From: David Kimmel
Thanks for your excellent coverage of Water's current activities. I am writing to provide an accurate setlist and a brief account of the In
the Flesh show which I attended in Tampa on Friday, June 2.
I saw the show last summer in Atlanta and thought the Tampa perfomance was comparable. The songs were performed as before almost to the note, with the only changes being in the setlist. The revised setlist flows more evenly, and the indoor venue condensed the sound and visual effects, making the experience much more powerful. Set the Controls was very high energy (as opposed to spacey or ambient) and reminiscent of Shine On. This made it an exfcellent way to start the second set, placing the audience atmosphere right back where it was before the break.
Waters post-Floyd originals sounded more thoroughly rehearsed and energetic this time around. As a result, I felt that the newer material meshed with the classic numbers extremely well. The extra backup vocalist (Isn't that Andy's wife?) really adds to numbers like What God Wants.
As before, he was very happy to be on the stage and seemed genuinely moved by the audience response. This show is an arena rock monument, and will be a phenomenal event at venues like Madison Square Garden.
The setlist was as follows:
Set I:
Set II:
Encore:
by james hulett
I saw Waters last night in Tampa. Incredible set selection, excellent
sound and mixing (employed the quadraphonic speakers suspended from all
four corners of the arena ceiling) and brilliant, but simple effects. The
stage was relatively simple with a plain white backdrop running the stage
length to ceiling which images of all sorts were projected by two cameras
from back of the arena.
The set ranged from Floydian classics to some very esoteric solo material. The set (from what I can recall) was as follows:
For me, to see "Dogs" live was one of the highlights. They did the song in it's entirety and it held true to form. When they got to the middle of the song (the dreary synth sound), Waters and his band mates were playing cards at a table while the keyboardist created a layer of mind-bending sounds amid purple lights, lasers and smoke. Sound effects created the illusion that dogs were barking behind the audience.
From what I've read regarding old Floyd concerts, it seems that some old equipment was taken out of storage and "dusted off". This includes the disco ball diamond contraption (used on "Shine On") that projected pencil-thin lines of light over the audience, old Floydian images (Battersea Station with pig), the quad speakers and even a old pshycodelic image projector (I don't know what it is called, but it projected bubbles of oil in water). Very simple stuff but highly effective.
The band is tight and Waters actually seemed to be enjoying himself. He had a smile on his face! I was shocked to see Water acknowledge the audience. At on point he actually walk to the end of the stage to the cheers of the audience.
When I saw Waters in 1984 for the Pro
and Cons tour, the show seemed more choreographed, and Waters was very
dour. However, this show could not have been any better and is a
Floyd/Waters fans dream. I'm curious if he continues to keep the same
songs in his set. Adding "Sheep" would not be bad.
From: Dan
Great show!
The first time I saw Roger was on the Radio Kaos Tour. Then after years of waiting I had the pleasure of seeing Roger Waters again last year in Baltimore. Both times that I have seen him he has been stellar. I'm happy to report that the third time did not disappoint either! It's great to see the man in action. I think that someone on the web site made the following statement which I believe truly captures Roger's show. "Roger has always been about the music first and effects 2nd." Or it was something like that. The stage is very plain except for the images slowly floating across it and the huge backdrop. The sound was great! There were slight (very slight - only a geek [loser] like me would pick it out) technical errors with the sound.
The show in Tampa was very similar to the one in Baltimore with regards to the stage and set selection (some variations!). He also added one of those cool psychedelic bubble light shows! Nice effect.
The set list was as follows:
--INTERMISSION--
ENCORE --
During Wish You Were Here, Roger's voice started to have some trouble. On Shine On You Crazy Diamond, he dropped out a couple of times to get his voice set for the next attack. The rest of the band helped him and backed him up. As you know the show must go on! During the intermission, I thought that it might be a long night for him to continue. I thought the troubles might continue. I WAS WRONG!!! Maybe he just swallowed some saliva down the wrong tube or something like that and he needed a minute to regain his voice which he wasn't able to do coming out of WYWH. In any case, he came out and kicked ASS!!
They came out and blew my mind with Set the Controls... WOW! What a great version! Surprised the hell out of me and everyone around! It's great to hear the "old" stuff live! Roger's voice showed no signs of giving out at all in the second set!
His solo music is so powerful. Every lyric has so much meaning. Perfect Sense gave me chills. Toward the end of the song, Roger walked to the edge of the stage and got the entire audience involved with the "Global Anthem." He was waving his arms pleading with us to see "that it all makes perfect sense." There are songs when Roger shows so much emotion, so much passion - this is one of them. The guy next to me asked what the song was and where he could get it. I happily informed him.
Comfortably Numb was great with the two guitarist switching off leads. Those two feed off of each other very well. Roger finished with Every Small Candle. Before playing it he thanked the audience for the warm welcome and appreciation. He then told the story of how the song Every Small Candle came about. The back screen was emblazened with the lyrics as he sang them. Such a powerful performance.
The only complaint that I could come up with is that he could have played so much more! But his show was already topping out at around 3 hours! And that seemed to fly by!
The band was terrific!
Do Not Miss This Show! I am going to see him again on this tour for sure! My review can't do justice to two of the best concerts (Baltimore and Tampa) I have seen!
Thanks for the opportunity to share
