2006 Europe
Tour Reviews

Again yesterday in Lichtenvoorde at the Arrow rock festival, it was a great show, good atmosphere! And I kept looking at Roger, and how he interacts with his audience. A great show in Holland, and now it's off to Paris for the show on the 14th. I'm looking forward to seeing Nick on the drums, although Graham did a more than outstanding piece of work at the other shows.
Later guy's...

If I had to choose between this concert or another one from 18 years ago, I can tell you: this is the one I'd choose!!!!!

The concert "In the Flesh", was just a shadow of this tour. "The Dark Side of the Moon" was even better than what Pink Floyd did some years before. They never reached this level!

Roger's band played more precise, more slowly! And for the first time I could even feel it!!!!!! He really loved his own old stuff. The love they put into the songs, gave me goose bumps. I never thought that Roger could ever reach this level, even with Dave, Richard and Nick. But maybe that might happen in future.

Arrow Rock Festival
Lichtenvoorde, the Netherlands
June 10th 2006

The 4th edition of the Arrow Rock festival in the Netherlands had arrived, and because of the headliner on day 2, it could easily compete with any big festival in Europe.

After an impressive line-up with big names like: Deep Purple, Dio, Journey, Status Quo and Whitesnake, the final 3 hours of the festival belonged to none other than Roger Waters.

While almost everybody was trying to get a good position in front of the main stage, unfortunately for Queensrÿche, this meant they had to do their show on a side stage, in a half full, extremely hot tent.

Roger last played in the Netherlands in 2002 for his "In The Flesh" tour, a concert that left massive amounts of fans wondering when they would see him in concert again. Well, it seems like Roger Waters isn't just doing a copy of the 2002 shows, but wanted more. With a full moon shining on the plains of Lichtenvoorde, there could have been no better scenery or special effect for the integral performance of Pink Floyd's 1975 classic 'The Dark Side of the Moon.' With the grass field now totally filled with people, it was around 9:30 pm when the first of Roger Waters band members walked out onto the stage, and kicked off the show with a loud 'In the Flesh.'

Music

When the band came out on stage, the show kicked off with one of the most powerful songs of Pink Floyd's 'The Wall.' The audience all around the field just couldn't stop singing along to the great versions of songs like 'In the Flesh,' 'Sheep' (Even after the concert people kept on baaa-aaaa-aaa-ing, making sheep sounds while leaving the festival), 'Shine on You Crazy Diamond' (with a great Dave Kilminster on guitars) as well as some songs from the 'Final Cut' album. These Final Cut tracks; 'The Fletcher Memorial Home' and 'Southhampton Dock' haven't been played in a long time, and were most certainly a big surprise in the setlist.

Further, there were of course some solo songs like; 'Perfect sense' which made a good impression, but the exploding oil rig literally shook the crowd because of so much power from the speakers! Just before the first break, Roger announced the second part saying: "after the break we'll be back for that" while he pointed at the full moon in the sky.

After the break Roger Waters and band played the complete Dark Side of the Moon, where many of Dave Gilmour's vocals were taken care of by Jon Carin (Keys), as well as Dave Kilminster (guitar). Leaving some of Dave's singing parts to others with the right vocal range proved a good solution because the voices of both these men were great in their own right, and the songs never felt unreal.

The background vocalists; Katie Kissoon, PP Arnold and Carol Kenyon, each did solo's of their own, during 'Mother,' 'Perfect Sense' and 'The Great Gig in the Sky' grabbing their share of fame. It would be impossible and unfair to select any of the lovely ladies as best female vocalist; there was no competition, just lots of shivers down the spine.

The rest of the band consisted of good individual musicians: Andy Fairweather Low (Guitar/Bass), Snowy White (Guitar), Graham Broad (Drums), Ian Ritchie (Saxophone) and Roger's son Harry (Keys). As a whole the band just sounded very solid and well balanced, and where there were a few individual mistakes, no one cared.

We, at Concert Visions, always discuss the sound of the shows we cover, and normally it's just there, and nothing special, but this show had quadraphonic sound, with the music coming from mostly from the front, and all sorts of the sound effects coming from speakers half way down the field on the left and right and from the back. Needless to say the sound was impressive.

After Dark Side of the Moon, there was a short moment of silence, and then the band did encores of some of the best selections from 'The Wall,' causing the whole audience sing along until the last notes of 'Comfortably Numb' had faded away.

Performance

One man with a bass guitar, that's what the people came to see, but they got so much more than that. As stated before, not only was the entire band quite good, but the stage show was simply stunning. No racing around to come up behind you again by the musicians, only careful and enthusiastic interaction between Roger and the audience. On the big video screens, you could see when Roger was singing, how his eyes would scan across the first lines in the crowd, as he sent an occasional smile to a fan. And while others were doing the singing, Roger just moved from side to side engaging and cheering up the audience while singing along with the music without a mic.

Of course all the musicians got their share of the spot light shining on them during their solo's, and if for some reason it wasn't enough Mr. Waters kindly requested more. The real treat however was the magnificent video projections in the background: not just semi-psychedelic video, but also photos of Pink Floyd in the good old days.

One of the best effects however was the surreal video during The Fletcher Memorial Home' showing a house full of wandering souls, with shards of light coming from a disco ball, while on the wall, portraits of many dictators were hung up. There was also a great comic-book like cartoon video that was played during 'Leaving Beirut.' It showed the entire story of a 17 year old Roger Waters hitchhiking from Beirut, and the warm hospitality of local strangers he met along the way. All this with lyrics on screen while they were sung.

But there was more, as could be expected, like a floating inflatable Astronaut during 'Perfect Sense,' and a spinning wheel of pyrotechnic fire which was raised during 'Comfortably Numb' and towered high above the stage. Combine all this with occasional spectacular displays of pyrotechnic fireworks and flames, such as during the opening of "In The Flesh" and at the end during "Comfortably Numb," and you sort of get the picture.

Though it's never the same as being at the show, the photos I took might at least feed one's imagination. Roger Waters doesn't just make concept albums, but also concept shows and plans them in detail. And the lucky ones are those who get to witness it.

Audience

After describing the music and performance of this show, it's time for a quick look at the audience. The majority of the people were wearing band t-shirts, most of which were of Pink Floyd and Roger Waters. Everywhere in the audience, there seemed to be an atmosphere of camaraderie. Where I was, in the first few rows of the audience, everyone seemed to be making friends, meeting with total strangers, and conversations about the upcoming concerts were all over the place.

When finally the show started, most of the people where I was, were all singing along with almost every single word of each song. And even at a later stage in the show, while going through the audience, I found that it wasn't just those in the front that were singing along but all around the field fans were singing along passionately. However, at one point, during 'Leaving Beirut,' it was all of a sudden rather quiet. Very few sang along, even though the song has been out for quite a while, and the lyrics were projected on the screen. Maybe it was the unfamiliarity with the song, or maybe people were just concentrating on the comic book like cartoon story projected in the background.

When time was up, and the concert over, the audience still had something more to do; while slowly shuffling to the exit, people just couldn't resist making sheep sounds. The baaa-aaaa-aaa-ing was a sound that became contagious, and was passed from person to person, all through the crowd who were waiting to go home, and who would never to forget this concert.

Setlist

1. In The Flesh
   
2. Mother
   
3. Set The Controls For the Heart Of The Sun
   
4. Shine On You Crazy Diamond
   
5. Have A Cigar
   
6. Wish You Were Here
   
7. Southampton Dock
   
8. The Fletcher Memorial Home
   
9. Perfect Sense parts 1 and 2
   
10. Leaving Beirut
    
11. Sheep
    

    20 min. break

12. Speak To Me
    
13. Breathe
    
14. On The Run
    
15. Time
    
16. The Great Gig In The Sky
    
17. Money
    
18. Us And ThemÊ
    
19. Any Colour You LikeÊ
    
20. Brain DamageÊ
    
21. Eclipse
    

    Encores

22. The Happiest Days Of Our Lives
    
23. Another Brick In The Wall (Pt 2)
    
24. Vera
    
25. Bring the Boys back Home
    
26. Comfortably Numb
    

Rating
Music: 10
Performance: 10
Sound: 9
Light: 10
Total: 10

Thanks to Edwin van der Ende
Operational manager/Photographer for Concertvisions - the alternative quality concert photo source
www.concertvisions.com

The original review and photo's can be found here: http://www.reflectionsofdarkness.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1098&Itemid=43