2006 North America
Tour Reviews

Roger Waters, Cleveland Ohio, September 17th 2006

Outstanding - brilliant - poignant - solemn - inspired - heartrending! At the passion-pinnacles of Leaving Beirut, Perfect Sense & Sheep & then later during Us & Them & Fletcher's Memorial Home, I found myself dramatically doffing my hat to Roger & the Band, my only contribution tooffer in response. If I were the little drummer boy, & had my drum, I would have played for them.

Technically: This is one badass band of expert musicians; no, much more than that: They're Roger's band, man. My son (who's an accomplished percussionist, with eyes a glitter) & I dug Graham Broad's rototoms solo intro to Time. The ladies were celestial, definitely. Dave Kilminster has channeled David Gilmour about as well as anybody could [IMHO], but has his own signature sound too. The whole band just shines. We will be watching for Harry's music in the years to come. Mr. Roger Waters? Never has he ever looked so good, so into the music, so connected with his audience as he strolled from stage right to stage left playing to the wings, with wild staring eyes & a smile that expressed so many different emotions depending on the lyric, the song, the vibe. Ya just want to reach up and bear hug the guy, ya know? Right on, Roger!

The venue: I vowed before never to see another concert at the Gund Arena, but the tickets were available and the seats were great so I took a chance on [the renamed] The Q. I will again make this promise to myself to never spend another dime on this venue. You get right down to it, all arenas are alike, so it comes down to the atmosphere & the personnel. Outside The Q was electric and a pleasant pre-concert experience as my son & I walked around and said hi to some folks, offering them a REG flyer and taking in the vistas of a well-meant city beside ol' Cuyahoga River. Then inside & through the obligatory metal detectors and guards and all the king's men, etc. & that's when the mood began to shift if only a bit... hey, we had traveled to Mecca to see Roger Waters after a long-long wait, there was only so much the worst aspects of The Q machine could do to alter my exhilaration last night.

Anyway, I made the mistake of offering a REG flyer to a few passersby as we made our way to our section & that's when the first arm of security ambled up &, after some interrogation, made me agree to leave the remainder of my flyers in pocket until I was outside the venue, period. I said sure, no sweat, just trying to do my part for REG. In hindsight, I was thinking, whoops, should have known to keep it outdoors.

So great, there we were in our seats a half hour before the show, all jazzed & taking in the sights & sounds & stage, then three security guys swagger up & demand all my flyers and want to know if there are any more and if there are any others like myself in this l'il crime syndicate of mine? I explained that I am a lone wolf in this vile operation chuckle/sigh no, really I just re-explained that I agreed to print some copies of the REG flyer and hand them out to the Roger Waters fans as a boon to an excellent international fan club & I certainly mean no affront to The Q or Roger Waters management, etc. It's all groovy gentlemen (although this whole sub-zero confiscating of personal property paradigm has begun to go too far, IMHO), I'm here to turn my son on to the best band on the planet, no-more-no-less.

So one of the hammers shook my hand & they sauntered away with my meager but earnest investment, a pittance compared to the ticket costs, & my son & I drifted into concert-goer bliss for 3 eclectic monster sets of matchless & honest decades of songwriting & presentation.

THEN, as Roger & the Band exited, after Roger made mention of a brown equipment bag he [still] has backstage from the '77 Cleveland concert, a warm reminder of that night for him, the house lights came up &, as if to say Welcome back to reality: The security rolled back in full force to cattle-drive our aces pragmatically out of the building, but with more rigger than I've ever seen at a concert venue. One of the heads of security was yelling, The Fire Marshal's going to be here! We've got to get these people cleared! So, as my son & I were walking up the ramps in exit, I was thinking how ironic a display & in direct antithesis of what Roger Waters and the Band had just inspired in all our hearts & minds. The house lights came up and [click!] the dehumanization began again, just that quick.

All that aside, this was a night of perfection for an aging dad & a brand new fond memory for a teen son that will surely be the concert by which all concertsare judged in his young life.

What more can be said of Roger Waters' tour that hasn't already been said in review after review. If you can get tickets, I wholeheartedly recommend you go see the show. In a word: Perfect.

There are just two other gripes I'd like to mention: One would have to be the woeful lack of Roger's solo music in the sets (although 3 sets of peek rock& roll perfection, so who's bitching?) & the other would have to be what really has become my own personal exhaustion with certain aspects of audience interaction - drunk boneheads who think I spent 400 dollars to watch them piss themselves and demand attention with one sort of absurdity or another & the whole sit down stand up sit down thing. When Roger Waters sat down to play a couple, it should have been a sign to take a chair and watch the show... yada-yada. Not that I wouldn't have stood on my feet for several more hours of his repertoire, gladly, but the whole sheeple routine has grown tiresome for me. I may have had my fill of big venue concerts for a while.

You could say I passed the torch to my [very soon to be] 16 year old son tonight. So be it, bless his deep-welled rock & roll soul. Again, this is a concert, a living legend and a gift to humanity that you probably wouldn't kick yourself in the ace for going to see.

My hat's off to you Roger Waters; you've been a gift of honest gravity & hope to the world since the day you were born. No doubt Eric Fletcher Waters is out there somewhere so proud of his son. Bring the boys back home.

Peace [Fear builds walls},

JBear & Son

It's strange how our life situations change us. In the 93 concerts my wife and I have attended this was the first I went to alone, and frankly, I missed her being with me. But off I went for the 300+ miles round trip ahead of me.

On the way I had to eat something and all I saw was Mcdonalds. I took the plunge and cannot figure out why people eat that shit! I couldn't gag down the whole meal and threw it away.

So I arrive in Cleveland about an hour early, good timing and after battling parking traffic, I got a spot in a parking garage for $15, which by comparison was cheaper than everyone else, who all wanted $20.

After getting inside the arena I bolted straight for the merch booth and saw an impressive array of shirts and other goodies. I chose the "Dark Side Of The Moon" program, which comes in a cover similar to an album cover. One of the best programs I've seen. And it includes a great interview with Roger. $20 well spent. Then I grabbed a brew and went to my seat.

Music was playing and I looked at the stage and saw a gigantic radio on the stage and had to take a double look to see if it was a stage prop for the show or video imagery. Suddenly I saw plumes of smoke rising from near the radio, thinking it was a test of some sort when all of a sudden a huge hand reaches up and flicks a cigarette ash into the giant ashtray. The hand then takes a glass of scotch sitting there and turns the radio dial. This was very impressive. It looked so real.

At this point I could tell that the arena was completely surround sound and I knew that soon the big hand would tune the dial again and the show would start and boy, did it ever!

The pyrotechnics were simply amazing as the band opened with In The Flesh. I must say here that it will be hard for me to recall the visuals, as there were many and it was probably the most impressive visuals that I think I may have ever witnessed. The huge radio would leave and dynamic visuals would accompany each song along with incredible pyrotechnics.

The band moved on to Mother, Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun, and then moved onto Shine On You Crazy Diamond, Have A Cigar and Wish You Were Here, which kicked ass. I wish I could describe all of the visuals I was looking at but I cannot remember alot of them. But after the band, which I must add were unbelieveable, performed SouthHampton Dock, the show took a hard turn politically. This is when the show really took off for me, though up to this point the show was awesome.

A heartfelt performance by Roger on The Fletcher Memorial Home was followed by Roger placing George Bush squarely in his crosshairs and letting him have it full force!

The song Perfect Sense, for those who know this song started out with the familiar whispers, "Dave, I'm so afraid... My mind is going", and the visual on the giant stage screen evolved into an astronaut floating in space. At that same moment from the roof of the other end of the arena a large astronaut slowly floated and hovered over the people throughout the arena, it was eerie and beautiful. He floated in different directions, low over the people on the floor then slowly out of sight behind the stage. Incredible. This was followed by Marv Albert's sports like description of a nuclear sub blowing up the arean with a bomb, followed by a huge explosion and killer pyro's onstage. Absolutely amazing.

Next was a new song entitled Leaving Beirut, done on the screen in comic book style and taking dead aim at the religious right and George Bush. This piece was extremely moving and brought huge applause from the crowd. But I could hear one drunken token conservative booing and that cracked me up.

The set ended with Sheep and also with the biggest stab at Bush. At the start of the song, yes, there it was, a gigantic pig, with big lighted red eyes flew from the side of the stage and continued to float around the arena. When it got near to where I was sitting I could see that the pig had slogans written all over it. The most compelling was aan arrow pointing to the pigs "asshole" with the words, "IMPEACH NOW" encircling it. I couldn't help but laugh out loud! On the side of the pig was another slogan, "Don't be led to slaughter, vote Nov. 7". I can't recall what the others were, I think there weere one or two more. None quite the impact of those though. Then the giant pig flew back to its cage and the first set ended. WHEW! Absolutely brilliant first set.

I must note that I wore my "Meet The Fuckers" shirt, with boneheads Bush and Cheney's face on it and after the first set I got alot of compliments on the shirt while others laughed and said it was so appropriate!

Bam, off to get another brew before the main attraction of the evening starts.

The giant hand tunes the radio dial once more and then I hear the heartbeat throughout the arena and I feel it pulsate through me.

Dark Side Of The Moon has begun!

It must have taken Roger an enormous amount of time to get this extremely talented band rehearsed for such a classic undertaking as this. They stayed true to the continuity and pacing of the album and vertually note for note perfect. The visuals were absolutely stunning. The music was performed beautifully. It was a joy to behold, this performance of this legendary album.

Speak To Me... Breathe... On The Run... Time...The Great Gig In The Sky. I must stop here for a moment and mention Great Gig, One of Roger's backup vocalists, Carol Kenyon, took the vocal part of this piece and ABSOLUTELY COMMANDED IT! She took the vocal with such power and range that it was absolutely inspiring. I don't know where Roger found this woman but it makes one feel some hope for true vocal talent in this age of horseshit like American Idol and such. I was very moved by this woman's breathtaking vocal talent.

Money... Us And Them... Any Colour You Like... Brain Damage and finally Eclipse to end the performance of the album with the planet earth turning into the moon. Truely a beautiful and brilliant performance by all on this incredible work. Thunderous apllause punctuated the ending.

Ah, but not finished yet. The encore of selections from The Wall was yet to come. And I'm tired of typing!

The Happiest Days Of Our Lives...
Another Brick In The Wall Pt2...
Vera...
Bring The Boys Back Home (Yes, our boys)...
and to finish the evening, Comfortably Numb, finally seeing the man who had been changing the radio dial all night, smoking and sitting in his chair, lying on his bed, deep in thought. Or falling into madness. All ends with huge explosions.

An unforgettable evening, both visually and musically. One of the best concerts I have ever seen. The only thing that could have topped this would have been if it had been Pink Floyd. But man, what an incredible simulation.

Now I'm haded back home, 150 miles in thunderstorms, with a massive lightning show to guide my way home.

Goodnight.

It's very hard to pick a favorite song of the show, but I would say I liked "On the Run" and "Any Color You Like" for the music and visuals, and "Great Gig..." for vocals, and "Bring The Boys Back Home" for the power ( it gave me goosebumps).

I hate to say anything negative, but the only thing I would have liked was more solo stuff.

I was setting beside a 15 year old girl that was there with her father. I was very impressed because she knew the words to almost all of the songs and was really into the show. I could not believe the guys behind me missed half of the Dark Side set. Before the show i met 2 great guys from denmark. I wanted to get their address and or email to keep in touch, but never got around to it. I hope they enjoyed there time in the States and I'm sure they enjoyed the show.

You guys are all going to think this is weird, but I hope you don't think bad about me, but I am actually a conservative republican and a supporter of George Bush. I don't think most people can even begin to imagine what this man has had to deal with. It also makes me sick to hear everyone blame him. Well, if you all remember the same people tried tohit the World Trade Center a few years earlier when Bush was not even in office. All the rants about the way the US and Bush has caused the terrorists to come after us. Well I don't really know all the facts, and all we can go by is what we see on TV and read in the newspaper.

The biggest problem I have with the people that complain about the way the US has handled things, is that they offer no ideas on how to solve these problems. Sure it would be nice if we could all get along, but if you look around the world and see who is causing the trouble it is not the US. It actually really pisses me off the way we are looked at around the world as the bad guy. We help more people in this world than anybody. We havehad more of our men die for other countries than any other country in the world. Actually the world better wake up.I know you allsay that Iraq has nothing to do with the war on terror, and that may be so. Just look around the world and see who is doing the killing and God forbid you say something about them or they'll be out tokill you just for saying something.

I would love to live in a world where everyone is treated the same but when you have people that have a religion that tells them to kill anyone that does not agree with them it sure is hard to think of it ever working out. It's just like the line in perfect sense " is it any wonder that the monkeys confused. Shine on

The choice of music before the concert was awesome - mostly Neil Young, I think Roger is a fan of his.

Once seated, the first thing I noticed was the old time radio, the large whiskey glass and bottle, and the ash tray on the stage. I told my husband that I thought those were funny props. What a surprise when this large hand reaches in and turns the radio on, pours a drink and takes a drag from the cigarette.

Let the show begin.
For the first 10 minutes or so the arm would reach in for a drink, a cig, or to change the channel of the radio station. I thought it was funny when he tuned to "Dancing Queen" by Abba for a brief moment and then back to another song. The crowd erupted with the switch.

Alas, the time came for the performance of a lifetime. I won't bore you with play by play detail as the other reviews did an excellent job of that. I will say that everything they stated (the positive ones that is) was true and that I feel very fortunate to have been witness, yet again (went to the Roger Waters concert at the CSU Convocation Center in 1999 or 2000 - memory is foggy) to the BEST of the BEST in visual and audio performers of the last 30 years.

A word to the Former Pink Floyd Fan that stated their views about the politics of the show, "Have you ever listened to any of the albums - Floyd or solo - if you had then maybe you could have saved yourself some money by not going to a concert for a musician that plainly expresses his political/social views in song." Also, you could have done the rest of us "true fans" a favor and kept your opinion about the politics of the show to yourself.

John
Flatwoods, KY

He did one of his new songs--Leaving Beirut. One of the lines said something to the effect of Bush's Texas education must have lead him astray. This was kind of confusing because Bush grew up in New England and was educated there, but I liked the message nontheless.

Sheep was really good as well; my dad saw the floating pig, and now I can say that I've seen it as well.

The Dark Side of the Moon was done to perfection in my opinion (or as perfect as it can be without the rest of Pink Floyd performing it). I always thought I'd be disappointed to see Pink Floyd songs being done without Dave Gilmour on guitar, but I was pleased with the guitarists in the Waters show.

The encore was a nice surprise seeing as how I hadn't looked at his set list. Comfortably Numb for the last song was a wise move in my opinion. Overall, great concert.