Set 1: 1. In The Flesh 2. The Happiest Days Of Our Lives 3. Another Brick In The Wall (Part 2) 4. Mother 5. Get Your Filthy Hands Off My Desert 6. Southampton Dock 7. Pigs On The Wing (Part 1) 8. Dogs 9. Welcome To The Machine 10. Wish You Were Here 11. Shine On You Crazy Diamond
Set 2: 1. Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun 2. Speak To Me 3. Breathe 4. Time (Breathe Reprise) 5. Money 6. Every Stranger’s Eyes 7. Perfect Sense (Parts 1 & 2) 8. The Bravery Of Being Out Of Range 9. It’s A Miracle 10. Amused To Death 11. Brain Damage 12. Eclipse 13. Comfortably Numb
Encore: 14. Each Small Candle
Thanks to Michelle Dunbar
The Happiest Days Of Our Lives
Review
Since there have been so many reviews of Roger Waters concerts from both this summer and last, I will simply present some highlights of the show.
Because this concert was outdoors, the lighting and overall atmosphere wasn’t as effective as the indoor concert I witnessed last summer in Columbus. However, the music was a little better this time around with a few new additions to the lineup as well as some fine tuning on a few of the songs.
Another Brick In The Wall (Part 2) was revamped from the original album version. After the lengthy guitar solo, the chorus came back in with the song ending on it. Pretty catchy.
One song from The Final Cut I never would have dreamed Roger would have played was Get Your Filthy Hands Off My Desert because it is really the only one I don’t care for on that album. It sounded pretty good though! Roger sang the line, “Maggie, what have we done” right before going to Southampton Dock. After the Final Cut tunes, I was really yearning for more from that album, such as The Gunner’s Dream or the title track itself. No such luck, though.
Again, Welcome To The Machine was one of the best songs played. The Q-Sound was especially evident here, as you could hear the beginning keyboard effects from behind you. The best addition to this song is the incorporated drum track, giving the song newfound energy and life.
Wish You Were Here was good as well. Similar to how Roger finished Another Brick In The Wall (Part 2), he changed the end of this song in similar fashion, bringing the chorus back in one last time. Ironically enough, upon strumming the last chord, Roger yearned “And how I wish they were here.” Note the word “they” and not “you” or “he”. I took that as an unexpected,but positive hint.
Shine On You Crazy Diamond sounded excellent. What was cool is how they mixed the many parts of the song together. Parts I-IV went according to plan, then they went into parts V-VII and finished a little differently than on the album. Well done.
Set 2 opened up with Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun, which I had never heard before, but was impressed. It had a real Egyptian/Western sound to it, but was very cool, and was a good opening song to open Set 2 with.
The beginning of Time was one of the highlights of the evening. During the beginning of the song, drummer Graham Broad fired off a rapid percussion chain that improved upon the original. He got a deserving round of applause for his playing.
During the middle of Money, Andy Fairweather-Low, who had been in the background most of the evening, suddenly thrust into the spotlight and aggressively strummed some catchy chords without a guitar pick. It really got the crowd going… Money also ended different than on the album version – again catchy.
Perhaps the most magical moment of the night was during Perfect Sense. When Roger repeated the phrase “It all makes perfect sense” for the 2nd time through, the whole crowd was singing and gesturing along with him while flooded in white light. One of those images that sticks out in my mind.
I was impressed with The Bravery Of Being Out Of Range, which I had never heard previously, but sounded pretty good.
The recent speculation about the lyrics from Amused To Death being in reference to the current Floyd was (possibly) voided when the stage backdrop presented several images of what appeared to be the Vietnam War Memorial. At the end of the song, the backdrop showed a headstone for William Hubbard, mentioning a London military group at the bottom.
After Eclipse, Roger thanked the crowd for coming out and mentioned that he felt a special connection with the audience. Then they proceeded to play Comfortably Numb, which sounded great. The dual guitar solos at the end were cool, but not quite as catchy as Gilmour’s original one.
Upon the end of Comfortably Numb, the performers gathered on stage and bowed a few times. They left the stage, and then came back about five minutes later for the encore of Each Small Candle. Having heard much about this song but never actually hearing it, I imagined it being pretty soft and slow. I must say it was harder-sounding than I would have imagined, but a very catchy and a great song with a great message. When I got home, I downloaded the original version from the last 1999 concert, and concluded that the current version has been revamped and sounds much better.
It was an excellent concert and I’m grateful Roger stopped back in Ohio. Can’t wait for the live album.
Thanks to Ken IceBandit0@aol.com