Photo by Steve Snowden
From: Ron (Toon) Fleischer
23 years and 9 days later, I returned to Madison Square Garden,
the "world's most famous arena" (as it says on the sign), to hear
some great Floyd tunes.
Last night's show at MSG was great on many levels. The band was in top notch form and the sound (ESPECIALLY the surround effects) were near perfect. Even the projectors lined up properly for most of the show with little registration problems.
I sure hope that the Portland show was this good, because they still seem to be improving and adding various subtleties to the performance.
Everything was right on the Money....and speaking of $$$, I still can't believe how much I have grown to anticipate hearing this song. I know that it's been written before (by myself and others), but it IS exciting to hear again, especially with the guest sax player (last night's was the same guy who played Chicago....who looked VERY similar to one Mel Collins) and AFL's blistering solo. Last night he vaulted to the front of the stage and attacked that 1st note like he was shot out of a cannon! And, his guitar must have been turned up to 11 because it was the loudest past of the evening....almost as loud as the ovation that he got when he finished : )
Another highlight, and this is significantly different than the other performances that I've heard from the tour, was Snowy's 1st guitar solo of Shine On. He REALLY took his time playing this. Streching out the notes and pausing between phrases. In the past it seemed like he rushed through this part a bit, but last night he played it in slo-mo!
The crowd was pretty well behaved (way to go New Yawkers) and really showed Roger their appreciation. A similar ovation to the one that Chicago gave on Saturday followed Shine On, and once again Roger milked it for what it was worth. As much as he was "playing" to the crowd, he still must have been touched by the reception.
The blooper of the night was that the house lights turned up full after Comfortably Numb, which lead the crowd into the expected "booing" session. Realizing the mistake, the house lights dimmed again after about a minute, leading the crowd into a massive frenzy. It didn't take the band long to return and perform Each Small Candle....still getting better.
Once again Roger actually refered to PINK FLOYD in his "magic is
back" speech, and introduced Snowy White along with a plug for his
gig at BB King's club (tonight). Wish I could have made that one too ; )
From: Greg D. Waters fan since 95 Age 21
This show was amazing!!!!!!!! I saw Waters last year in Albany and Holmdel
but this show was very cool. Although It was a little dissapointing not to
hear "What God Wants" or "Who needs Information" the adition of "Set the
controls," "The Bravery of Being out of range," and the new song Each small
Candel made up for the loss.
Waters seemed very happy and loved it when the crowd stood up and cheered him. When the voice of Marv Albert came on during Perfect Sense the crowed cheered as he is the voice of MSG for the Knicks. There was also appluase when Manhatten was mentioned during Perfect Sense.
The show was sold out and the fans were crazy but did let him speek when he
talked about, "Each Small Candel." I loved the knew song which sounded much
more finished then the version he performed last year. It was a great
evening for me and every one else in attendance. I still have tickets for
the next MSG show and the one in Providence and can't wait to go again.
From: qcd@idt.net
No other words could possibly describe last night's show but phenomenal.
From the opening chords of In the Flesh to the new Each Small Candle,
Waters showed a professionalism and showmanship not even remotely
approached by todays so-called entertainers.
He was a different person from his Jones Beach venue last summer as he gyrated to the heavy bass, and pounding drum beats of both Floyd and his solo work. Highlights of the evening had to be the unbelievable rendition of in the flesh, as the crowd went wild to the pointing out of the rif-raf in the room, and the feeling that everyone I talked to said that overcame them at the time of that song.
It was a high not easily to put into words. I cannot stress enough how Water's stars his show as said, 8:00 promptly, NO OPENING ACT. Dont miss that feeling.
The Dogs medley was dead on the money, with the sounds whirring around the garden 360 degrees. Perfect Sense was another heart-stopping song with an accuracy only Waters attains at his shows!! This is a MUST-SEE show for all Floyd and Water's fans, and if you have a chance to see him more than once do it. I am making phone calls to anyone and everyone trying to score tickets for the thursday night show!
As a quick footnote, as great as Water's band is, and they are very
good, it takes 2 guitarists to fill Gilmour's shoes on Comfortably Numb!
From: Jeff Nilsson
By now we all know the "In The Flesh" tour show: setlists, musicians, "Roger
is Pink Floyd" banter,.... so let's give some background and cut to the facts of
the show.
I was lucky enough to see the tour last August at Jones Beach and felt it was the best RW show I'd seen so far. I enjoyed the 3 Pros and Cons shows I was able to see in '84/'85, remembering that Clapton was great, yet managed to look quite bored.... Jay Stapley was a "very poor" replacement for him, nonetheless the show was grand, well thought out and really interesting.... and Roger acted as a simply proper Englishman playing his music to the audience.
In '87, I got to see 2 performances of the "Radio KAOS" show and was very impressed with the "show" itself, the idea of the live broadcast, the whole Billy-thing and Jim Ladd and everything else... except Roger was now playing the "cool, rocker-type", decked out in the sunglasses and trying to act half his age.... all well and good, if that's how he thought he'd sell more records and ticket, more power to him. I know it didn't help simply by the dreadful album and ticket sales... but the show was excellent, especially at MSG where we were treated to an extra encore of "The Great Gig in the Sky" with Clare Torry on vocals. Now that was a true moving experience and I consider myself lucky to have been at that performance.
The first leg of the "In The Flesh" tour was an even greater pleasure. Yeah, I know.... compared to the KAOS shows, the whole thing was scaled down,.. no more circular screen, no movies, sparce lighting rigs, a bit of lip-synching (so what! Like PF never used prerecorded material to bolster the show? Bah... it ain't like Milli Vanilli... the man just loves the song and knows his voice can't hit the range! Cut him some slack), and finally, no Rick DiFonzo! Damn, You all saw the Berlin show! The man did Gilmour almost as good as Gilmour... without breaking a sweat! I bet he could've done that show sleeping and it would've sounded fantastic... but I digress... anyway, so the 1999 show was my favorite of the three tours I've seen. Roger seemed to enjoy the performance as much as the audience....
Last night, at Madison Square Garden, I was able to catch the show again (also going tomorrow as well) and was about 24th row center and loved every minute of it.... some new projection visuals, dropped a few songs, added to the setlist, (glad I got to heard WGWpt 1 before it was dropped: with good reason) and a new encore (I got to hear an MP3 of Each Small Candle and can tell you, they really worked on it a lot!... It's much better now that they've been able to get it on tape and kick it around a bit... hopefully, the final version will do the song justice when it's released.
I was sorry that the "mystery" saxophonist wasn't given any credit after the
show.... from where I stood, he looked a lot like Mel Collins!... Hmmmm. but the
only things I can complain about were minor things:
Oh, and uh, Roger?.... Good work on the show. I was very entertained. Hope
tomorrow's crowd has some real fans in attendance....
Thanks
From: Earl Leighton
I was more than a little worried about how this NYC crowd would behave,
but ( at least in sec. 222 ) they weren't too obnoxious. We arrived
about 2 hours early, and heading towards MSG we passed by a gentleman
wearing a slightly tattered "Oh by the way.... Which one's Pink?"
t-shirt from
the KAOS tour, he saw my newly made Amused to Death shirt ( the album
cover ) and introduced himself. Amazingly he flew from Italy to see both
NY dates, he said he was on his way to Blarney's to meet the other fans.
Most of the fans hanging around "The Garden" at 6 p.m. were definitely Waters fans, we saw bootleg T's from the '99 tour ( allot of those actually ), Official '99 shirts, Wall shirts, and a few KAOS shirts and even one VERY faded Pros + Cons shirt. The vendors had already set up with the slightly improved selection of merchandise, and by 7 p.m. the place was humming. ( Especially with scalpers who were swarming like bees trying to unload quantities of 300+ section seats to a public that wasn't buying )
By 7:45 we were seated, and as usual, the place was more than 1/2 empty at 8:00 - despite the signs everywhere and a guy on a megaphone stating "the show starts promptly at 8 p.m.". A few minutes after 8 an announcement was made that the show would start in 5 minutes, and 7 minutes later the lights went down ( and the crowd fired up ).
I have to say that, from where I was sitting, this concert absolutely rocked. Without a doubt it was better than the 3 shows I saw last year, even better than the Oakdale show ( though less intimate ). The band was tighter, Snowy and especially Doyle were on fire. The solo in Dogs was ferocious, and was met by a roar from the crowd, unlike the uncomfortably silence heard on many of the '99 recordings. Doyle was flailing his Strat around, really giving it his all. It seemed liked the whole crowd was singing along with most of the songs, even GYFHOMD / Southampton Dock.
Roger was especially animated, often coming to the sides of the stage to jam and mouth the words along with the audience, and really enjoying himself. His voice was great from the get go, even In the Flesh was free from scratchiness. As usual, Every Stranger's Eye's garnered an initially mild response - but ended with a thunderous applause, and Perfect Sense pt.1 and 2 had the whole place singing along. I enjoyed the "bar scenery" for Bravery, I think it might have helped explain the song to people hearing it for the first time - but what was with the "Silver Surfer" type comics during SOYCD?
Yea, there was eventually a prism, but how was that supposed to relate otherwise - was it just supposed to be "trippy"? One of my pet peeves about last years show's was resolved when Snowy leaned back and wailed out the ending to It's a Miracle beautifully against a sunset backdrop - it was very powerful and moving, with as much sustain as the original. ( Been talking to Mr. Beck have we? )
And yet again, Doyle played the first solo in Comfortably Numb better than anyone other than you know who could, and then the obligatory guitar duel had the place in a frenzy. A few left before ESC, but not many - and the fans in the know had their lighters raised in synch with Rog, and although I originally didn't like the thought of the show ending that way - maybe it is a good note to end on.
The sound ( even from the side ) was great, as I heard the guy in the seat behind me comment on several times. On the way out the crowd was cheering like bastards in the MSG ticket sales area, and then again in the streets, as we passed by the puddle of smelly puke. ( That's what you get for sneaking in liquor in a 32 oz.Gatorade bottle ) Oh yea, and we bumped into the man from Italy again who agreed that it was indeed an awesome show.
The only possible downers were the block of seats in front of us not getting filled until halfway through Mother, and then ( not surprisingly ) the "fans" got up and down again in a drink / piss / drink cycle - often chatting and discussing whatever was on their minds. It's like they won some tickets at the office or something, Christ - how much did you people pay to just come here and talk?
And of course the Division Bell shirt wearers ( and a few MLOR ), who seemed to all arrive at 7:30 - now I'll chalk some of it up to plain ignorance but one bastard saw my Amused shirt and gave me the nastiest look. FU pal this IS a Waters concert, do you think I'm going to wear a Rog shirt to the next laser-light extravaganza? Do you think I'll even be there?
On a
positive note I saw plenty of them with freshly purchased tour shirts in
hand,
trading them in for a new model I suppose. Roger Waters undoubtedly
rocked NYC!
From: Andrew Hamilton Organization:Brainiaxe Music
Brutal Honesty??
Dear devoted fan:
I am a follower of Roger Waters like you, and have been since I can
remember the release of the Wall when I was a grade schooler. Pink
Floyd, from a muscial and lyrical standpoint, is my favorite rock band
although there are so many great groups now and from the past. Roger
has been a tremendous inspiration to me from a lyrical and conceptual
standpoint as well. Does this ass kissing need to continue?
I must report however, that at last nights performance at Madison Square Garden, I left with an empty wallet and a feeling of being bullshitted.
The high points:
The bad points
I heard absolutely NO music come from either of them. The young guy incidentally has credentials to wave around for the press to blow out of proportion to give the public the illusion that he is a living legend (playing with the T-birds and Vaughan bros. - big fucking deal...does that make you a good player??? I know a plethora of horrible guitar players who have sat in with Scott Henderson) (Snowy White...yea..played in berlin didn't he?? Plays with BB King too. Had some very brief moments of handsome phrasing, but couldn't continue the lines he started. He displayed only about 10% more literacy than young poster boy name dropper playing next to him.
Anyway, it's pretty obvious that Roger can't afford (unlikely) or refuses to pay good players for the road, although he can afford Beck, Lukather and Clapton for the recordings.....at least we get something.
......DEAR ROGER.....HIRE SOME MUSICIANS PLEASE.....NOT ILLITERATE POSERS.
How ironic it is that he whines about the cheap-fast food mentality from cultural deprivation of western life....and hires it to deliver the music he writes live. I mean....who is he trying to fool? At least Sting ( who I loathe ) has Branford playing horn...and not some Clarence Clemmons "obligatory" saxophone butcher.
The girls were wonderful. The middle singer was outstanding. She had soul rippling out of her. At least he payed for good back up singers.
Get it right Roger. Or really do the right thing......CALL UP THE FUCKING BOYS AND QUIT BEING SUCH A BABY...before you all die of cancer sad and alone as you are headed right now. Woof Woof.
Can you tell I am feeling jipped?
From: Wendy Ciardi
My name is Wendy Ciardi. Me and my husband saw Roger at the PNC arts center
in New Jersey on august 6th. The show was so great we did everything we could
to get tickets and see him at the Montage Mountain Ski resort on the
following August 13th, 1999.
At that show I handed a stage hand a Yellow rose for Roger, hoping he would
get it.
Is there any way I can find out if he got it? Anyway , during that show a tremedous lightning and rain storm started during the 3rd song, it was dangerous, they had to stop. We stayed for 2 hours hoping it would stop raining, but it got to late and we had a long drive home, so we had to leave.
Roger came back on later on and we missed the show. We were very upset. then almost a year later, we had to see Roger again at Madison Square Garden on the added show July 11,2000. All I can say is that we could not get enough! Roger gets better and better every show if that's possible!
We got to hear the new song as his encore. I did not want it to end! It was
great.
The only thing I wish , besides the fact that Roger were here, haha is that
he do more off the Amused to Death album.
From: Chris Whitely
A Return to the Past Pt. 2
Tuesday, July 11, 2000
Seeing Roger Waters live ("In the Flesh") at the Madison Square Garden
(MSG) Arena was my second chance to see my favorite musician of all
time. The first time was last year, when I saw him at PNC Bank Center
on August 6. That concert was a revelatory experience, where I was
gratified to discover that Roger live was more incredible than I had
imagined, after years of listening to his songs. I reconnected not only
with Waters' music that night, but also with my younger self--the
teenager who was deeply affected by such classic Pink Floyd albums as
The Dark Side of the Moon, Wish You Were Here, and The Wall. That night
was filled with ecstatic highs--perfect moments where it seemed that
Waters was speaking directly to me--and lows--mistrustful of Waters'
motives, thinking that he was just out to prove that he was better than
the Gilmour-led Floyd, and playing classic Floyd just to please the
crowd. Ultimately, that concert confirmed my opinion that Waters
actually was the heart and soul of Pink Floyd, and the only member of
the band who had a real message to share.
This time around I had none of those doubts. I knew that I was going to see a great concert, and I did. This time, unfortunately, there were no feelings of euphoria, but there was a consistent sense of pleasure throughout the show. The band that Roger is playing with is excellent, and though the set list was very similar to last year, the different versions of songs and the new special effects made it into a fresh experience. He did drop several songs from the list: "The Thin Ice", "Another Brick in the Wall Part 1", "The Powers That Be", the teaser for "The Great Gig in the Sky", and "What God Wants Part 1"--replacing them with "In the Flesh", "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun", "The Bravery of Being Out of Range", and "Each Small Candle".
Seeing it inside an enclosed arena, rather than outside on a lawn, was a very different experience visually. There were no video clips of the band members this time, but more images on the backdrop and more usage of lights. The opener song "In the Flesh" showed some familiar iconography from The Wall concerts and movie. Waters was immediately theatrical, pointing his finger at people in the audience whom he suspected of being "riffraff". The band leapt next into "The Happiest Days of Our Lives" and "Another Brick in the Wall Part 2", with the audience, of course, supplying all the chants of "We don't need no education". An nicely understated version of "Mother" followed, with a gentle acoustic guitar and a woman singing the mother's parts.
The following medley, "Get Your Filthy Hands of My Desert/Southampton Dock", was something of a disappointment. Not that the song wasn't performed well; I just think that the band would do well to experiment with versions of "The Gunner's Dream", "The Fletcher Memorial Home", or even "Two Suns in the Sunset" from The Final Cut. On the other hand, I was glad that they kept "Dogs" (after a short version of "Pigs on the Wing"), which I consider far and away to be the best song on Animals. "Dogs" showcased how talented the guitarists in the band really are, possibly making even the most ardent supporter of Pink Floyd reunification forget the name of David Gilmour. This was not the case last year, when the lead guitar failed to live up to Gilmour's trademark solos, at least on "Dogs" and "Money". This year's "Dogs" also marked the first noticeable use of "quadraphonic" sound and the light show.
After a solid "Welcome to the Machine", the timeless "Wish You Were Here" was played. The acoustic parts were a little clipped at the beginning, but the band hit its stride and added a little flavor with an electric solo in the middle of the song. Perhaps the highlight was next: "Shine On You Crazy Diamond". The version ties in most of parts I-IV with parts VI-VIII, making the song, if not complete, at least a musical odyssey in itself. How rare it is to go to a rock concert nowadays and hear music from one song sustained for fifteen minutes!
The effects on the screen were as inventive as the music. Starting with a simple background of moving blobs of multi-colored light (like you might see in array of lava lamps), an image of Syd Barrett was then superimposed upon the blobs. As his image gradually changed, zooming in on his eyes, you could actually see bits of the blobs moving down from his eyes like tears. A very eerie effect. In the later parts of the song, the special effects crew borrowed from Marvel comics, putting images of the Silver Surfer up in the cosmos. I half expected the guitarists to break out into a Joe Satriani riff. Finally, the song ended with the unveiling of the "diamond"; in this case, a massive ball that cast white spotlights out into the audience--definitely the best effect of the night.
After a break, the band came back with a surprise from the early days: "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun". This was the best version of that song that I have ever heard. Some great guitar and saxophone was added to the song in the middle. The backdrop images were also notable here--photographs of the band in the early days--Roger, Syd Barrett, Rick Wright, Nick Mason. I still can vividly see the images of the young Waters alone in a meadow, falling down into a sea of grass, a silly smile plastered on his face. The photos, a wistful recollection of days long gone, added some perspective on how much Waters has been through and accomplished over the years. A real touch of class, which could only have been done today, in Waters' mellower middle age.
The band launched into classics from The Dark Side of the Moon: "Breathe", "Time", and "Money". "Time" was a brilliant standout, with an absolutely unbelievable drums solo at the beginning. On "Money" we were again treated to fabulous guitars. I was hoping for a version of "Us and Them", but I guess that they can't do every song in the Floyd canon in one night.
The Waters solo material was exceptionally well chosen, with one song from The Pros and Cons of Hitchhiking, nothing from Radio Kaos, and a lot of songs from Amused to Death. "Every Stranger's Eyes" represents Waters at his best, a universal song about the rare moments in our lives when we see everything clearly. This year, he appeared to be using the song in a slightly political way by flashing pictures of American Indians on the screen as the music progressed.
The stuff from Amused To Death has come a long way from the album, gaining in force and depth. The somewhat weak beginning to "Perfect Sense Part 1" on the album--the slow piano chords--was immeasurably strengthened by adding more instruments to make the sound more complex. "Perfect Sense Part 2" is carried to musical extremes, appropriate for a song that compares war with spectator sports. There was something very strange about hearing Marv Albert's voice in a rock concert in MSG, with the Knicks nowhere to be found. "The Bravery of Being Out of Range" was tasteful and competent, though it's never been my favorite Waters song.
"It's a Miracle", on the other hand, was majestic. The song is one of Waters' harshest criticisms of the human race's shortcomings, while remaining beautiful to listen to. The audience was enveloped in light during the soaring guitar part at the end of the song, rivaling the end of "Shine on You Crazy Diamond" for sheer effect. "Amused to Death" closed the series of songs from the album. On the screen, a monkey imagined "Western women" coming out of the TV screen to dance in front of him, and ended with a shot of Bill Hubbard's memorial plaque. It's too bad that Waters never did an actual tour for Amused to Death. It would have been great to see the album performed in its entirety, along with big TV screens up for songs like "What God Wants" and "Watching TV".
The band ended with "Brain Damage", "Eclipse", and a stunning encore of "Comfortably Numb". But the best was saved for last; a new song entitled "Each Small Candle", which immediately grabs you. The lyrics were shown up on the screen, along with an image of barbed wire and a candle. The song takes Waters' longtime obsession with war to a new level. Inspired by a true story of a solider in war-torn Kosovo, it offers the hope that there are people that will do good things in trying times.
My wish (set) list for the next concert:
From: Ys
After years of silence, a comitted listener learned that R.W. actually was
putting on a show, but appearantly only in the states.
Well, if mohammad won't come to the mountain... But it wasn't all that easy with the american ticket office, who couldn't manage to proces a credit card deal by phone. After a long tiresome tug of war, the solution seemed to turn to more desperate meassures. So a travel agency came into the picture, as they had a contact in NY. And what a nice one! This 74 old dutchman pulled some strings within the MTV-network and whamo I got a ticket!!
I won't bore the patient reader with the amateurish details of my loitering life in NY in the days up to the concert, but just mention that standing outside the Madison Sq. Garden at 19:30 on the 7/11. As I hadn't really investigated in anything, but how to get there, excitement was growing to a pitch of expectation, blended with fears : would he play any of the old stuff or only the solo material (from the name of the tour it seemed unlikely, but he might just pull one of his indifference-stunts), was the band up to it, what would the show consist of ect.
Well, needles to say my worries was all turned into a fever of thrill when the man kicked the garden. From the opening act - in the flesh part 2 ofcourse and onwise, there was the magic of the pink floyd days, combined with newfound inspiration and strengths creating that live- experience where You feel part of the session.
There was nostalgia - the slideshow from welcome to the machine, the variety of what R.W. has done - even if You thought he might've included something from the Radio KAOS album, like a song called the Powers That Be or a litle more of the early stuff, the special performance of Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun, brought out the energy of that song to a lot fuller extend in the live arrangement - good job AND the fine meassure of the newest material - from the Amused to Death, with a personal favotite The Bravery of Being Out of Range and ofcourse the title song. Not to forget the richness and gratifying emotion that came from the Shine On You Crazy Diamond, not the commercial semi-revivaled hype the rest of Pink Floyd made it into on there Divison Bell tour, this was the real thing, true to the bone, where the longing and defiance waved into mind and soul. One thing he could've spared us, was the prolonged would-be hypnotic chant Dogs from the Animals album, I always thought the song Pigs 3 Different Ones, was the only excuse to release this record label demand, it never really seemed to come from within.
But overall it was a spiritlifting and musically well managed time travel, where the genius of Waters and the respect of his former co-artist came into a fusion of positive drive. As I remember reading in a review - it truely felt like a celebration, of the magnificient tunes, the wellthought lyric and the enligthening mission Waters has embraced.
The extras was the natural choice - even if Waters had played some of The Wall (anything left out could arguably be considered an omission), Confortably Numb was a must and Each Small Candle is something that could grow on You in time. A key to the kick ass developement of the concert, was the band members all pulled, it wasn't simply a Roger Waters tonight show, but a joint venture of excellent musicians, which also gave the feeling of letting You in.
To all who have the slightest notion of what Roger Waters is about, well there's
no getting around this - go, enjoy and feel loved.
sincerly Ys
PRP
