Photo by Steve Snowden
From: Big Ben
First, the obligatory "Roger is a god", "Roger has been the biggest musical
influence on me", and "I'm a Waters die-hard" comments. This goes without
saying.
I saw the Albany, NY show from the 1st row (left side) and the Madison Square Garden show last night from a luxury box (left side). Both shows were amazing, and the first show left me with moments that were as powerful as any I've ever witnessed.
By far, the best moment from BOTH concerts for me was when Roger performed "Perfect Sense, Part II". (And Part I for that matter). He had cancelled his Syracuse, NY date so the Albany date provided for some prime seats for those who intended to go to Syracuse. What made it so special was the fact that Roger constantly came to the side of the stage to "acknowledge" that he had cancelled the date and to nod his approval that we were there. (We were going to Albany anyways). With me and my brother screeching the lyrics to Part II, Roger came right over, pointed to us and nodded as a small group of us belted out three lines with Roger in full smile. It was amazing, and I still get goosebumps thinking of that moment. It was one I'll never, ever forget.
To give a brief synopsis from both shows, the ony difference between last night and a few months ago was the addition of a new song last night (to end the show) and the ommision of "What God Wants, Part 1. He added a few Floyd tunes to his MSG date that weren't in the Albany show, but no additional solo stuff. He also had a saxophonist last night, and none in Albany. (Yes, I was PRAYING for "Go Fishing" in the worst way...didn't happen.)
On a scale of 1 to 10, although this is a bit too crude of a method to express joy, I gave both dates a 9.5. My perfect concert would be PROS & CONS and AMUSED TO DEATH in it's entirety, so my only, only, only problem is the fact that Roger must play the classic Floyd tunes to appease the 80% of the audience who is ignorant to the magic of his solo albums. I love the Floyd stuff, obviously, but... you know the rest. His solo stuff is just perfection to me, pure outpouring of genius.
Anyway, Roger curtain call was a new song, and it was GREAT. I'll leave you with a line from that....
"An old babuska lady held a newborn baby in her arms"....
From: Mac (feetbeater)
Hi...
I saw Waters last year in holmdel NJ, and again at Madison Square
Garden last night...what a show...damn! ...I'm still shaking and the
voice is gone...
My friend and I are taking a road trip to the show in Providence, which
is now the closing show of the tour!
Never been to providence... leaving sunday morning.
Is there any info on where people are meeting? Or any info at all?
From: JEFF JOHNSON
Well, first of all let me say that is was well worth waiting for. But I knew it
would be. The second
show last night at Madison Square Garden was excellent on all accounts. Great
sound, great music, great
musicians, great fans-except the two a-holes next to me, who insisted on talking
OVER the music for an
hour. If you sat in sec. 311 row C, you know who you are. I was a little surprised
at the lack of
excitement or buzz if you will, from the crowd before ShowTime. Then again, three
quarters of you dicks
weren't in your seats by 8:00. Once the lights went out all was forgotten. My view
was ok, about the
twenty yard line, closest to the stage.
The sound was very good, loud and clean, great bass too. The setlist was what I had read on the internet, but it didn't matter if you knew what was coming. Completely enjoyed by all.
Too bad Roger used still projectors. On the Radio Kaos tour the video was stunning. The rear or surround effects were very cool too. I wasn't able to determine what movie played on the T.V. during the first half of the show (anybody know?), but for the second set the very appropriate 2001 was easy to see.
One thing to comment on here is the same observations others have had. When Roger & co. kicked into solo material mode, the building got noticeably more talky, and many poured out to the refreshments/bathrooms. I for one love to hearother material. It's all so well written. Do these people want to hear 20 year old songs all night? Not me. When "It's A Miracle" & "Amused To Death" were played I was in heaven. One more note. The trio of young ladies that backup Roger are superb!
I hope this was not the last time Roger Waters tours. But sadly as he departed the
stage after Each Small
Candle, That was my first thought. Thank you Roger.
From: Jeff Nilsson
Well, I must say that my faith in Roger'sNew York fans has been raised a bit. My
review of the July 11 show at Madison Square Garden included a major complaint
regarding how
the audience had a hard time "embracing" Roger's solo work, specifically the
Amused to Death section. It was so annoying to me that I actually felt embarassed
as I left the arena
that evening... (and thanks to all of you who read the review and wrote back with
your own views on the "fan" subject, I enjoyed hearing from you).
But Thursday's show proved that not everyone who wanted to see the show was a half-witted Pink Floyd Fan Wannabee looking to score a few points with his peers by saying he saw "Roger" without knowing what the whole experience could encompass. The crowd did an exceptional job at welcoming (or more appropriately, bidding farewell to) an exceptional artist/performer in the true New York tradition.
My wife and I could not have timed our arrival better. Not a half second after we sat in our seat, the house lights went down... and the crowd rose to the occassion. Suffice it to say, the performance was a reflection of the crowd's excitement and we were very glad to have been there for it.
The only changes in the performance from Tuesday's show was:
1) a bit more feedback than normal from the engineer, especially during Shine On when the bass volume rose to an almost ear-shattering level.
2) Snowy's solos were much cleaner... a bit more subdued but very powerful.
3) Andy's solo on Money was still too loud (compared to the relative level of the main stereo mix) but at least it was less noisy and "chaotic".
4) The big change came as Roger ended the bands introduction. The applause was so powerful that he had to laugh a bit and stop talking while we all cheered. He announced that "at the end of this next song, something special is going to happen...." saying that since the tour was almost over, the entire road crew was going to come onstage for the final bows since he felt that they did such an outstanding job with the tour. So Comfortably Numb came and went perfectly and as the lights went out and came back up, the stage began to fill with people, most of them standing up on the back riser. Roger handed out bouquets of flowers to the ladies in the crew, Mel Collins came out and they took their bows.
Each Small Candle drew everyone's attention and the place lit up like a Christmas
tree as everyone pulled out their lighters and each lit their respective corners
of the dark... and
Roger left NYC again... with an extra "Thank You" to us all... and a smile.
Roger, we were all smiling with you.
From: John G.
Hi Reg...I was in attendance at Roger's "In The Flesh" concerts both at the
PNC Arts Center in Holmdel NJ on 8/6/99 and again at Madison Square Garden on
7/11/00. The PNC concert was the first time I ever saw Roger perform live
and, despite the venue (PNC is not very fan friendly and the acoustics are
horrible), I went home swearing it was the best show I ever saw.
I was so pumped to get tickets again when the MSG dates were announced. Naturally, I was really geared up for my second Waters experience. But as I walked into the Garden, I began to wonder if I was just building myself up for a big letdown.
As it turned out, the Garden show was even more fabulous. I havn't the superlatives to describe it. When the show opened with "In The Flesh", the opening chords just ran chills thru me. I'm not a very emotional guy, but there were points in the show where I had tears of joy just running down my face! (I havn't experienced that since the Rangers won the Stanley Cup! lol).
Doyle Bramhall and Snowy White were simply awesome...especially on
Comfortably Numb.
I can only hope and pray he plans more tours in the future!
From: Jonathan Levy
While I am a huge Waters fan, and an even bigger Pink Floyd fan, there was alot
of negative vibes running through Madison Square Gardens on July 13.
First of all, I have seen Roger about 8 times, and this was the first time seeing him in an arena. The outdoor shows are MUCH better. I almost laughed when the Dogs started barking at MSG, it was puny compared to surround sound at an outdoor venue, where you feel that the Dogs are in the venue with you!
Furthermore, MSG's security was strict about the no smoking rule, and there was a rodent looking security guard who patrolled our area for the first hour (!) of the show, giving people warnings. I didn't even get that in high school! We ended up toking and smoking between our legs. How enjoyable.
BUT Roger was amazing, in all respects. His solo stuff was beautiful, his Floyd stuff was superb and his stage antics were hilarious. I only wish his tour would last longer!
From: drb
I went to MSG on July 13. Great but the sound was messed up a little on some
songs. What annoyed me was the people (20,000 out of 22,000)
talking loudly during the ATD stuff. I could not hear the lyrics on the solo
stuff. People can be rude. Nice venue for concerts though. Lots of neat
friendly people. Roger is just unparalleled in terms of lyrics, music, style,
etc..
From: Simon Gibbons"
Hi - just a few words about the concert at MSG New York on the 13th.
I am British but live and work in Moscow with my wife who is Russian. I have actually seen Roger Waters perform during the Wall concerts at Earls Court London back in 80/81 and also his first solo concerts TPACOHH in Birmingham UK.
Being a fan from the age of 15 (now 38) and wife never having seen the Floyd or Roger perform solo we travelled from Moscow especially for the concert..... hey its only 10 hours via Aeroflot !
As you may imagine my wife who has never travelled outside Russia before was blown out by the venue and obviously the concert.
We actually arrive at JFK at 2pm and the concert started at 8pm - down to the wire !!!
Luckily we had second row tickets ( usd 450 each via the internet) so the experience was even more astounding.
I have to say that from the first to the last it was the most brilliant concert I have ever seen - no lasers and smoke bombs made it all the better - just classic compositions one after the other - brilliantly played and delivered my the master himself.
My only slight worry (if that the right word) is that Roger seems honour bound to play a lot of his Floyd compositions (which we enjoyed 100%) rather than concentrating on his solo stuff which to my mind is just as good if not better that anything pre 1982.
For me personally it was like seeing an old friend and I would just like to say to Roger (who knows he might even see this email) "THANK YOU"
Just one last comment - if anyone reading this knows the answer please let me know - are there any plans for the tour to arrive in Europe ? - reckon if Roger played in Moscow it would be just brilliant - as far as I know he has never played in Russia and he is so popular here its unbelievable.
Cheers
Simon & Natalia
From: Eric Feldman"
Howdy:
I attended the MSG july 13th review, my second Waters concert. I am a
tremendous fan, and the night certainly didn't let me down. Everyone was
much nicer than I had expected (I am a native New Yorker), and Roger was in
superb form.
Everyone else has done a wonderful job of describing how wonderful the show was (I note that there are far fewer people who were disappointed with this show, than in the flesh 1999...), so I'll get to my questions. towards the end of the show, Roger said that he had felt that special connection with us. I was wondering which other shows he had said this at? and the most important question... when will there be more!
Thanks, Roger!
