The headline should have been "The Pig! The Pig!" as Roger Waters' huge inflatable pig was accidentally let loose to float into outer space -- or at least Mountain View, CA airspace -- during the last song of the first set this evening. An evening that kicked off promptly at 8.30 and featured classic Floyd gem's throughout the night. Roger commented after that last song of the set, "Sheep", "Can someone tell me what happened to my pig? Ah, shit happens." And after only a 15 minute intermission Roger and the band came back out to play through the entire Dark Side of the Moon album.Surprisingly, Roger wasn't all that talkative during the show -- not a single mention of the late Syd Barret who passed away only a few months earlier. And not really anything about the current Bush/Iraq/Afganistan war -- although there was plenty of imagery throughout the night that linked Bush to Kim Jong Il, Hussein & Stalin.
Speaking of imagery, I was extremely impressed with the visuals Mr. Waters put together for this tour. In a nutshell, Roger combined crystal clear, crisp video (maybe high-def stuff?) to play on a screen behind the band while adding some pyrotechnics throughout the show as well. Very nice stuff. Plus, quadraphonic sound from speakers that were set-up throughout the amphitheater -- which added a nice ambiance to the musical performance!
Now for the meat of the review -- the performance. Roger has definitely aged gracefully -- at 64 the guy still looks and sounds great -- considering. The first set largely focused on songs that Roger was comfortable singing and from what I could tell, he only really had a tough time with "Have a Cigar" -- and to tell you the truth, he could have been lip syncing during that one. They had a strange effect applied to his voice during that song, and it seemed that his lips were just a bit out of sync with the vocals coming out of the speakers, so he could have been faking it a bit since the dynamic range in that song gives even Les Claypool a challenge to sing through! ;) Once Dark Side started, Roger mainly stuck with his bass guitar and let his back-up band and singers do most of the vocals.
Overall, a great show but I could've done with more songs with Roger on vocals and less reliance on his band to fill in on the vocal parts.
So who was the band, you ask?
Andy Fairweather Low – Guitar
Snowy White – Guitar
Dave Kilminster – Guitar and Vocals
Graham Broad - Drums
Jon Carin – Keyboards
Harry Waters – Hammond
Ian Ritchie - Saxophone
Katie Kissoon, PP Arnold and Carol Kenyon – Background Vocals
And the setlist (or pretty darn close to it:)
- In the Flesh
- Mother
- Set the Controls For the Heart Of the Sun
- Shine On You Crazy Diamond (1-3)
- Have A Cigar
- Wish You Were Here
- Southhampton Dock
- The Fletcher Memorial Home
- Perfect Sense Parts 1 and 2
- Leaving Beirut
- Sheep
DARK SIDE OF THE MOON:
- Speak To Me
- Breathe
- On The Run
- Time
- The Great Gig In The Sky
- Money
- Us And Them
- Any Colour You Like
- Brain Damage
- Eclipse
- The Happiest Days of Our Lives
- Another Brick In The Wall Pt. 2
- Vera
- Bring The Boys Back Home
- Comfortably Numb
