Roger Waters Dark Side of the Moon World Tour 2007 - Tampa
May 31 '07 (Updated Jun 07 '07)
The Bottom Line This was by far the best concert I have seen to date. If you like either Roger Waters or Pink Floyd you need to catch this tour.
I can’t say I’m the world’s greatest Pink Floyd fan but they were one of my favorite bands back in my high school days and I still enjoy many of the old classics to this day. I lost a little interest after the break up and for some reason never followed Roger Waters’ solo career.
A good friend of mine, who is a huge Floyd fan and an even bigger Roger Waters fan, called me a few months ago and told me Roger would be coming to Tampa as part of the US leg of his world tour. Having never seen Waters perform live, nor Floyd for that matter, I jumped at the chance to see the show. My friend suggested I get Waters’ album ‘Amused to Death’ to acquaint myself with Waters solo work, which I did. Well by the time the date for the show was arriving I was fully pumped up having listened to two solo albums and having re-listened to ‘Dark Side of the Moon.’
The show was fantastic and I can now say my appreciation of Waters and his impact on Floyd has grown tremendously.
Preface
Many people who started listening to Pink Floyd in the mid-80s or later think of the band as being David Gilmour’s work. The last ‘Pink Floyd’ tours were all Gilmour as were the last two albums. I never really read much about the dynamics of the band and who contributed what. Yes, I knew that Syd Barrett was the original lead singer who had a breakdown and was later remembered in the album ‘Wish You Were Here.’ And yes, I knew that Waters and Gilmour were two of the biggest faces during the band’s heyday in the 70’s. What I didn’t realize was how much of what we think of as Floyd is really Roger Waters.
Besides being one of the four founders of the group, Waters ended up writing the vast majority of the lyrics and much of the music for the period between Syd’s leaving the group and the breakup in 1985. Without Waters’ influence Floyd would not have been Floyd. And listening to his solo work it becomes readily apparent that Roger is Floyd.
The Venue
The May 19th, 2007 tour stop in Tampa was held at the Ford Amphitheater which is located adjacent to the Florida State Fairgrounds. The amphitheater itself is a shed style enclosure with 9,500 reserved seats under the shed roof. In addition they have a lawn area that holds another 10,000. Compared to stadiums the venue offers a pretty decent view from almost any spot. Circling the amphitheater are the concessions, which were pretty impressive. I’m not sure if the products sold varies at all depending on the show, but for Roger there was everything from a full bar to a number of kiosks selling both domestic and imported beer by the can or plastic bottle. The food available was also kind of impressive. I have come to expect hamburgers and pizza as concert grub, but the variety here was much greater.
Our seats were in section 201, which is the third section back from the stage on the left hand side. Our seats were very good as we were in the front of our section and right at the end abutting the middle VIP box section. As concerts go this was by far the most expensive that I’ve attended. Our seats were about $160/each with tax & handling fee. I can only imagine what the front row tickets must have been going for. In contrast seats in the front section for the upcoming Rush concert are only $85 before tax & handling. I guess Roger is a slightly bigger pull than Rush.
The Concert
As we sat down before the show we noticed what looked like a giant jumbotron screen at the back of the stage with a seemingly static picture of an old radio and a model airplane. It looked like a teenager’s room from the 40’s or 50’s. To either side of the stage were large movie theater type screens that were blank prior to the start of the show. Rather than have a warm up band, I guess those days are pretty much gone, there was a mix of recorded music playing over the sound system while the roadies took care of last minute tweaks to the equipment.
I noticed at one point that I could see smoke slowly rising up in the not so static picture at the back of the stage. I pointed this out to the other people in our group and we wondered what it was all about. The music transitioned into some very old tunes I guess might have been from the 50’s. This went on for a few minutes and then a giant hand appeared on the screen and reached up to change the station on the old style radio. With the station change the music we were hearing also changed. It was a very cool effect and one that drew everyone’s attention to the stage.
The giant hand kept changing stations in between sips of what looked like whiskey and puffs of an unseen cigarette. The music was mostly 50’s and early 60’s stuff with the odd and thankfully brief insertion of ‘Dancing Queen.’ Then with the final station change the opening chords of ‘In The Flesh’ from ‘The Wall’ the concert had begun. “So you thought you might like to, go to the show.”
The First Set
The first set contained a mix of Floyd tunes with a couple Roger solo songs. When Roger stepped onstage during ‘In The Flesh’ the crowd roared and we were all treated to the beginning of the special effects that were used brilliantly throughout the rest of the evening. A big flash of white light in front of the jumbotron announced it was on. Roger appeared on the screens on either side of the stage, looking very fit for a 63 year old. His voice sounded incredible and the playing of the band was absolutely spot on. What impressed me most of all was the fantastic singing of the backup singers, those women had some serious pipes.
The next song was ‘Mother’, also from ‘The Wall.’ This sounded equally great and the graphic of the marching hammers from ‘The Wall’ looked really cool up on the jumbotron. This was followed by a song that is more obscure to the average Floyd fan, ‘Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun’ from the equally obscure second album ‘A Saucer Full of Secrets.’ The audience never really got into this one and I could tell many had never heard the song before. The jumbotron sported psychedelic patterns that looked like those liquid projector shows from the 60’s. My personal opinion is that eliminating this song from the set list would be an improvement, especially for concert goers who aren’t into very early Floyd.
The next three songs are a few of my favorite Floyd tunes and were especially poignant because they ended up being a sort of tribute to the late Syd Barrett. All three songs were from the ‘Wish You Were Here’ album and during the songs pictures and videos of Syd were displayed in the background on the jumbotron. The first was ‘Shine On You Crazy Diamond, parts II - V’ which was written specifically about Syd. By focusing on just four parts on the nine part medley I think Roger did a great job of giving the audience the spirit and sound of the song without dragging it out. This was followed by ‘Have a Cigar’ which although not specifically about Syd was book marked between the first song and the final song of the tribute ‘Wish You Were Here.’ ‘Wish You Were Here’ has always been one of my favorite Floyd songs in part because of the meaning of the song but also due to the music. I’ll give credit to Gilmour on this song for having much to do with its sound.
After the Syd tribute came two cuts from the last album before the split, ‘The Final Cut.’ This is considered by some people to be Roger’s first solo album because it is entirely his writing. I own the album but haven’t listened to it a whole lot and am less familiar with the songs. The band played ‘Southhampton Dock’ and ‘The Fletcher Memorial Home’ both of which were very much appreciated by my friend the Roger fanatic. I thought they sounded great and it made me think I need to dust off this old album and give it a listen again.
Two songs from Roger’s solo years followed including one song that has become my favorite post Floyd Roger Waters’ song, ‘Perfect Sense.’ ‘Perfect Sense’ is a two part song that features an incredible female solo performed by backup singer P.P. Arnold. She gave the original solo vocals to the song on the 1992 album ‘Amused to Death’ and has toured with Roger previously during his ‘In the Flesh’ tour in 1999 and 2000. Her voice is very powerful with the depth of the gospel singer she once was. The thing that most amazes me is that she is 60 and can easily out sing many singers a third her age. There are samples of her solo performance on youtube but the sound quality of her booming voice in the files doesn’t remotely represent what she is like live. Another part of what makes this song so cool is the CGI video they show on the jumbotron of a stadium filled with water and an oil platform and a submarine getting ready to destroy it to the applause of spectators. As the sub fires its torpedo and the torpedo strikes the platform an explosion of impressive pyrotechnics blasts into the air in front of the jumbotron.
The second song from the solo years is one that has only been released as a single in Japan and does not appear anywhere else. ‘Leaving Beirut’ is ostensibly a song about Waters’ hitchhiking trek across Lebanon back when he was around 19. What he has done with the song is to bring the subject matter up to date with the current conflict in the Middle East and to target those he feels are responsible, namely Bush and Blair. Roger is a very political guy and has no love whatsoever of most governments, particularly the current leadership here and in the UK. This did not go over so well with some members of the audience and was applauded with raised fists by others. I merely sat back and enjoyed the story telling that takes place in the song to the accompaniment of an illustrative cartoon that appears on the jumbotron in the background.
The last song of the first set was ‘Sheep’ from the ‘Animals’ album, which is my least favorite due to my irritation with all the animal sound effects. I enjoyed this rendition though as they made fantastic use of speakers placed around the perimeter of the amphitheater to create a surround sound effect. Also cool was the famous Pink Floyd giant inflatable pig that was paraded over the audience’s heads. All over the pig were scrawled political comments that probably irked the same people who booed ‘Leaving Beirut.’ The funniest moment of the whole show occurred when the pig became entangled in the rigging for one of the speakers in the rear of the amphitheater. It stayed there for the remainder of the show.
The Second Set
Before leaving the stage a very tired looking Roger announced they would be taking a fifteen minute break. We were all pretty amazed when in exactly fifteen minutes they returned to the stage. Talk about stamina. At 63 I bet Roger can outperform quite a few 20-something musicians.
The second set consisted of the entire ‘Dark Side of the Moon’ album and was simply brilliant. The crowd really got worked up for these songs and I guess many of them had come just for this. I won’t go over all the songs from the album but suffice to say it was pretty incredible to hear the entire album performed live.
One highlight was the solo sax performance by Ian Ritchie during ‘Money,’which just screamed. The guy is an amazing sax player and he really nailed the solo to thunderous applause from the audience. Another moment that blew everyone in the audience away was the solo by Carol Kenyon in ‘The Great Gig in the Sky.’ If you know the song you know the wailing female solo originally created by Clare Torry. Kenyon performed this part equally as well as the original and again had the audience giving out a loud round of applause.
The Encore
After stepping off stage after the second set the band returned, as expected, for the encore. The encore set contains five songs from the album ‘The Wall,’ of which the final song is my, as well as many other people’s, favorite Floyd tune, ‘Comfortably Numb.’ All the songs were great and the accompanying graphics on the jumbotron were all ‘The Wall’ inspired. When they got to ‘Comfortably Numb’ this changed as the image reverted back to the old style radio and the model airplane. But this time the camera pans back and we see it is the bedroom of the owner of the giant hand. In a kind of coming full circle ending we now see this guy becoming comfortably numb and the concert ends.
The Musicians
A huge part of the reason this show is so great is the group of musicians Roger has assembled. Many are names with which most people are unfamiliar but many have not only backed Roger before, some going back to Floyd days, but also have been part of other great bands or tours.
Snowy White is a fantastic guitarist who played with Thin Lizzy as well as Pink Floyd as long ago as 1977. He showed off his chops very well during several solo spots during the second set.
Dave Kilminster provided much of the lead guitar playing as well as the vocal parts that been had done by Gilmour on the Floyd tunes. His playing and singing were both brilliant.
Andy Fairweather-Low contributed on the guitar and vocally and has an impressive resume having worked with a number of famous bands and even appearing on The Who’s album ‘Who Are You.’
Waters own son Harry Waters played the keyboard for the band and did so with great skill. He has a jazz group which includes Ian Ritchie whose sax playing was simply outstanding throughout the concert.
The trio that most impressed me were the three backup singers, Katie Kissoon, Carol Kenyon, and P.P. Arnold. Their voices were just outstanding and like the musicians each got a moment to shine during the vocal solos.
My Final Thoughts
I’ve never been a huge concert follower. I always liked smaller venues like clubs rather than big concert hall and stadiums. I’ve seen Clapton, Pearl Jam, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and even the Grateful Dead among several other concert tours, but I never was a person who checked the schedules to see which act was coming to town.
Well this concert absolutely blew me away. The musicianship combined with the incredible stage show and special effects were far beyond anything I had seen in the past. In a way it was almost overwhelming. There was just so much to see and hear that I processed a lot of it after the fact. And no I was not in an altered state of reality, having had just one beer and a very weak margarita. It was just that good.
Just to give you an example, picture a song from ‘Dark Side of the Moon’ and imagine a very cool graphic appearing on the jumbotron behind the musicians at the same time that close up shots of the musicians are appearing on the big screens on either side of the stage. Now add to that the surround sound effect of the multiple speakers surrounding the audience and the visual effect of the giant ‘Dark Side of the Moon’ prism appearing above the stage. You’re getting hit by about half a dozen visual effects at the same time that you have multiple audio effects. It was sort of an all encompassing effect that made you experience the music, not just listen. Contrast this with Pearl Jam who I saw in the old Boston Garden back in 1994. Sure they had some special effects but the concert focus was really on the musicians. With the ‘Dark Side of the Moon’ tour it was a total experience.
If you are either a Pink Floyd or Roger Waters fan I can’t recommend more highly that you catch one of the remaining tour dates if you can.
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Member: Rob
Location: Tampa by way of Boston
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Writing Food Reviews Killed My Interest in Writing.
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