by kevchris
I went the the Atlanta show at Lakewood
amphitheatre 8/88/99. The show itself was great. Roger stepped
up to the plate on this one. Much more so than the Radio K.A.O.S.
tour in 1987. I did not have the best seats in the place, but
the sound quality was pretty good. Surprising from where I was
sitting.
THE ENVIRONMENT:
A lot of young people there (19-23 yrs.). A lot of them were
wearing ti-die shirts and dresses. The older folks that were
there (such as myself) would not have worn something like that.
I would estimate that there was 12,000 at the show. I did not
see anyone get arrested or anything like that. It was a typical
Atlanta crowd. "laid back".
THE SHOW:
The show started off as Roger casually walked on to the catwalk
that was behind and above the band and did the cross fisted hammer
salute to everyone. Everyone return the salute to Roger in kind.
The setlist was the same as the other shows with no deviation.
Roger appeared responsive. He removed his microphone during "It's
a Miracle" and continued singing as he walked to the left
side of the stage. After he sang "The piano lid came down...
and broke his fucking fingers" he said something to Snowy
White which made him laugh. During the encore "Comfortably
Numb" Snowy White almost got his head bashed (accidentally)
by Doyle Bramhall's guitar head, as they were doing the guitar
work on the catwalk part of the stage. From where I was sitting,
I would not have noticed that if I did not have binoculars with
me. Overall the show was great. I wish I could have gone to more
of them.
THE BAND:
Roger—As I said earlier, he stepped up to the plate on this
one. His voice sounded great. Very close to the studio recordings—especially
"Amused to Death". Since he will be 56 years old next
month, I do not see him touring much after this. A lot of folks
were talking about a reunion with David Gilmour and folks. I
do not see that happening. I heard someone say they should bring
Syd back. It's quite obvious he is not doing much of anything
these days.
Doyle Bramhall—A great young guitarist. No replacement for Dave though. Did an adequate job on "Money". Though, at times he seemed a little over aggresive on some of the guitar work. That my opinion.
Snowy White—A masterful performance— especially during Roger's solo works.
Andy Fairweather-Low—Stayed in the background for most of the show. During other solo stuff or when Roger was not singing. Roger would go back where Andy was and they would be swaying back and forth to the music. I found that so strange. Again without my binoculars, I would have not noticed it much.
Katie Kassoon and friend [P.P. Arnold]—they were great. You can see the connection between Roger and Katie [He probably means P.P. Arnold] during "Perfect Sense" real magic there.
Jon Carin and Hammond Organist (name slips my mind) [Patrick Leonard] were good. Jon toured as Rick Wright's supporting keyboard player during PF's last two tours '87 and '94. During solos, Roger, Snowy and Andy would sit back on a sofa and play cards.
Graham Broad—Good drummer—no solos for him though He was the studio drummer for "Amused to Death" and played the kit on "The Wall" in Berlin.
That's the band... The show was great and you folks who haven't bought tickets for the few remaining shows should. It's worth the money
by Carter E. Broome
The show was great... like most other
reviews. so, I will not rehash the obvious.
HOWEVER...
The major event in Atlanta was in the discrete attendance of a former collegue of Roger's. I notcied early in the concert a guy with silver hair about three rows in front of me and 15 seats to the left. It looked like Rick Wright!!! I walked over to him during the intermission and... guess what... it was him!!!! I was astounded!!! He was wearing dark pants and bright royal blue long sleeve shirt and sitting next to his mid-30's blonde wife. Both were very friendly! After all of their negative history... what was Rick doing at Roger's show???? Anyway, I got his autograph on my ticket stub. It turns out his wife is from Atlanta. This was all confirmed mid-way through the intermission when the keyboardist (Jon Carin?) came over and sat with him for about 10 minutes.
Stunned, Carter Broome
by Cameron
Mayer
Good Morning Everyone,
I'd like to start this note with a couple of things...
1st, I realize that there will be many folks who don't believe a word of what is below...fine with me, but I have absolutely no reason to bull$hit anyone on this list. I see that Carter Broome was there also. I've been on ECHOES for about 5 years now, and although I've been in deep lurk lately, I think I have a pretty decent reputation here...I know that there will be skeptics though......
2nd, this is not an attempt at some lame-assed AFD joke!!
Now, on to the story!!
Sunday, August 22nd, 1999, 7:30 pm or soooo...
Well, I guess there were some great things in store for me this evening, and as fate has it, it turned out to be one of the most memorable nights of my 38 years!!
Myself, Keith, (my old roomy) Nola, (ex-girlfriend) and Caroline, (current girlfriend) made or way to our seats at the Lakewood Amphitheater, literally freaking at how close we were to the stage!! (10th row, left side as you looked at the stage) A lot of people bitch about Lakewood, but this was my 4th show there and I've yet to have 1 complaint!! We're sitting there just kinda staring around, checking the place and people out, when a man and woman come walking past in the row in front of us. I took a brief glimpse, and then a close look, and just about had an internal fit!! If this wasn't Rick Wright, then he had an exact look-a-like!!
I whispered in Nola and Caroline's ear "That guy in front of us is Richard Wright, the keyboard player from Pink Floyd, " and of course, no one believed me. I'm not one to have to prove things, so I just told 'em fine, don't believe me, but it _is_ him!!
The show got under way 10 minutes later and man, was I impressed. I'll be the first to tell you, I'm not a big Roger solo fan, but this man and this band had it goin' on!! I'm equally, if not more so impressed with this show, than the 4 Floyd shows I've seen. (2 AMLoR shows, 2 DB shows) Roger's playing was incredible, and if there's anyone out there who doubts his bass playing ability at this time, well, this guy knows what the hell he's doing!!
Anyhoo, after the 1st set ended, we're just kinda sittin' there, and Keith reaches over to strike up a conversation with Rick, who at this time confirms my thoughts!! Keith introduced me to him as the "Largest Pink Floyd fan on the planet" to which Rick responded with a HUGE grin!! His wife got up at this time to go out for a beer and the conversation went something like this:
CM: Very nice to meet you, I'd like to thank you for 25+ years of great music!!
RW: Oh, you're very welcome...mind if I ask where you guys are from? (I don't know where that came from!!)
CM and Keith: We're from Jacksonville, FL...
RW: Pretty good show tonight, don't you think?
CM, stupefied that I'm having a conversation with an IDOL!!: Sounds great so far...what do you think?
RW: They sound pretty good. Roger's vocals are a bit off key, but he was notoriously off key even in the old days. Jon's doing a great job with my parts, but I'm not too impressed with the guitar work. No one can touch what David is capable of on guitar.
CM: Didn't Snowy tour with you guys during the Animals tour?
RW: Yes, yes he did. But no one can touch David...
CM: Any thoughts of going up and playing? (can't believe I had the audacity to say that!!)
RW: Well, if I played, Dave and Nick would have something to say about that, wouldn't they!!
CM: I guess they probably would!! Has it been a while since you've seen Roger?
RW: Oh yes!! David had his blowout with Roger in '84 and I had mine with him 3 years before that...it's been 15 years since I've seen or spoken with Roger. My wife is in the process of remodeling a house here in Atlanta. They'd been playing a lot of Floyd and Roger stuff on the radio here, and that's how I found out about the show. I thought that it would be good to come see how things were going, how things sounded...I had a lot of mixed feelings about coming tonight. I'm going to be living here part time and plan on seeing some more shows here, but hopefully not from these seats...people can't seem to sit down, you know...it's terribly hot too, don't you think?
CM: It is pretty warm in here tonight. No breeze at all. We're pretty used to it though, being from the south.
At this time his wife comes back with an ice cold brewsky!! Rick is not drinking anything, nor does he for the entire night!! Water, beer, nothing!! He lights a cigarette and introduces his wife to Keith and I, but her name escapes me, and is not written down in my notes!! Needless to say, I'm about to wet my friggin' pants at this point...
Wife, who's now wearing a backstage pass, to Rick: I think Jon's coming down to say hello.
RW, seemingly quite nervous: Really? Did you speak with him?
Wife: No, but such and such, blah, blah, I didn't catch the rest of her comment.
RW, turns around to continue conversation: Well, I guess Jon is coming down. He toured with us the last 2 rounds you know...
CM: Oh yeah!! I was able to see 2 shows from the last 2 tours...you guys are just incredible...any chance of...
At this time, the guy who is sitting about 4 seats down figures out who Rick is and yells, pretty much at the top of his lungs, while tapping Rick on his left shoulder...Are you?...
Keith looks over at the guy and puts his finger to his mouth in a shhhh gesture..the guy shuts up, realizing, I guess, what he was about to do. Then, walking down the aisle comes Jon Carin, with a couple of women and 2 guys who look like they might be roadies...he comes and sits down with Rick and his wife, and at this point, I can't really hear what they're saying. Also, a few people have started to walk over and ask for autographs...Rick signs away, a bit baffled, but still seeming very suprised that Jon came down. I didn't hear (unfortunately) one word that was said between the two. Jon and crew got up about 5 minutes later, and at this time, there are a bunch of folks hounding Rick for autographs, giving thanks, etc. He seemed a bit "antsy" at this point, so we just kicked back and took it all in.
I got up to go and get a tour program to be signed, and also to get a beer. While standing in the beer line, the 2nd set started...I missed about 2 minutes of the first song, but no biggie...I had my program and was going to get an autograph at the end of the show!!
Fantastic 2nd set, which provided a nice group of Rog's solo stuff...immediately after the final notes of Eclipse, 2 guys walked down and motioned to Rick and his wife...the lights went dark, and I tried to stick my tour book out in front of him for an autograph, but he looked at me and rushed on by...I'm still kickin' myself in the ass for not asking earlier, but was pretty much caught in the thrill of the moment.
There you have it. Not really all that much to some, I'm sure. But it was sure as hell a very cool happening for Keith and I, not one that will ever happen again...I'm not usually one to try and keep things to myself, but it sure was a drag once people started realizing who he was and all...we wish we could of kept him all to our stingy selves!! Go ahead, tell me I'm full of it, or say that there's no way he said this or that. I thought he was off a bit about the time frames in which his and Dave's blowouts took place, but I took notes and this was pretty much word for word what he said. I still can't believe I didn't get an autograph. It seemed too bizarre that it was all happening...
If anyone has any ?'s, go ahead and fire away!! The above pretty much covers the entire conversation, though. Rick looked to be in great shape and health, and was more than friendly when speaking with us. He seemed to be a bit rattled about Jon coming down, and I'm wondering if the guys who came down at show's end and whisked them away took them back stage...
Peace,
Cameron
www.angelfire.com/fl/cjmayer/index.html
by BALD2HILL@aol.com
Simply a magical night. The entire
band looked really up for this one. Roger was much more animated
than i had read in previous reviews, and the crowd really responded.
Rather than throw out kudos like all the other reviewers, let
me just say that this was the best concert i have ever seen.
The song selection was perfect and the band pulled them all off
with style. My personal highlight was the "amused to death"
material in the second set and the opening of the show with "in
the flesh" and "the thin ice". Thanks for a wonderful
evening.
by bbrouse@mindspring.com
Waters and Co. put on a great show
in Atlanta. It certainly exceeded my expectations. Waters was
clearly having a good time playing and it showed. The biggest
surprise of the show was when Waters set up the audience by saying
that he was going to play a new song for the encore (a song about
people holding up candles to light up the darkness of this world).
He then proceeded to tear into "Comfortably Numb".
Needless to say it was a pleasant surprise.
by Melina
What a GREAT show!!! Truly not what
I had expected. It was intimate, well planned, and yes—truly
magical. Roger sounded wonderful—better than how he sounded
on his records. He looked fantastic and as if he were truly having
a good time in his own serious way. I thought the stage show
was going to be massive and mind blowing. Though it was impressive,
it was not extravagant. But this is how he wanted it; simple,
special, and to the point. This show was not about the theatrics—it
is about the music and revealing who he is. He accomplished this
very well. The crowd was pleasant and respectful, the sound was
perfect (could have been louder), and the musicians were so on!!!!
Snowy and the gang did impressively well with David's riffs and
perfectly on the solo material. I have been reading the previous
reviews boasting on how awesome the female back up vocals were—all
true!!! They were fabulous! I was so disappointed when the Roger
experience was over. Why couldn't he just play all night!!!
by Ryan
This show was the most powerful event
that I have ever witnessed!!! Roger was incredible! The intensity
if his music is just beyond comprehension! I couldn't even sit
still when he played Brain Damage and Eclipse. The screen he
used was awesome. He used it very effectively during Wish You
Were Here & Shine...Diamond(showing pictures of Syd Barrett).
Very touching! WOW!!!!!!!
by Ivan
To whom may it concern,
I am very deeply disappointed with
the way ticketmaster addressed the issue of the change in venue.
I imagine there are more people like me that found out about
the change in venue a little too late but here I am writing this
note. I bought my ticket (1 seat) at the beginning of June and
had a great seat in the orchestra level in Chastain (Aug 22,
Atlanta) and tremendous illusions of seeing my favorite artist.
So much time waiting for this show, had it there and now, PUFF,
it's gone!
What I have now?
I'm trying to contact the producers Alex Cooley & Peter Conlon regarding this. I do not know what Ticketmaster can do for me since by phone I haven't been too lucky to get a decent seat in Lakewood.
At least I still have my seat for Wednesday, Aug. 25 at Lakewood for Scorpions and Motley Crue concert.
This doesn't make any "Perfect Sense" to me but I guess that is "What God Wants".
