphere feel. I met sax player Norbert Stachel before the start of the show and we talked for a while. He stated he'd be glad to give REG and Interview after the tour.
Being this was the first show I had attended of the 2002 tour, it was my first experience of the show using animation and video instead of just stills. What a difference it makes... It would have been nice to have had those during the US tours, especially for the Portland show where the DVD was recorded... it does make a big difference on the theatric and visual aspect of the show. However no longer are the pyrotechnics a part of the show as were seen during the beginning of shows in the Southern Hemisphere tour leg.
The venue was standing only in front of the stage and under the tent like structure, and at the back, everyone sat or stood on the grass. The only seating was a raised VIP area to the left side and 40 feet back from the stage. Thankfully I was one who was able to sit in a seat. As tired as I was from my journey I needed to relax in order to be able to enjoy the show. This was my first experience with a venue where there was no seating and everyone stood or sat on the ground. Every show of the US tour was held in venues which even at the open air amphitheaters had at least seating in front of the entire stage area and only standing or sitting on grass was at the very back.
Since most fans did not seem interested in wanting REG flyers I had thought to leave them at the t-shirt and program stands for people to take. I found however that there was only one tour memorabilia stand by the stage and they had only a metal gate like barrier and no table in front to set the flyers. So I left them on a table behind the barrier and to the side where they were visible and accessible but not very prominent. There were 10 or 15 drinking and eating booths as well as a gift shop permanently set up in the forest like setting to the side of the amphitheater. I found that many Austrians seemed more concerned with the consumption of beer than with anything else, (as is the case with many in the US and UK as well) so the drinking establishments did a brisk business and were constantly packed before, during, and after the show.
Unfortunately even though I had back stage after show passes, there was no after show meeting with the band, nor did Roger meet with any fans to sign autographs. To avoid the traffic jams that ensue after concerts where thousands of people are attempting to leave at the same time. The Roger and the band make a quick and clever exit. When Roger and the band leave the stage after playing the last song, they go directly into the waiting tour bus and out of the arena and back to the hotel while the audience is still applauding. When the lights come on, unbeknownst to the crowd, the band and Roger are no longer at the venue at all!
After the show, since I still had 3 quarters of the 500 flyers I had brought, I again attempted to hand them out as people left. Just outside the gates were several venders with tables set up selling posters. Two of which were really nice tour posters, and the unofficial price of 5 Euro's, was even more pleasant. However their were other Pink Floyd posters as well, which I thought was kind of sacrilege, being this was a Roger Waters concert. But then again, two thirds of the songs Roger played were Pink Floyd. However that is no reason for the Division Bell poster they were selling. These should have been burned... This was indeed heresy!
Kevin the bootlegger was also there... with t-shirts... I love bootleg t-shirts... Simon was nice enough to get me two. And in fact one of the most enjoyable parts of seeing these shows on tour is meeting some of the fans I have corresponded with of years. It was great meeting Werner and Simon and Phil. Simon especially was an immediate friend. He sought me out as soon as I arrived, and wished me condolences over the death of my dog. Everyone said he was a nice guy and they were definitely correct.
Well, with the show over, it was back to my rental car and my attempt find my way back to my hotel in Vienna. I actually found my way back to Vienna very easily by just backtracking the way I had come. Luckily I don't drink or drug... anymore.... so was quite clear headed. The problems began once again, when I got back into Vienna. Vienna is a God-forsaken maze intended to confuse foreigners. And at night, in the dark, it is impossible to find or read street signs or find any directions, or anyone that speaks English. I wondered around for at least an hour getting lost again and again and again... and then on accident.. and just by chance I found myself on the same street as my hotel. I was amazed! and grateful. After about an hour and a half of extreme frustration, I found my hotel, and thankfully parked my car and rushed exhausted into my hotel room for a shower and sleep at 2:30 AM. I would be a complete mess... a Zombie tomorrow.... as I had to wake up and 5:30 AM to take the rental car back and take a cab to the hydrofoil boat landing for my 8AM trip down the Danube to Budapest for the show there.
The next day I was indeed a mess... I don't do well at all on 2 or 3 hours sleep. But I got to the hyrdofoil boat landing at 7 AM in plenty of time... but unfortunately they said they could not find my reservation and the boat was full. Finally, I was able to work things out and get on the boat and headed to Budapest, though I was unable to sleep. On the boat were 10 or 15 Austrians apparently all co-workers going to Budapest together... These people stood around the bar on the boat and my seat which was by the bar most of the way down the 6 hour ride to Budapest, and quickly became drunk and loud, disturbing most of the other passengers. And began leaning upon the backs of my seat and those next to me...
All in all, the concert in 'Wiesen' was great... and Vienna is a nice place to visit... There are many wonderful people there, and the historic sites are spectacular, and it is a shoppers paradise, but because of the negatives I experienced, I think it will be quite a long while before I have the desire to come back again.
Well we arrived at the venue with our VIP passes, to find a cosy arena, Wiesen is a small venue. Ideal for me I love the selfish feeling of being so close to the band, can make for a very intimate experience. Though sadly, this wasn't used to its full advantage, was kinda like we had caught them a little off guard, maybe it was the nerves of England playing Denmark the next day in the worldcup, who knows. Anywho, the first half was GRAND - I was lost in the Waters of Roger and his support - re-living each note - it was magical. Especially when he pointed at me, whilst singing "and he's smoking a joint; get him up against the wall" seeing as I just had been ; )
Sadly for me, I'm not too keen on Rogers solo stuff. The line - "And when the band your in starts playing different tunes; I'll see you on the dark side of the moon" always comes to mind. Its like the inspiration or whatever, it was that enabled him to compose such great music. Required for him to be in certain situations that he no longer finds himself in. Im my opinion he is on the dark side of the moon as far as writing new stuff - though I give him the 100% respect that he deservers for being out there - doing what he does so well, entertaining the likes of me.
So all in all we had a fantastic time, if you are a Floyd die hard (like me) or you like his solo stuff as well - you will love it - though if I was to go to Wiesen again, I would take a hammock, get a cheap ticket, and sit at the back, just swaying, (lots of peeps did this).
Just one more thing - you laddy - the roadie - who looks like the guy out of right said fred! You were right we had nothing to worry about - 3-0 to the Engerland.
Thankyou adios - cocky big guy with fit bird :)
On last Friday I went to Wiesen/Vienna, which took me aprox. 6 hours from my hometown. When I reached the venue, there were only a few people inside and because there were only standing-tickets instead of numbered seats, I had the possibility to stand directly in front of the stage, 4-5 meters away from Roger and the band. The advantages of this venue were that it was not too big and only the half of it was covered. So it was an half-open air-concert and therefore the sound was better than in a hall.
In Munich I had a seat in the 29th row and although I had a good sight to the stage, I could not look in the band-members eyes. In Wiesen I could, and I can tell you I had some of the most magical moments in my life. Also the audience was totally different in Wiesen, much more enthusiastic, often clapping and shouting and singing whole passages of a lot of songs, with no difference if it was Pink Floyd- or solo-stuff.
When Roger and the band came out at 8:30 pm, they were confronted with overwhelming applause and enthusiasm from the crowd right from the start. I could see a great enjoyment in Rogers face, he smiled and rocked and "communicated" with us during the whole show - no wall between the audience and the band.
In my Munich-review I have already mentioned, how much I appreciate and love Roger's work, from the first Pink Floyd-album till Flickering Flame (and especially the "Amused to Death"-album) and that every single member of the band was/is brilliant. But now I have to say some special words about the vocalist, I stood in front of, Katie Kissoon. Wow, what a women! She has such a fantastic voice ("Mother",...), is very beautiful and charismatic and charming, in two words: damned sexy! (I hope I've nothing forgotten ;). She "communicated" with us in a lovely way right from the beginning of the show and it seemed to me that she enjoyed that we were singing the choral-parts of the songs with all the power we had. Perhaps it's only in my imagination, but I'm quite sure that she gave me twice a smile and a friendly nod during "Shine On You Crazy Diamond". However, from this point I was caught in a magical atmosphere which carried me through the whole show and lasts till now. Katie, if you should read this review: Thank you very much, you're wonderful!
In my opinion, "Flickering Flame" was a real highpoint at the end of the show and together with "Each small candle" these two new songs are the evidence, that Roger holds the high level of ATD. "Flickering Flame" has good lyrics, a beautiful melody and the refrain, sung by the girls, sent shivers down my spine!
I really could write on and on, although it's hard for me to find the
right words to express my feelings (especially in english). You can't
really describe this show, this kind of theatre, this celebration, in
words. You've got to have been through it yourself!
I knew pretty much what to expect, having seen the DVD and many pictures and reviews from other concerts. The only thing I didn't realize is how close we would be to Roger! The venue was in a location remote from pretty much everything as far as I could tell it was in the form of a huge tent, that covered about half of the audience, so that the people could watch the concert right underneath the sky.
When we came in, there weren't many people there yet, so we could stand directly in front of the stage. The first 10 minutes of the show I can only remember vaguely, since I was a bit overwhelmed by the fact that I am mere feet away from Roger Waters. So you can imagine it was pretty surreal.
Roger was very warm to the audience (he didn't spit at anyone and didn't shout at us ). When he introduced the players, right after "Harry Waters on keyboard" he leaned over to the people in the first row and said 'it's my boy!'.
I was disappointed in the sound though it was a bit weak from what you would expect by Waters' standards, but given the fact that Roger Waters was standing there, we were all pretty euphoric and didn't care about the sound all that much.
Snowy White gave an excellent performance, except that he kind of ruined the whole drama of 'Shine On', by playing it very technically exact, with no feeling. I have to admit that the audience there was rather indifferent while we were standing there with our hands in the air almost all the time, practically screaming all the lyrics, many were just standing there nodding their heads.
But the "Amused to Death" part was pretty
strong of course, and many people even knew the lyrics!
Well, I definitely got out of there with a huge appetite for more of his
concerts this is definitely one of the experiences I'm never going to forget! I
think every person owes it to himself, to watch at least one Waters concert in
his life, and you really have to be there to understand.
Doreen
First of all, the location: This was an open-air concert, in the nature of a sunny austrian valley. A huge tent (there are lots of concerts there in the summer) was covering only half of the location, and allowed the people behind the mixing desk to watch the Moon, Venus and a very clear sky constelled by stars during the show.
This place was surrounded by strawberry fields, and one could taste some local specialties like strawberry wine or fresh fruits and of course ...beer! The atmosphere was very peaceful and relaxed. Just the perfect place to see such an intelligent concert!
The gig began a bit late. At half past eight the band finally turned up and got a hell of an ovation! The audience was really hot that night, and welcomed Roger's work very warmly. And it was definitely the most clever show I've ever seen!
Though, the whole show did not satisfy all my expectations, for various reasons. The first impression left by the opening song 'In The Flesh' was quite disappointing: such a powerful song was played in a merely weak way and, in my opinion, not loud enough. In fact it was just a bit louder than the 2 hours of the piped in music of ZZ Top played on the PA before the show! But it got increasingly louder so as to make Shine on *really* enjoyable:-)
'Dogs' was really brilliant, with quadraphonic effects and great performance of all the musicians. They seem to enjoy playing this number (which doesn't seem to be the case for 'Shine on', spoiled by Snowy White at the beginning, or 'Comfortably Numb', in which Roger doesn't even play his bass guitar...)
The second part was much more enjoyable (and louder:-)) than the first one. The musicians had warmed up, and playing Roger's own stuff fits them more than trying to reproduce the unique Pink floyd sound. By the way, Graham's drum set sounds like Robbie William's, which doesn't match with Roger's underground sound when he plays the older Pink Floyd stuff. There are many little details like this one which spoiled the whole show. Still I loved it.
The artwork (its design as well as the content) and Roger's refined way of expressing a disaster with poetry was just amazing. Unique! And the audience understood it. The lyrics of 'Perfect Sense' were sung by everybody. 'It's a Miracle' and 'Amused to Death' also belong to the Austrian highlights. It's a pity that there was not more of Roger's solo stuff, regarding the way it has been welcomed.
All in all, an excellent show of a very good band.
Just don't expect the atmosphere to be 'underground'. The sound, the atmosphere
lack the intimacy of the early years. Nothing will ever be the same as it was back then! It
remains an unforgettable night. R. Waters even looked at me (he probably looks at
everybody:-) -he pays so much attention to the people in the audience). You go
home with lots of memories and good energy, and this is the most important!
ENJOY
