ROGER WATERS - MADISON SQUARE GARDEN
9/13/06 - REVIEW & SETLIST INFO
Image c/o www.pinkfloydnut.com
Last night's Roger Waters performance at Madison Square Garden was probably one of the most personally fulfilling experiences in recent memory. Waters put on a show that not only wowed the audience with incredible visuals and a classic quadrophonic speaker set-up, but he also had us enthralled with a wonderfully ecclectic set-list spanning his solo career and his career with Pink Floyd. Roger traded in the pompous, Tron-like, laser-crazy stage glam that Floyd has beaten into the ground for a more modern, subtle look that uses wonderful lighting, the occasional pyrotechnics, and a HUGE LCD screen. Yes, we were treated to the floating pig and a floating astronaut (a la 2001), but this show FELT like a Waters show, not a Floyd show.
One thing that makes me respect Roger Waters, besides the enormous breadth and depth of his catalogue, is how he doesn't make these Roger Waters shows all about Roger. When Jon Carin, for example, takes the reigns as vocalist, the spotlight on Roger literally fades away and focuses its attention to Carin pushing Roger into the background and making him, simply, the bass player; not the prolific songwriter we're all there to see. It is this attention and appreciation he regards his band with that really reduces the ego factor that could really plague these shows.
As I said, and as you'll see below, the first half of the set was a great representation of his body of work. But the excitement really picked up after their 15-minute break when they were ready to perform Dark Side of the Moon in its entirety. In one of the greatest surprises I've ever experience, Roger Waters brough out Nick Mason to play the entire album with the band. Having seen Mason and Waters at this show and Gilmour and Wright at Gilmour's solo show at Radio City, I was in shock that within the span of a year I will have seen all original members of the band; except Syd, of course.
There were so many wonderful aspects of this show. His touring band was absolutely incredible and even included his son Harry Waters on keyboards. His tributes to Syd Barrett were surprisingly moving and really brought home to me how prolific he was and how much he will be missed; not that I didn't recognize it before, but seeing one of Syd's oldest friends lament the loss was pretty moving. His political overtures were rather scathing and professed a lot of sympathy towards the opression of Palsetenians and the senseless deaths of allied troops in Iraq. It was just a fantastic evening and I was sober for the whole thing for a change.
SETLIST
First Set
* In The Flesh
* Mother
* Set The Controls For the Heart of the Sun
* Shine on You Crazy Diamond
* Have A Cigar
* Wish You Were Here
* Southampton Dock
* Fletcher Memorial Home
* Perfect Sense Part I (w/ floating astronaut
* Perfect Sense Part II
* Leaving Beirut
* Sheep (w/ floating pig)
Second Set
*Dark Side of the Moon, in its entirety, with NICK MASON
Encore
* Another Brick in the Wall Part II (w/ Boys Club of NYC Singers)
* Vera Lynn
* Bring the Boys Back Home
* Comfortably Numb
9/13/06 - REVIEW & SETLIST INFO
Image c/o www.pinkfloydnut.com
Last night's Roger Waters performance at Madison Square Garden was probably one of the most personally fulfilling experiences in recent memory. Waters put on a show that not only wowed the audience with incredible visuals and a classic quadrophonic speaker set-up, but he also had us enthralled with a wonderfully ecclectic set-list spanning his solo career and his career with Pink Floyd. Roger traded in the pompous, Tron-like, laser-crazy stage glam that Floyd has beaten into the ground for a more modern, subtle look that uses wonderful lighting, the occasional pyrotechnics, and a HUGE LCD screen. Yes, we were treated to the floating pig and a floating astronaut (a la 2001), but this show FELT like a Waters show, not a Floyd show.
One thing that makes me respect Roger Waters, besides the enormous breadth and depth of his catalogue, is how he doesn't make these Roger Waters shows all about Roger. When Jon Carin, for example, takes the reigns as vocalist, the spotlight on Roger literally fades away and focuses its attention to Carin pushing Roger into the background and making him, simply, the bass player; not the prolific songwriter we're all there to see. It is this attention and appreciation he regards his band with that really reduces the ego factor that could really plague these shows.
As I said, and as you'll see below, the first half of the set was a great representation of his body of work. But the excitement really picked up after their 15-minute break when they were ready to perform Dark Side of the Moon in its entirety. In one of the greatest surprises I've ever experience, Roger Waters brough out Nick Mason to play the entire album with the band. Having seen Mason and Waters at this show and Gilmour and Wright at Gilmour's solo show at Radio City, I was in shock that within the span of a year I will have seen all original members of the band; except Syd, of course.
There were so many wonderful aspects of this show. His touring band was absolutely incredible and even included his son Harry Waters on keyboards. His tributes to Syd Barrett were surprisingly moving and really brought home to me how prolific he was and how much he will be missed; not that I didn't recognize it before, but seeing one of Syd's oldest friends lament the loss was pretty moving. His political overtures were rather scathing and professed a lot of sympathy towards the opression of Palsetenians and the senseless deaths of allied troops in Iraq. It was just a fantastic evening and I was sober for the whole thing for a change.
SETLIST
First Set
* In The Flesh
* Mother
* Set The Controls For the Heart of the Sun
* Shine on You Crazy Diamond
* Have A Cigar
* Wish You Were Here
* Southampton Dock
* Fletcher Memorial Home
* Perfect Sense Part I (w/ floating astronaut
* Perfect Sense Part II
* Leaving Beirut
* Sheep (w/ floating pig)
Second Set
*Dark Side of the Moon, in its entirety, with NICK MASON
Encore
* Another Brick in the Wall Part II (w/ Boys Club of NYC Singers)
* Vera Lynn
* Bring the Boys Back Home
* Comfortably Numb
posted by Dale Gribble at 11:00 AM
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