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From: Adriana Rubio
River Plate Stadium is home to one of the best football teams in Argentina called "River Plate," together
with "Boca Juniors," who both are well-known team rivals. The fans attending these games often feel as if
they're at a big party, chanting and jumping around during the entire football game. In 1978, the World Cup took place
at River Plate Stadium where the Argentine team won the Cup, leaving Holland in second place. The stadium
has a capacity of about 80,000 people. And, it is also recognized worldwide as a famous venue for
all the International concerts performed there, such as the Rolling Stones, AC/DC, The Cult, Kiss, U2
and many others.
First off I want to thank River Plate Stadium authorities and security personnel for the valuable
cooperation provided to ARTS Publications before "The Dark Side Of The Moon" performances took place at
the Stadium. Thank you!
Roger Waters' Dark Side Of The Moon Tour came down to Buenos Aires, Argentina with a crew of about hundred, which included many different kinds of technicians, instrument assistants, sound engineers, special effects and lighting engineers, and more. They prepared and completed the massive stage-structure in just hours while preparing to get everything ready and in proper order for the show. Four screens were set up to work in tandem to provide images for the audience in order to evocate the songs more meaningfully during the performance. The main screen was massive, centrally situated on the stage just behind drummer Graham Broad. Two others were set up on either side of the stage. A fourth screen was set up in the middle of the stadium field.
MARCH 17TH, 2007
At 10:10 pm the Roger Waters Dark Side of The Moon Show started with the song "In the Flesh" followed by "Mother" both from the unforgettable and meaningful album "The Wall" which gave birth to the Alan Parker movie.
The show continued with a song from the album "A Saucerful of Secrets" called "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun" followed by "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" from the album "Wish You Were Here." At this moment the audience honored Syd Barrett with a non-stop ovation while watching images of him displayed on the screens. Soon after that, "Have a Cigar" and "Wish You Were Here" were played.
The next songs came from the album "The Final Cut." These songs have a very special meaning for the Argentine audience because they remind us about the war between the United Kingdom and Argentina for the possession of two Islands called "Islas Malvinas" (Gran Malvina & Soledad) by Argentina, and called "The Falkland Islands" (East Falkland & West Falkland) by the British. This war started on April 2nd, 1982 and lasted for 72 days. 655 young inexperienced Argentine "conscripts" died. With an average age ranging from 18 to 22 years old, these conscripted soldiers and sailors were sent into battle without any kind of military training. Nor were they equipt with the right combat clothing and gear to survive the freezing weather conditions that exist on the Islands due to their geographical location. On the other side, British casualties totaled 236. The lyrics of The Final Cut album were inspired by this war and especially by the ones who led the fight: Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher of England, and Dictator Leopoldo Galtieri of Argentina.
Anyway, this part of the show was fully expected by the audience. The main screen showed an image of a navy ship surrounded by helicopters. It was a very touchy scene for all the spectators while singing "The Fletcher Memorial Home," along with Roger Waters, followed by "Perfect Sense" from his third solo album "Amused To Death." It was a must to see!
After a huge applause, Roger Waters played a song about a trip he took to the Middle East when he was 17 years old. The song is called "Leaving Beirut," and it is basically focused on his hitchhiking experience in Lebanon. It is a story about an Arab who picked Roger up, and along with the man's wife, gave him shelter and hospitality touching Waters' heart.
Another highlight of the performance was the song "Sheep" from the Pink Floyd album "Animals." During this song, a giant pig flew up all over the stadium above the crowd. This giant pig had inscriptions written all over it. One, written across the side of the pig was against United States President George W. Bush. It said: "Take Bush away before he kills us all." The other inscriptions said: "Fear builds walls," "Where is Julio Lopez?" "No more disappearances," and "No more Galtieri & Videla".
Galtieri and Videla were tyrants, and part of a sinister military junta that governed this country for decades. It was a very dark period in a time in which 30,000 men and women, (mostly men and mostly young) were arrested and wrongly accused of practicing terrorism in Argentina. They disappeared, never to be seen alive again. Among these innocent victims were young pregnant women, high school students 14 to 17 years old, two French nuns, and many, many more. Years later, it was discovered that they had all been tortured to death by the military forces. Many of the dead bodies, and some still alive and dying in agony, were disposed of by being thrown out of military aircraft into a river called "Rio De La Plata."
At the end of the song, after extremely loud non-stop applause and ovations, Roger Waters and the band took a fifteen minute break. They came back with the complete rendition of the Dark Side Of The Moon album for the enjoyment of a very excited audience waiting for more and more. Songs like Time, Money, The Great Gig In The Sky and Brain Damage, along with a colored laser pyramid, turned this nights dream into reality. After which, Roger Waters creator and co-founder of Pink Floyd, introduced the musicians who accompanied him, along with the three marvelous ladies on vocals, who were all very much applauded.
The show was near an end when Roger Waters introduced a group of boys and girls from the River Plate Institute onto the stage to help sing the next song. And with the simple sound of a helicopter, the audience knew it was "Another Brick in the Wall." "Vera" came up next with the full stadium singing "Bring the Boys Back Home." The Dark Side Of The Moon concert ended with the infamous song "Comfortably Numb" from the album "The Wall."
BAND MEMBERS
The concert was incredible. The sound was perfect, especially during Dark side of the Moon.
During songs from The Final Cut there were a few mentions of Thatcher, Galtieri and Malvinas and the war between Argentina and England.
The audience was very curious about the band and show in general. I was at the 2002 show in Buenos Aires, and this one was much better.
The only criticisms would be that there was some a kind of echo rebound during a few songs because of the huge stadium. But the rest of the concert was perfect with the effects of the video's on the big screens and the pyrotechnics that added to the scene created all during the night. And finally, the price was too expensive for the average Argentinean, equalling 50 to 200 US dollars for tickets on the field.
Does anyone know if this tour is going to have a DVD released?
From: Mariano Eduardo Garbini
Five years ago, I wrote a review for this website when I saw Roger's show in Velez
(Velez Sarfield Estadium). It was my first time going to a Roger Waters concert. I felt
incredible that night, so, I went to this new concert with the feeling that it would
be amazing.
But I was wrong. It was more than that!! I have no words to describe the best performance I've ever seen for any artist. The sound was so clear and so loud that I believed my head was going to explode. I can't explain in words, my English is very poor.
I'm 44 years old, and I've grown up with Roger's music. It was like seeing the preacher of my way of life, which included my participation in the South Atlantic war in 1982. I was 19 when I returned from war and listened to "The final Cut". He actually had the words to explain my feelings.
Tonight was a magical night!
Thank you again Roger
Mariano Eduardo Garbini
Mar del Plata - Argentina
From: Gonzalo Roca Acevedo
It was one of the best shows I've ever seen in my whole life!
Roger and the band performed flawlessly, every little note in every
song. I wanted to cry, it was so beautiful, so inspiring!!!
The videos went along with the music in a very special way. The Prism with lasers rotating and going through the entire crowd was a once in a life moment! When the laser went through the people, everyone screamed!
Also the pig reminded us of how bad our dictatorship was a few years ago, as well as the people that are dying right now because of Bush!! Everyone clapped their hands at that!
The field sector was divided in two, the "vip" sector being the closest to the stage. That was much too expensive, so the rest of us had to watch from the back of the field, and it was very difficult, if not impossible to see.
The show consisted of more than 2:30 hours of music. It was a PERFECT. I hope that sometime in the future, Roger will come back to Argentina.
Gonzalo Roca Acevedo, from Buenos Aires, Argentina.
From: Rodolfo Galvalisi
Let's begin with Satuday show, March 17th, which was my 4th Roger Waters concert (Jones Beach in 1999,
New York in 2000 at Madison Square Garden and Buenos
Aires in 2002).
I went with my wife to our VIP platinum seats in front of Snowy and Dave, and at 9:00 (one hour before) we were at our seats with the stadium 80% full. The atmosphere was great, you could see it in everyone's faces. I saw people of all ages, fathers with sons, and lot of people who came alone!
Well, when the lights turned off, Roger appeared from the left, and the 60,000 people in the audience went crazy. The claps and shouts were louder than the music of the show starting. Awesome! The sound was absolutely incredible, even better than the 2002 show, which was at a different stadium, with best accoustics.
As I knew the setlist, I especially enjoyed looking at the faces of other's and listening to their comments. Song after song. (for example; one guy was shouting to Roger:"God, you can not put my Mother in second place, I'm dead," and other things like that).
Well, the whole show was fantastic and there are no words to describe it. I especially enjoyed Sheep, which I heard at other shows, but hearing it live is always great, and of course the crowd went wild on Perfect Sense.
One other remarkable thing was Snowy, during Comfortably Numb he was very excited, waving his hands several times and forcing people to stand up and sing. In a way, I didn't expected that from him, as he is always very quiet.
All I can say is the show was GREAT!!!
I think those words reflect what I feel right now about Roger Waters' Show. I just can't believe what I saw, and what I felt.ÊToo many effects, too many images, great sound effects, etc.
It was amazing from the very beginning, when the main screen (which for a long time had shown a still image) started showing movement. As we listened to songs from vintage radio I started to shake, I wanted to see the band on stage as soon as possible. When they finally came on stage, time went by faster than ever, and all of a sudden we were clapping our hands at the end of Sheep. That first part of the show was Incredible!!!!
DuringÊDSOTM,ÊI knew the songs that were coming but not the effects we were going to see, so once again Roger kept me hypnotized. The last songs were classics of Pink Floyd, just to make us to go crazy. But everything has an end, and so did Roger Waters' show, so after Comfortably Numb all we could do was clap our hands and shout and cry toÊshow Roger and his bandÊhowÊgrateful we were.
The people leaving the stadium were walking on
the street looking each other as if they were trying to find the proper words to describe what they had just
seen. People walked for hundreds and hundreds of meters in a silent daze. I'm sure
everyone realized that it was the greatest show they had ever attended. And that's also the way I feel.
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