Roger Waters plays Dark Side of the Moon Hyde Park 1st July 2006
Hype Park Calling Festival 2006
Main Stage: Roger Waters (featuring special guest Nick Mason); Texas; Starsailor; Breaks Co-op; Chris Difford
Stage 2: The Lightning Seeds; Robert Cray; Suzanne Vega; Blackbud; Rocco DeLuca and the Burden
I booked a cheap hotel room online for David and I to stay in for this event. The room was not far from Marble Arch. We arrived at Kings Cross and tool the tube over to the hotel. When we arrived the guy on reception apologised and explained that there had been some mix-ups with bookings and that he was going to have to move us to another hotel nearby. He offered to drive us there, and took us through a maze of streets, where we arrived at a run-down seedy looking hotel. He took us to our room which was upstairs and left. As we looked around the room we realised how we had got the booking so cheap….the bathroom had no door and the beds were worn and scruffy. Still, we decided it was only going to be for one night, so we shrugged our shoulders and walked over to Hyde Park; we still weren’t far from the Marble Arch entrance to the event.
Hyde Park Calling was a new festival. Roger Waters headlined the Saturday night and the Who were doing the honours on the Sunday night. The supporting line-up was strong. I remember we watched and enjoyed Texas, and some of the Lightning Seeds.
The main event was Roger Waters who was playing Dark Side of the Moon in its entirety, along with Floyd buddy Nick Mason on drums. The show featured an elaborate stage design by Mark Fisher (who was behind the design of Pink Floyd’s The Wall shows), and included giant puppets, large video screen displays and a 360° quadraphonic sound system. Roger’s performance was divided into two sets: the first featured Pink Floyd material and songs from Roger’s solo career, and the second The Dark Side of the Moon in its entirety, plus encores. The songs were performed true to the recording, and the sound was crisp and clear from where we stood about half way back in the park. What better way to spend a summer evening than listening to the Floyd’s classic album. A guy in front of us was incredibly drunk, and insisted on singing all of the words to the songs right into our faces. Sometimes he would stop singing, hug us and tell us how great Pink Floyd were.
After the show we meandered back through the streets to our seedy hotel room. We were up early next morning and back on the train home.
Setlist. Set 1: In the Flesh; Mother; Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Parts I-V); Have a Cigar; Wish You Were Here; Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun; Southampton Dock; The Fletcher Memorial Home; Perfect Sense (Parts 1 and 2); Leaving Beirut; Sheep
Set 2 The Dark Side of the Moon, with Nick Mason: Speak to Me; Breathe; On the Run; Time; Breathe (Reprise); The Great Gig in the Sky; Money; Us and Them; Any Colour You Like; Brain Damage; Eclipse
Encore: The Happiest Days of Our Lives; Another Brick in the Wall Part 2; Vera; Bring the Boys Back Home; Comfortably Numb
Roger Waters band: Roger Waters (vocals, bass guitar and acoustic guitar), P.P. Arnold (backing vocals), Graham Broad (drums and percussion), Jon Carin (keyboards), Andy Fairweather-Low (guitar), Carol Kenyon (backing vocals and lead vocals on “The Great Gig in the Sky”), Dave Kilminster (guitar), Katie Kissoon (backing vocals), Ian Ritchie (saxophone), Harry Waters (Hammond organ, synthesiser, and Roger Waters’ son), and Snowy White (guitar).
Archive for the ‘Roger Waters’ Category
19 Feb
Roger Waters plays Dark Side of the Moon Hyde Park 1st July 2006
22 May
Roger Waters The Wall Manchester Arena 21 May 2011
Roger Waters The Wall Manchester Arena 21 May 2011
Just got up this morning. Still tired from driving back from Manchester from last night’s show, which was absolutely fantastic. This must be the most impressive show I have ever seen in terms of visuals and production. If you get a chance to go and see it; do so; you won’t regret it.
I should start by saying that I have never been a fan of (some of the music on) The Wall album. In fact, having see the Floyd tours in the 70s (including Meddle-era, Dark Side of the Moon, Wish You Were Here, Knebworth, Animals) I missed out on The Wall shows at Earls Court. I’d grown a little tired of their ever expanding stage shows, and I just didn’t get The Wall concept. I was also heavily into the punk/new wave ethos at that time, which probably influenced my decision to stay away. However over the years I’ve bitterly regretted missing those shows as, even though I still feel the album is not the best of Pink Floyd’s work, I now realise their significance. So I thought it was time to go and see Rogers Waters new production of his masterpiece.
I arrived at the cavernous Manchester Arena early, and took my seat in the lower tier. The Wall was partly built, and the stage set for what promised to be something pretty spectacular. I hadn’t actually given much thought to how spectacular it might be, and I was actually surprised by the scale, detail and impact of the whole production. The story of The Wall is now well known. It is one of Roger’s own isolation and draws on themes of war, injustice, politics, oppression and inequality. All of these are of course still relevant today and Roger has brought the production up to date to include representations of current political and world issues. Modern technology has also enabled Roger to produce a spectacle which just couldn’t have been done in the same way 30 years ago.
The effects are too numerous to mention. The flying pig returns, but he is much more impressive than the beast that flew over my head in Wembley Empire Pool on the Animals tour (how on earth was this modern pig controlled?). There are inflatables of the teacher and mother. Roger sings along with video footage of himself from Earls Court. The wall is gradually built throughout the first half of the show, and becomes a massive video screen, displaying images of fallen war heroes and of the album’s storyline. By the end of the first half the wall is complete and Roger and the band disappear behind it. The giant wall stays in place for much of the second half, with Roger and the band popping out of holes in the wall, and performing in front and on top of it. At one point Roger slides out of the wall, sitting in a loving room singing to us. Everyone in the arena (except me) seems to know (and sign) every word of the album. Roger is quite talkative and tells us he is different person to the young man who performed the Wall at Earls Court. The climax comes with us all chanting “Break down the wall” and the wall collapses in front of our eyes.
This must be the most spectacular show on the road; it is certainly streets ahead of anything I’ve ever seen before. I found it breathtaking, moving and utterly compelling. Although I know little of the album (apart from Another Brick and Comfortably Numb) I wasn’t bored for a single minute (and I often am at shows). Stunning. I wish I could go again.
Setlist:
First Half: In the Flesh?; Thin Ice; Another Brick in the Wall, Pt. 1; Happiest Days of Our Lives; Another Brick in the Wall, Pt. 2; Mother; Goodbye Blue Sky; Empty Spaces; What Shall We Do Now?; Young Lust; One of My Turns; Don’t Leave Me Now; Another Brick in the Wall, Pt. 3; Last Few Bricks; Goodbye Cruel World
Second Half: Hey You; Is There Anybody Out There?; Nobody Home; Vera; Bring the Boys Back Home; Comfortably Numb; Show Must Go On; In the Flesh; Run Like Hell; Waiting for the Worms; Stop; Trial; Outside the Wall
The Band:
Drums: Graham Broad
Guitars: Dave Kilminster, G.E. Smith, Snowy White
Bass: Roger Waters
Keyboards: Jon Carin, Harry Waters
Lead Vocals: Robbie Wyckoff, Roger Waters
Backing Vocals: Jon Joyce, Mark Lennon, Michael Lennon, Kipp Lennon
Roger Waters website: www.roger-waters.com
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