Roger Waters and Jeff Beck together again

Among several 'Special Guests' to appear with Jeff Beck at his 3 sold out shows at the Royal Festival Hall in England, was none other than Roger Waters. Jeff Beck's Royal Festival Hall concerts took place on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, September 12, 13, and 14, 2002. These were the only dates in the UK that Beck is currently scheduled to perform.

Other Special Guests for the show on Sept. 12th included; Imogen Heap (who sang on Beck's last album), and the Big Town Playboys. On Sept. 13th they were joined by White Stripes. Tickets for the shows, at £20 and £40, had sold out by the scheduled show dates. Roger Waters appeared as a guest on September 12th & 13th, at the first two of three Beck shows. Roger performed only two songs on both nights. They were "What God Wants Pt. I," and "What God Wants Part III." Accompanying Roger, along with Jeff Beck and his band, were Andy Fairweather Low, Katie Kissoon, Carol Kenyon and PP Arnold.

On Sept. 12th, the first of the two Royal Festival Hall concerts, Roger arrived about 2 PM to do the sound-check. When he emerged to leave, at about 5 PM, he was accompanied by Mark Fenwick as well as Andrew Zweck. Mr. Zweck asked the 25 odd people outside to line up, and that Roger would sign everything! Everybody did just that, and Roger did indeed sign everything for everybody. He even posed for any photos that people had asked for. In fact when people asked for photo's - he stopped signing, did the pose, and then carried on signing. The gig was divided into a first half and second half with a 20 minute break in the middle (sound familiar?). It started at 7:45 with Beck doing his own songs as well as Yardbirds tunes in the first half.

At 9.25, towards the beginning of the second half, Roger came on to play with Jeff. Dressed in his customary black suit with black tee-shirt, Roger played bass as well as sang during "What God Wants Pt. I," the first of the two songs he performed. During the second song, "What God Wants Pt III," Roger just stood before the mic and sang, as another bass player laid down the bass. During What God Wants Pt. III, what amazed many Waters fans, was when Roger took an 'A4' piece of paper out of his pocket with lyrics on it, and held it in his hand as he sang the song constantly referring to it. Obviously, he had not spent the time to memorize his own lyrics, and even with a lyrics sheet, he reportedly still fluffed it!

It was feared that Roger might suffer having to play after Beck's virtuoso performance of the first half. But Roger was equally impressive. The sound was crystal clear, full and rich. The audience was very appreciative as well, waiting until the last of the sound effects dripped away before cheering the performance. Beck's playing was superb, and during Roger's songs were very close to the Amused To Death album versions. Listening to the album, Beck's solo's seem quite difficult and complex. But live, he made them look so simple. He hardly seemed to be making an effort as he wandered around the stage. Rogers voice did not sound quite as good as it had during the tour, when it seemed he hit the higher notes better. However it was still a great performance, accompanied by Beck, Andy Fairweather Low, and the 3 backing vocalists - Katie Kissoon, PP Arnold and Carol Kenyon.

During the final encore of the show, "Hi Ho Silver Lining," with Fairweather-Low doing backing vocals - everyone came out on stage and played - except for Roger! On Friday the 13th, the second of the two Royal Festival Hall concerts, Roger didn't arrive at the venue until about 9 PM- shortly before he was due to go on. As the previous night, Roger played "What God Wants Pt. I," and "What God Wants Pt. III." This time however, during Pt. III, the lyric sheet was taped to the floor, and Roger only referred to it a couple of times. Roger's performance seemed a bit better than the night before, in fact the whole show seemed better. Perhaps the addition of the White Stripes improved the performance, as Beck seemed to really enjoy playing with them. Once again, as everyone came back out on stage to play for the encore, Roger did not appear.

During both nights, either in the audience or on stage, were Roger's whole 2002 band (except for Norbert Stachel). Andy Fairweather Low, Katie Kissoon, PP Arnold, and Carol Kenyon were playing on stage. Whilst in the audience were Graham Broad, Snowy White, Harry Waters (who sat next tohis sister, India Waters), Andy Wallace and Chester Kamen. Graham went backstage immediately after Roger had finished his set, but the others stayed in the audience and watched the rest of the show, going backstage afterwards.

Roger and the band left the Festival Hall at about 12 AM. And while Andy Fairweather-Low and Katie Kissoon went for a pizza nearby, Roger once again stayed quite a long time signing autographs, before finally being dragged away by his new lady.

The set lists for the second half of the both shows are listed below.

Festival Hall Thursday Sept. 12th 2002 - 2nd Half

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