In The Flesh
Tour Reviews

Every Candle- It Was A Miracle in Atlanta
By Devain WBU
There were posters that were given out before the show in Atlanta to be held up during curtain call to try and.get Roger to play his new song "Every Candle". Some, of these posters were colored in with a fluorescent marker, and when held up shone brightly, and caught Roger's eye. He reached into the crowd and grabbed one from a lucky fan, and read it with a smile on his face. When he came out for encore he said a few words in acknowledgement, and talked about the new song briefly, but didn't play it. All of us agreed that the fact that he acknowledged it, and gave us that special "connection" was more than what we could have asked for! There is a great pic of Roger reading the poster on stage! I am waiting for it to be scanned and will post it here! The idea for the posters was from Dr. Who, with help from Kyle. Thanks Guys for making a memory I will never forget!

I wonder if this played a part in convincinvg Roger to play "Each Small Candle" at Kansas City??

I had a great time... the time of my life actually. I came to Kansas City all the way.from Lubbock Texas to see Roger. Some of the crew let me back stage about noon.the day of the show. I took pictures of all of the equipment and the stage being set up. Some of the things I noticed were the words PINK FLOYD. LONDON spraypainted on the boxes and stuff back stage exactly.like the Pompeii video. Also... one of them had THE WHO spray painted on it. I took a snapshot of the set list and it didn't have "Candle" on it... though I figured he might play it since they played it at the sound check. I also took a picture of one of the keyboards and it had a digital screen on it that said "The Thine Ice Pad"... anyway... I visited with the stage manager... a Mr. Cooper who told me that they would for sure be doing the West Coast Tour... I asked him if they would be playing Texas as well... he said, "of course... we will be expanding to play many different states".

The show was great...I sat on the 19th row with my pal Vicki....after the show I went back near the tour buses and Roger came out and signed autographs for about the 40 or so of us waiting on him. He signed my Tour Program and I took a picture with him. He absolutely will not talk between shows to save his voice... he just nods yes or no. Some idiot ran up and asked him if he would be playing Egypt in 2000.... he violently shook his head "no." Good grief. Anyway.... my friend Henry recorded the entire show from the 3rd row and he recorded "Candle" during the soundcheck and during the soundchecks of the previous two shows and will be sending all of that to me on CD-r...I can't wait! Anyway, if anyone is curious to see any of the backstage pictures, let me know.... I don't know if they are of any interest at all or not. One more thing.... the graphic up on the screen during "Candle" was completely black... except for a very simple drawing of candle in white encircled with what looked like barbed wire around the candle to form what to me looked like a $. I took a pic of it but it was so dark it is tough to make out. Travis

by Monte R. Brown

The Kansas City Roger Waters Show was most definitely the best on the tour,although the show was only added on 8/7 and the show itself was on 8/28. I would say at least 10,000 people or more gathered at Kemper Arena for a night that will never be forgotten. For me the journey began that day as my friends and I left Tulsa, OK to make the journey. We arrived around 4pm, found our hotel and tried to rest before the show. It's really hard to rest though when you know you are about to see the most inspirational musician in your life! I have to admit that I cheated a bit by reading setlists and reviews from earlier shows on the tour, so I kind of knew what I was going to be in for. We arrived at the arena at 7pm getting there in plenty of time for the 8pm show time. Already smelling the good smells of the green in the air, we decided to put our desires aside until the true moment. Sure enough at 8pm the lights went down and the stage glowed with soft lighting. Then finally the first chord of In The Flesh blared out throughout the quadraphonic speakers. I was in heaven. Roger was alive and kickin. He seemed so relaxed and happy which is very good considering this was the last show for the tour. Knowing that this was the last show, I was indeed expecting a surprise and, yes we did get one. As the wall played on through Mother, and then onto the Final Cut and Animals sets. The highlight of the first half of the show for me was Dogs. Out of all the songs I have ever wanted to hear live, Dogs was #1. I was so amazed with how accurately they played the song! It was perfect. Snowy White and Andy Fairweather Low showed the audience why Roger has chosen these guys for years. Also the first half gave us "In Every Strangers Eyes," form Pro's and Con's.

The second half of the show opened with Darkside material which was excellent and so original, compared to some of Pink Floyd 1987 Ltd.'s material on the Pulse Tour. Then came the Amused to Death material I was longing to hear performed live. Again the perfection was awesome. Roger is definitely a conductor of music and you can tell that it has to perfect before he is satisfied. One thing I have failed to mention until this point is how awesome the audience was. There was a good mixture of young and old and that makes me happy. The crowd to when to be loud and when to be quiet, and everyone who knows anything about Roger is that he wants you to be quiet and listen to the music.There of course were a few people in the audience that Roger would have spit on in the past, but for the most part everyone was respectable and followed Rogers lead. As the show winded down with Amused To Death. At one point the lights in the auditorium and stage were all off. The only light in the all was about 5,000 lighters. Roger was so impressed he said "Well you all have yours lit so I think I will light mine." With that being said Roger reached into his pocket and raised his lighter as he lit it. The show wrapped up, and of course everyone was expecting an encore.  As I told you earlier I had seen previous setlists, so I like everyone else was expecting Comfortably Numb.

As the band came back out the crowd greeted them with a roar of maximum proportion. Roger approached the mic and told us that since was the last show on the tour, that they were going to do something different. " We're going to play a brand new song for you!" When I heard those words I was in awe. Roger explained that the song was about the crisis in Kosovo. At first he didn't know what to think about the situation. He didn't know who he was right and who was wrong. Then one day he saw a picture of an Albanian woman who had been seriously beaten by the Serbian military. A troop who was sent to keep peace noticed the woman and wanted to help her. The troop left his platoon to stay with the woman to take care of her. Roger wrote a song about this and unfortunately I never heard him say the name of the song, but let me tell you it was awesome! If all the songs Roger writes for his new album are as good as this one, then we are in for a real treat. Comfortably Numb did end the show as the fans left the arena with looks of awe on their faces.

As we left the arena my friend suggested that we take a walk around the perimeter of the building, just in case something strange my happen. As we neared the back of the arena I saw busses and that was an immediate sign for me. The closer we got we saw about 20 or so people standing near an open garage door on the arena. We merged with the fans and talked about our experience that we just had and hoped that maybe we might catch a glimpse of Roger as he left. "Get up on the curb," the security guards told us and we filled in single file. Then I noticed one of them counting people and my brain was really working now. This is a very good sign. After about 30 minutes of waiting, we were all of the sudden told "only 1 thing, he will only sign 1 thing!" What? We're gonna meet Roger Waters? That's all I could think of. Then out of nowhere there he was, in the flesh. I immediately went into silent convulsions as I dug deep into my brain to think of what I wanted to say to him. After reading about his whole life I feel as though I know him, but still this was a major moment. As I approached him he smiled as I handed him my program to sign. I told him that I admire him so much and that his music has been a great inspiration to my life. With that being said he handed my program to me, smiled at me and said simply "Thank You." Then I was swiftly moved on by the guard. I was speechless. I had just met the most inspirational musician of our times! This as most everybody knows is a very strange thing for Roger to do and I only know of one other time he talked to fans during this tour. I have to say that this was the pinnacle of my life at this point and now I must decide what's my next goal in life.

by Jon Kruse

Wow! How exciting it was knowing that this was the last show of this leg of the tour and we were there. There were many surprises tonight as well as many consistencies many have seen throughout the tour. My wife Trish was with me and is just as big of fan.

Having already saw Roger in Chicago I knew that it was a powerful show. We arrived in the parking lot around 4:30 P.M. to tailgate with friends. How awesome it was just to watch everyone roll in. We traded a few collectibles and then proceeded to take a walk around Kemper. While walking, you could hear the strains of sound checks going on inside the arena. It has been rumored there is a new song. Well folks, it's true. They have been rehearsing it the last several shows. Heard it at sound check. The title—"THE CANDLE." A true to form Roger Waters tune that soon all of you will be able to enjoy. (read on to hear more about this one).

Our seats were directly stage left, 3 rows away. (great seats) The sound at Kemper was phenomenal! Truly great concert sound. Roger performs the first songs from THE WALL up to Mother. Very tight musically and Roger really seemed to be enjoying himself. The rest of the set continued on like the other shows. The projections were running great and it was just an all around fun atmosphere. Perhaps the best decision of the night was to walk down to the front of the stage for the encores. People were freely walking about the arena at this point. We got a spot directly in front of Roger. What was to follow was totally unexpected. He was now introducing, "THE CANDLE." A very emotional ballad. He gave some background information on the song but unfortunately we couldn't quite understand everything completely because of a few screaming individuals around us. I am sure there will be plenty of information on this at a later point.

After THE CANDLE, he went directly into Comfortably Numb—A stellar performance I must say.

We headed outside after the show to try and catch a glimpse of the band as they were leaving, but we thought we had already missed them. THIS WAS NOT THE CASE! We were at the head of a small line of people on the south side of the arena about 45 minutes after the show was through when who else came out but ROGER WATERS HIMSELF. Thanks to a couple of fantastic friends for loaning us a couple of pictures, we had two them signed by Roger with a gold pen. Roger has definitely, "Reconnected with his fans." What a gesture!

Jon
jk52923@navix.net

My impressions from Atlanta and Kansas City
by Jens Puchert
Well, I was lucky enough to see Roger twice, last weekend in Atlanta and yesterday in Kansas City. Both shows were absolutely amazing. But I think KC was even a little bit better. Atlanta was an outdoor show, KC was in a multi-purpose arena. For one thing, in KC there was no humidity to worry about since it was inside. Also, the acoustics in Kansas City were better. Usually outdoor acoustics are less problematic, but they've done a fantastic job in KC. The rumbling bass at the start of "Welcome To The Machine" just didn't come across the same way in Atlanta. Also the stereo separation was better in KC, I thought. The downside to an indoor venue - not everyone likes the smell of nicotine and weed for three hours straight. At the end of the first set in KC the air was thick with smoke that it was hard to see the other side of the arena.

In Atlanta I was in section 204 which is dead-center, but a bit further back. In KC I had a floor seat, section B, also very close to the center. It got me a little closer than in Atlanta, but I still relied heavily on my binoculars to zoom in on the action.

The show itself had no flaws. There was no warm up band and Roger is said to start right on time. Boy, you ain't kidding. Roger was in perfect condition. He mesmerized me and most of the audience easily. The rest of the band also played absolutely fantastic. I liked Jon Carin's vocals on "Dogs" a lot. Quite fitting. P.P. Arnold's solos blew the crowd away, especially in "Perfect Sense Pt. II". Doyle Bramhall II was also a crowd pleaser. Although some of his solos were - shall we say - a deviation from the original, he played very self-conscious and delivered some great plays and vocals.

Roger was definitely NOT lip-syncing. I don't know how anyone could.think he is. In "Welcome To The Machine" as well as in "Every.Stranger's Eyes" he cut out just before the high note and the girls finished for him. If it was a tape he might as well fake the whole thing. Also, it was my impression that the cut-off point varied slightly between the two concerts. But the real proof is the fact that he missed a line in "It's A Miracle" at the KC show. He left out. "Lloyd-Webber's awful stuff runs for years and years and years" (unless.the weed had gotten to me by that point and I missed it) but he definitely sang it in Atlanta. Also, on "Eclipse" he mixed up a couple of lines and missed a few words at the KC show. Forget it, he's not syncing.

As for the setlist, my highlights were "Dogs", "Welcome To The Machine", "Time", "Every Stranger's Eyes", "Perfect Sense Pt. II", and "Comfy Numb". His choice of songs from The Final Cut and Radio KAOS is not what I would have played. I would have loved to see "Radio Waves", "Sunset Strip", and "Not Now John", but hey... The Amused to Death choices definitely hit the spot though. Finally, the KC encore included the new song "Every Small Candle". I actually hoped he would play it in KC since it was the last show and when he came out after the second set for the encore he gave the girls a sheet with lyrics and at that point I was almost certain he would play it. I felt like being a part of history as he announced and then played the song. It was absolutely unbelievable. The song itself needs some getting used to for me. It started kinda slow but then ended with a great team effort. I commend Roger for taking the risk and trying something new and playing the song even though they haven't had.much chance to practice it. Well done!

I also really liked how he left a lot of vocal solos to the other band.members rather than trying to do it all himself. It gave the show more color and variety. Nonetheless I was impressed with his voice and how he handled it. All in all, two of the best concerts I've ever seen. Roger was very believable throughout the whole show. It seemed he.really enjoyed what he was doing and it came across to the audience in a very powerful way. I'm looking forward to the west coast tour next.year...

By rankin2112"
Roger Waters began his concert in Kansas City, MO on 28 Aug. 99 promptly at 8:00 P.M. "Eins, Vie, Drie," were the first words he enunciated as he went into In The Flesh.

The set was minimal. There were two projectors at very end of Kemper Arena aimed towards a (and these specs are just guesses) 80 ft. by 120 ft. background. The first cool jusxtiposition was the amount of gear on the stage as compared to the Berlin `90 show looked like. There was just enough stuff for the nine member band. As for lights, there were some varilights on the stage, about 16-20. There was no lighting truss. This really added to the intimacy, I think. What lights he did have were hoisted up immediately to the stage's left and right. They were more than adequate. There was no circle-screen w /surrounded by vary lights.

I sat in the right rear section of the converted basketball stadium. I was in the middle of the first level off the floor. I could see everything. Roger wasn't little speck like Gilmour and Pink Floyd 1987 Ltd. was when I saw him in Phoenix `94 (Another good concert was when I Was on the front row when I saw Pink Floyd 1987 Ltd. in 1987 in Mannheim West Germany.

The emotional intensity was the most that I have ever experience. I have never broke down sobbing at a concert before. I was aware of the possibility of this happening to me from other comments from previous concerts. I really relished it. It was such a cathartic experience to be there with the man with whom you have shared certain particular points of view. It was cool to be meeting with the man on the dark side of the moon.

The crowd seemed pretty into it. But most people seemed lost when Roger did his solo stuff. Almost everyone got into Another Brick in the Wall II. I saw this mid-40's couple and they brought their children. The crowd did pretty good on Time, Eclipse, Money. If you don't like the smell of nicotine and weed, then you would not have enjoyed this concert. There was practically no security. But then again, why would you need security at a Roger Water Concert since all his true fans are, to some extent, pacifists. There were few problems. The only crowd was at the end of the 1st encore when Roger was trying to tell the audience of the story that was the heart of the new song that he was, in a few short moment, premiere right before my very eyes.

The set list was pretty much the same as the first 10 or so shows. He wizzed through The Final Cut stuff. He cut out Wish You Were Here parts 2-VI. So he did do the last half of Wish You Were Here, which Gilmour, et al., wouldn't play. To make up for this space, Roger play 3 extra Amused to death songs. He nailed Dogs. The synthesizer solo in dogs was just awesome. There I were a lot of stoned idiots playing in the lights that were interaction with the audience.

I had to leave in the middle Welcome to the Machine. But you could still hear the sound in the bathrooms too. There was a drunk guy barfing in the bathroom. The funny thing was that he was still jamming with Roger with his head resting there on the toilet. "Welcome, Welcome to the machine"... This drunken slob managed to sing it there in the men's room while he was barfing! "...You bought a guitar to punish your... Blaaaaauauauaghghhg," he barfed. Party on Dude!

Roger played the lead guitar solo in Money. It was awesome. Roger jammed. Roger then played Brain Damage and Eclipse for his first encore. Then, I got to experience something very special.................. Roger said "I want to something different tonight. There are a few things I would like to do different tonight. Three things. First, I'd like to thank my crew [applause]. Second, I'd like to play a new song. Third, before I play you the song I want to tell you a story about how it came about"

Roger then tried to quiet the crown down but there were a few assholes in the audience. Some were just very excited because it was an awesome, but there were some dicks. Anyway, roger started into his story. He said something like "I don't know about you but I have had a hard time trying to make sense out of the war in the Balkans." Someone has sent him some lyrics or a story or something. The assholes managed to interfere with Roger's message.

Roger pleaded, "Would you please listen? If you just listen." The crown then hushed. "OK, I'll continue." Roger then went into this story about how a Serbian soldier had helped save this Albanian girl. I think the soldier dropped the gun to help pull the girl out of a wrecked build, or something very close to that. "Anyway," Roger said, "this helped me to make some sense out of the war."

I felt very privileged to be there watching this piece of history. . After a few moments of movement on the stage, Roger began to play Every Small Candle. It sounded a lot like Its A Miracle, which he played by the way. I remember a line about someone turning back. I remember the line, "every small (or single) candle lights up a corner of the dark."

Roger then took out a lighter and demanded, "lights out, now." All the lights, but for the lights in the concessions area went out and everyone with a lighter lit up their lighters. So there I was in the dark with Roger Waters and about 10,000 fans all lighting up the darkness individually. I got to see it first. To say that I feel privileged is an understatement.

Through out the concert Roger seemed to have enjoyed himself. The only time he seemed to get annoyed with the crowd was there at the end when he was trying to be intimate.

By TimV
As most of you might have heard Roger did indeed play his new song in.Kansas City, which he didn't name but is apparently called "Each Small Candle".

Here is a transcript of what he said to the audience when they emerged for the encores.

Roger Waters:

"Thank you..."

Roger Waters:

"OK... thank you for coming to listen to us. It's been a great pleasure to perform for you... We felt the magic."

Roger Waters:

"Now, we're going to do something different tonight. This is the last show on our tour (crowd cheers). So we're going to do some different things... The first thing we're going to do different is we're going to give a big hand to the pyro crew who've been fantastic. Thank you guys."(points to the pyro? desk to the right hand of the stage).

Roger Waters:

"OK... now the second thing we are going to do different is we're going to do a new song... And the third thing we're going to do Different is that you have to listen to me talking about it for a bit before we play. (unintelligible two word? sentence drowned out be the crowd). I will be brief, as brief as I can. You'll have to listen, though, or you won't hear what I'm saying."

Roger Waters: "A few years ago, an Italian... a few years ago an Italian journalist contacted me from the Initiativo Contra da Torturum, which is the initiative against torture in Northern Italy. And he sent me some lyrics written by an Argentine man who had been tortured. And, in the English translation I found to be very ... moving. And, um, so I set them to music. And then I had no (an?) idea what went with these lyrics and then they sat in the back page of, uh, a half a page of scribbled lines for the next seven or eight years. Until Kosovo." Roger Waters: "And I was, I found myself..." (crowd cheers as if he just said Kansas City, Édrunken idiots *my words, not his) Roger Waters: "If you listen you'll hear what I have to say and so will the people around you. JUST LISTEN! hey just listen, just for a minute or two. It will be really cool... OK, I'll just go on." Roger Waters: "Um. I had trouble making any sense out of the whole thing in Kosovo. Uh, I know a lot of people went 'Oh, here's the bad guy and here's the good (?).' And that was tricky for me. And I found myself not quite knowing what I thought about it all. Uh, which was a problem for me 'cause normally I do know what I think about things. Until one day I read a piece in the, um, London Times which told the story of a Serbian soldier who saw an Albanian woman lying wounded in, um, a burned out building and he left his platoon and went over and helped her. And then joined his men and marched off. And in THAT image I found some sense. And so the rest of the song is about that. And ... " (unintelligible).

(Crowd cheers)

Roger Waters:

"Just give us one second... (someone in the band giggles into a mike)... for how it goes."

(Roger turns and shushes the crowd so the band can figure out what they are doing)

Roger Plays "Each Small Candle"!

After the song ends...

Roger Waters:

"Simon? Turn the fucking lights out. OUT!... thank you... bless you. There will be more if you want some."

Other band member:

"Hey I hope you're right."

Roger Waters:

"OK, uh, OK. Thank you very much for coming to listen to us. THIS is the last song."

The last song of this leg of the tour, "Comfortably Numb, begins)
There it is for your enjoyment. Guess we have an idea about what the new album might be about. TimV

by Jill Chavez

A spectacular performance for the last show on the tour. The same setlist as usual with one exception, two encores! The double-fisted hammer salute opens the show 'in the flesh' bombards the arena. The intensity never let up after that. The band sounded very tight. Rogers vocals never sounded better. Especially on 'Mother' and 'Welcome to the Machine'. The poker playing dogs during 'Dogs'—quite a sight indeed. Doyle Bramel a very good choice for lead guitar and with Snowy White as well. David who? Just kidding. It was nice to see a kinder Roger Waters. shaking hands with the people in the front row. Smiles to everyone all night long. The second set was not as familiar as the Pink Floyd songs, but very well received by the entire audience. After the last song, Eclipse, Roger began an introduction to tell of a new song he was going to play, but the audience was too excited to listen to the spoken words... Roger tried to quiet the audience (remember the last show of the 77 tour?) and asked them to "just listen to me, I'm trying to tell you about this song!" Unfortunately, the audience wouldn't (couldn't) quiet down, the title was unheard from my seat, it was about Kosovo, and a camel lighting the darkness. As for the last song, 'Comfortably Numb' one of the major highlights was to see Snowy and Doyle on top of the platform avbove the stage trading licks in a very extended solo. Masterful.

by John Tibbetts

The show kicked a$$. ESPECIALLY, the BRAND NEW ENCORE. I believe it's name was 'Every small candle lights a corner of darkness" or something to that effect. It was great to see what Roger has been up to for the next studio release. You know the song none of you other fucks got to hear. As one of the many lighter toters lighting the arena, I found it extra cool that he pulled one out of his own pocket at the end of the song.

And you better hope that this wasn't really the end of the tour, since if you missed them, you will never forgive yourself.

Also, the guitars were absolutely wonderful. I can't believe anyone would have shorted thier abilities, as was done with the prior reviews.

Lest we forget, Roger created the lyrics AND the tunes and only he knows how to present their true significance, not some shallow interpretation of the truth, as is done with the other "Floyd". The entire first set was original Waters' from the Floyd days, and they haven't sounded better , not even at the "Floyd" tour itself.

Roger's intense passion for each and every set of lyrics, showed how much he shows conviction for what he is singing.

The dueling guitars of the SECOND song of the encore, "Comfortably Numb", was truly a gripping experience.

As an added interesting sidenote, we got the row right behind the Hillary Clinton looking sign language interpreter, who had to stop and blush when the faced lyric "fuckin fingers". The hippie chick was cool too.

Roger made sure to give a special kudos to the roadies at the end of the show/tour.

I will also echo some comments made by the Baltimore reviews, he nailed Every Strangers Eyes perfectly.

The worst part of the concert was the severe lack of passing ganja.

Yes I think Roger is doing quite well on his own. I am sure the opera will be cool, but am looking forward to the outcome of the studiuo effort of Feb, 2000. I am sure with the reception to the new song that Kansas City gave him, he should realize, his thoughts, beliefs, and feelings still want to be not just heard but felt, enjoyed, and EXPERIENCED.

I FEEL SO VERY LUCKY FOR THE OPPORTUNITY TO SEE THE REAL ROGER WATERS IN THE FLESH.

P.S. Check out the info about the Atlanta show. Rick Wright was there, and there are two VERY good recaps of the event.

by Martin J Reed

In commemoration of his last show of this tour -- August 28th in Kansas City, Mo.—Roger Waters debuted a new song during the concert. He told the Kemper Arena audience it was inspired by the events in Kosovo. I'm sorry that I can't recall the exact name of the tune, but the chorus repeated "every candle lights a corner of the dark," as a silhouette of a candle was projected onto a screen behind the stage. It was pretty cool stuff.

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Additional information

Each Small Candle

by Roger Waters

No the torturer won't scare me
Nor the body's final fall
Nor the barrels of death's rifles
Nor the shadows on the wall
Nor the night burnt to the ground
The last dim star of pain, this hurt
But the blind indifference
Of the merciless unfeeling world

Lying in a burned-out shelter
Of some Albanian fort
An old Babushka holds a crying baby in her arms
A soldier from the other side
A man of heart and pride
Breaks ranks, lies down his rifle
And kneels by her side

He gives her water, bread and meat
And calms the crying child
Her touch heals absolution across the great divide
He picks his way back through the broken tunnel of the night
And there at the curve, the samaritan Serb turns...
And waves...
Goodbye

Each small candle lights a corner of the dark...

And the old pain stops hurting
(And the blackened eyes stop burning)
And the children can be children
(When the desperados meet them)
When the tide rolls in to greet them
(And the natural law beside them)
Greets the humble and the mighty
(And the million candles burning)
Light the dark side of the human mind