"So you
Thought you
Might like to
Go to the show
To feel the warm thrill of confusion
That space cadet glow"-- Roger Waters, from the song "In The Flesh" from the album Pink Floyd: The Wall
Roger Waters put on an amazing show. His performance was theatrical and powerful with strong lyrics and excellent music. Opening the show with the song, In The Flesh, Waters belted out the lyrics showing that time has not eroded the power of his voice. The band surrounding the former Pink Floyd singer-songwriter was excellent. The guitars were crisp, the female singers melodic, and the synthesizers intensely psychedelic.
Waters opened the show with a long set of Pink Floyd songs that spanned every album from the 1970's and 1980's. The highlight of the show was the song Dogs from the Floyd album Animals. Waters' band played a 30 minute rendition of the song with outstanding precision. The large movie screen behind the band showed dripping colored water that kept changing shape with the music. The synthesizer effects were bizarre and beautiful as played by Jon Carin, keyboard player for the Waters-less Pink Floyd that has not toured for many years.
The crowd at the Baltimore Arena in Maryland was mesmerized by the performance. During the song Mother, a guy behind me yelled, "I'm going to have an orgasm in my pants." And during the song Wish You Were Here a girl in front of me began to cry. For much of the concert attendees, this may be the only time they will be able to see the legendary singer in a live performance.
There were many antiwar songs played by Waters, including Southampton Dock from The Final Cut, Bring The Boys Back Home from The Wall, and Perfect Sense from Amused To Death. The video screen behind the band showed soldiers with blank faces and explosions. Waters' face was intense and was successful in getting his message across to the crowd. He seemed to genuinely wish to promote peace and nonviolence.
Roger Waters is one of those artists that speaks to me on an intellectual and spiritual level. His music is powerful and lyrical and intelligent. A surprise to me was the performance of Every Strangers Eyes from The Pros And Cons of Hitch Hiking. This is a wonderful song full of fear and hope about traveling and relationships and life. The live performance added a dynamic element to the song and the female singers onstage were perfectly in tune with the emotion of the song.
The last three songs performed were from Amused To Death and a large video of a monkey sitting in front of a television played in the background. The images on the monkey's TV rapidly changed and waters was clearly poking fun at television watchers. He attacked the commercialism of the tube and belted out the lyrics of the title song.
Overall, I would rate the concert an A and recommend it to anyone who likes musical theatrical performances with thought-provoking lyrics.
