Roger Waters is still a bitter man

[El Barto]

I remember a few things from that tour, including an absolutely amazing rendition of WttM (and I don't even care much for that song), getting to hear Dogs, thus completing live Animals for me, seeing Battersea power station rise out of the lower section, police radio traffic during the intermission, and one helluva spectacle during DSotM. I don't remember any political ramblings from him. Only some fairly vicious projections on the side of Battersea during Pigs. I'd couldn't call the show apolitical, but I suspect you'd hear a lot worse from plenty of other bands nowadays.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RTI4Qc0iN1k

[KevShmev]

I have never seen any song from Animals performed live. 

[JayOctavarium]

I have never seen any song from Animals performed live. 

Seeing Pigs and Dogs during the Us and Them tour were almost as great as seeing the entirety of The Wall a few years earlier.

We gotta build you a time machine!

[IDontNotDoThings]

seems like Roger Waters has become "just another sad old man, all alone & (not, as far as I know) dying of cancer"? 

[KevShmev]

I have never seen any song from Animals performed live. 

Seeing Pigs and Dogs during the Us and Them tour were almost as great as seeing the entirety of The Wall a few years earlier.

We gotta build you a time machine!

He was here for both The Wall and Us and Them tours, and I didn't go to either.  I cannot remember the reason I didn't go the latter, but I know that for The Wall tour, the tickets were really expensive and money was tight for me at the time, so I believe that was one of the main reasons I didn't go to that one.

[El Barto]

I have never seen any song from Animals performed live. 

Seeing Pigs and Dogs during the Us and Them tour were almost as great as seeing the entirety of The Wall a few years earlier.

We gotta build you a time machine!

He was here for both The Wall and Us and Them tours, and I didn't go to either.  I cannot remember the reason I didn't go the latter, but I know that for The Wall tour, the tickets were really expensive and money was tight for me at the time, so I believe that was one of the main reasons I didn't go to that one.

Yeah, Roger's come to really embrace capitalism with his ticket prices. The second Wall gig I went to was the most, by far, I've paid for a concert ticket (and hopefully ever will). Worth it, though. We saw the Dallas show from far back, getting to see the whole big picture. We caught Tulsa from 2nd row, getting to see the band, and a totally immersive IMAX kind of experience. Plus a really cool road trip, to boot.

[KevShmev]

Yeah, Roger's come to really embrace capitalism with his ticket prices. The second Wall gig I went to was the most, by far, I've paid for a concert ticket (and hopefully ever will). Worth it, though. We saw the Dallas show from far back, getting to see the whole big picture. We caught Tulsa from 2nd row, getting to see the band, and a totally immersive IMAX kind of experience. Plus a really cool road trip, to boot.

Nice.  I saw Pink Floyd in '94 at Arrowhead in KC (fun road trip for that one!), and we were somewhat far back, but we didn't care. The stage show and sound was so great that it didn't matter. 

[XeRocks81]

Yeah, Roger's come to really embrace capitalism with his ticket prices. The second Wall gig I went to was the most, by far, I've paid for a concert ticket (and hopefully ever will). Worth it, though. We saw the Dallas show from far back, getting to see the whole big picture. We caught Tulsa from 2nd row, getting to see the band, and a totally immersive IMAX kind of experience. Plus a really cool road trip, to boot.

To be fair I think once artists get to a certain level of production in their stage shows they probably don't have a lot of input into how much tickets should cost.  Of course the point remains they if he wanted his shows to be accessible to the most people he could cut down costs considerably but that kind of goes agains the spirit of shows like "The Wall" which have a level spectacle associated with them.

[KevShmev]

To be fair I think once artists get to a certain level of production in their stage shows they probably don't have a lot of input into how much tickets should cost.  Of course the point remains they if he wanted his shows to be accessible to the most people he could cut down costs considerably but that kind of goes agains the spirit of shows like "The Wall" which have a level spectacle associated with them.

I don't believe that for a second.  When you have as much clout and star power as Roger Waters does, of course you have a say in ticket costs, unless you pass it off to your management and then steer clear of that aspect of the business so you can claim plausible deniability.

[XeRocks81]

To be fair I think once artists get to a certain level of production in their stage shows they probably don't have a lot of input into how much tickets should cost.  Of course the point remains they if he wanted his shows to be accessible to the most people he could cut down costs considerably but that kind of goes agains the spirit of shows like "The Wall" which have a level spectacle associated with them.

I don't believe that for a second.  When you have as much clout and star power as Roger Waters does, of course you have a say in ticket costs, unless you pass it off to your management and then steer clear of that aspect of the business so you can claim plausible deniability.

I agree but I think there’s a limit to that, he couldn’t just decide to make tickets 10$, a show like The Wall would run up huge deficits

[King Postwhore]

I saw them at Foxborough in 94.  I never knew a band could sound that good in an outdoor stadium.

[Architeuthis]

His political agenda at his concerts can be polarizing. When he was on the Trump bashing with the giant screens in 2017 he lost some of his audience. I actually saw quite a few people shaking their heads booing, and leaving the show when it got to the point where it said "Trump is a piece of shit" in huge letters across the screens that were lowered into the center part of the arena.
I myself just shrugged it off and enjoyed the latter part of the show after they finally ditched the screens, and played the heavy hitters. So why alienate part of your audience with a politically charged show?  I know, it's a Roger Waters thing..   

[TAC]

His political agenda at his concerts can be polarizing. When he was on the Trump bashing with the giant screens in 2017 he lost some of his audience. I actually saw quite a few people shaking their heads booing, and leaving the show when it got to the point where it said "Trump is a piece of shit" in huge letters across the screens that were lowered into the center part of the arena.

Wow, that is so lame.

[Architeuthis]

Completely!

[El Barto]

Yeah, Roger's come to really embrace capitalism with his ticket prices. The second Wall gig I went to was the most, by far, I've paid for a concert ticket (and hopefully ever will). Worth it, though. We saw the Dallas show from far back, getting to see the whole big picture. We caught Tulsa from 2nd row, getting to see the band, and a totally immersive IMAX kind of experience. Plus a really cool road trip, to boot.

Nice.  I saw Pink Floyd in '94 at Arrowhead in KC (fun road trip for that one!), and we were somewhat far back, but we didn't care. The stage show and sound was so great that it didn't matter.

We bought tickets the day of the show for the very back of the floor. When we got there they wound up being the very front of the floor. We were about 8 rows back, and while it was cool to see the band, we missed out on the overall spectacle. Back then the tickets were a whopping $75, so seeing it twice wasn't really an option. When I saw the PULSE DVD I was absolutely blown away by how amazing it was.

[El Barto]

To be fair I think once artists get to a certain level of production in their stage shows they probably don't have a lot of input into how much tickets should cost.  Of course the point remains they if he wanted his shows to be accessible to the most people he could cut down costs considerably but that kind of goes agains the spirit of shows like "The Wall" which have a level spectacle associated with them.

I don't believe that for a second.  When you have as much clout and star power as Roger Waters does, of course you have a say in ticket costs, unless you pass it off to your management and then steer clear of that aspect of the business so you can claim plausible deniability.

I think artists cede a ton of power to the production companies nowadays. My hunch is that LN probably offered him X millions of dollars up front for a tour, win or lose, and they take care of the rest. Moreover, if he says that he wants normal fans to be able to enjoy it they're truthfully able to say "hey, we've got seats for $35 ea." Of course there aren't many of them, they truly suck, and TM's TT&L nearly doubles the cost, but from their perspective it's still accessible to all.


edit: Also, I have to point out that he sells >95% of his exorbitantly priced tickets, so a great deal of this is market demand. An argument that the scalpers have been making for years is that concert tickets are undervalued. In their case I think it's a rationalization, but in Roger's case he does seem to be hitting pretty close to the mark in terms of value.

[El Barto]

His political agenda at his concerts can be polarizing. When he was on the Trump bashing with the giant screens in 2017 he lost some of his audience. I actually saw quite a few people shaking their heads booing, and leaving the show when it got to the point where it said "Trump is a piece of shit" in huge letters across the screens that were lowered into the center part of the arena.
I myself just shrugged it off and enjoyed the latter part of the show after they finally ditched the screens, and played the heavy hitters. So why alienate part of your audience with a politically charged show?  I know, it's a Roger Waters thing..   

Those people are idiots. From Roger's point of view if they're so oversensitive about such things, fuck'em. Fucking snowflakes. For my part, if I went to see Nugent, I wouldn't storm off in a huff when it turned into a political rally. I'd roll my eyes, laugh at a crowd full of gun-toting sheep, and tough it out until Dog Eat Dog. 

[King Postwhore]

What happened to those days El Barto when people were not offended by everything?  I miss those days.

[KevShmev]

We bought tickets the day of the show for the very back of the floor. When we got there they wound up being the very front of the floor. We were about 8 rows back, and while it was cool to see the band, we missed out on the overall spectacle. Back then the tickets were a whopping $75, so seeing it twice wasn't really an option. When I saw the PULSE DVD I was absolutely blown away by how amazing it was.

As amazing as Pulse is, I still wish they would have been a show that was outside.  The mirror ball that opens up at the end of Comfortably Numb was so awesome with it rising out of the middle of the crowd outside.  It was cool with it hanging from the ceiling at the indoor Pulse show, but the effect of it at the outdoor shows was something else.

[Architeuthis]

His political agenda at his concerts can be polarizing. When he was on the Trump bashing with the giant screens in 2017 he lost some of his audience. I actually saw quite a few people shaking their heads booing, and leaving the show when it got to the point where it said "Trump is a piece of shit" in huge letters across the screens that were lowered into the center part of the arena.
I myself just shrugged it off and enjoyed the latter part of the show after they finally ditched the screens, and played the heavy hitters. So why alienate part of your audience with a politically charged show?  I know, it's a Roger Waters thing..   

Those people are idiots. From Roger's point of view if they're so oversensitive about such things, fuck'em. Fucking snowflakes. For my part, if I went to see Nugent, I wouldn't storm off in a huff when it turned into a political rally. I'd roll my eyes, laugh at a crowd full of gun-toting sheep, and tough it out until Dog Eat Dog. 

Ted Nugent is the other extreme.. 
I could imagine him opening fire at a Roger Waters concert,, JK. Could you imagine the South park episode they could make out of that. 

[v_clortho]

Ted opening for Roger would be quite the show.

[Cool Chris]

For as much as I love Roger's Floyd material (I know he wasn't the sole writer, just trying to make a point), I am lukewarm at best about his post-Floyd career.

I have no use for Hitchhiking, K.A.O.S or Is This the Life...?, but Amused to Death is a major winner. I still maintain that had that been a full-fledged Pink Floyd album, with playing and singing contributions from Gilmour and Wright, it would have been on the level of the 1973-1979 albums.  The songs and concept are both that good.

It has been a long time since I've listened to any of those albums, I can barely remember much from them. Maybe time for a revisit. I never got the praise for Amused to Death. I thought Is This the Life We Really Want? was better than it had a right to be. Randomly, Every Stranger's Eyes is one of the highlights of the In The Flesh DVD for me.

[El Barto]

Man, In the Flesh makes all of those songs come alive. Dollars and Sense is a little to over-dramatic, but Every Stranger's Eyes and the rest of the AtD stuff (and Candle) are all fantastic.

[Cool Chris]

Yep. Even Dogs from that release got me more in to Animals than I was at the time.

[KevShmev]

The live version of It's a Miracle from the In the Flesh DVD from the late 90's is the best song Roger Waters has written in the last 40 years (in other words, since The Wall). 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jj_OlTelGhI

Amazing.

[XeRocks81]

it’s such a good concert it’s almost ridiculous

[El Barto]

Bramhal was an interesting choice for that tour, but paired with Snowy White he worked out brilliantly. He's a very different guitarist than Gilmour, but in a complimentary way, I thought. I like Kilminster a lot for what Steven Wilson does, but as the fake David Gilmour I never thought he worked out very well. In any case, easily one of my most watched concert DVDs.

[Cool Chris]

Bramhal was an interesting choice for that tour, but paired with Snowy White he worked out brilliantly. He's a very different guitarist than Gilmour, but in a complimentary way, I thought. I like Kilminster a lot for what Steven Wilson does, but as the fake David Gilmour I never thought he worked out very well.

When I first popped that DVD in, my initial thought was "Who is that guy? He looks like he belongs in a totally different band. " I knew Graham Broad, Fairweather-Low, Jon Carin, Snowy, but had to look up that guy on the net. Never heard of him before (and haven't heard from him since!). I didn't care for his vocals, and wasn't keen on his guitar playing either (but realized he had big shoes to fill). I am not a big Snowy guy, so after my first listen the guitars were a letdown (again, big shoes...) After subsequent listens though I appreciate it more, as how you said better than I could.

[El Barto]

Bramhal was an interesting choice for that tour, but paired with Snowy White he worked out brilliantly. He's a very different guitarist than Gilmour, but in a complimentary way, I thought. I like Kilminster a lot for what Steven Wilson does, but as the fake David Gilmour I never thought he worked out very well.

When I first popped that DVD in, my initial thought was "Who is that guy? He looks like he belongs in a totally different band. " I knew Graham Broad, Fairweather-Low, Jon Carin, Snowy, but had to look up that guy on the net. Never heard of him before (and haven't heard from him since!). I didn't care for his vocals, and wasn't keen on his guitar playing either (but realized he had big shoes to fill). I am not a big Snowy guy, so after my first listen the guitars were a letdown (again, big shoes...) After subsequent listens though I appreciate it more, as how you said better than I could.

He was an interesting choice to me because he was never trying to be the new Gilmour. He was incorporating his own style, and it's cool that Roger let him do that. I thought it provided a more, organic, feel. Particularly since Kilimister does try to be the new Gilmour and, quite honestly, doesn't really cut it. And in this show Roger was playing as much of his own music, often more blues based than PF, so it wasn't a huge factor for half the show anyway. And regardless of how he comes off playing Floyd, he is regardless a damned talented guy.

[XeRocks81]

Bramhal in that concert obviously comes from more of a Stevie Ray Vaughan, Jimmy Hendrix type school of guitar playing and while that may seem incongruous with Pink Floyd there is some blues overlap between the two.  I think he ended playing with Eric Clapton a lot after this?  Andy Fairweather low also usually played with both Clapton and Waters when he could.

[Cool Chris]

He was incorporating his own style, and it's cool that Roger let him do that. I thought it provided a more, organic, feel... And in this show Roger was playing as much of his own music, often more blues based than PF, so it wasn't a huge factor for half the show anyway. 

Right, it just took me a few listens to get to that realization. I also don't care much for blues so that blues-y vibe was initially a turn-off.

[El Barto]

Bramhal in that concert obviously comes from more of a Stevie Ray Vaughan, Jimmy Hendrix type school of guitar playing and while that may seem incongruous with Pink Floyd there is some blues overlap between the two.  I think he ended playing with Eric Clapton a lot after this?  Andy Fairweather low also usually played with both Clapton and Waters when he could.

AF-L probably played with Bramhall Sr back in the day. I know he was part of the British Invasion in '83 with Clapton and Beck, and my guess is that Bramhall Sr. was playing in much of the same circles. Last I heard of Bramhall Jr. he was one of many people playing an annual Hendrix tribute in Nashville. I knocked around going because Belew and Dweezil were also on the bill.

[KevShmev]

I can never remember which guitar player Waters uses where, but he seems to always get one who get come pretty close to nailing the Mother solo (which is a top 5 Gilmour solo, IMO). The versions on the In the Flesh DVD and from the Berlin show (where Sinead O'Connor sings the lead) both feature guitar players doing a great job on the guitar solo.  It is hard to not miss Gilmour when Waters plays a Floyd song and the guitar solo is massively underwhelming, but his guys usually seem to get that one pretty close to right.

[Cool Chris]

I can never remember which guitar player Waters uses where, but he seems to always get one who get come pretty close to nailing the Mother solo (which is a top 5 Gilmour solo, IMO). The versions on the In the Flesh DVD and from the Berlin show (where Sinead O'Connor sings the lead) both feature guitar players doing a great job on the guitar solo.

I think I wore out my VHS copy of the Berlin show. I remember that the guy on guitar was someone I didn't know, and looking it up, it's Rick DiFonzo, who doesn't even have his own Wikipedia page, so obviously a nobody 

Having Sinead sing Mother was a flash of inspiration. What a beautiful voice for that song. I cannot say the same for the dudes from The Band who sand the Gilmour parts.

Dang now I want to watch that show again, but I haven't had a VCR in, like, 20 years.

[XeRocks81]

I can never remember which guitar player Waters uses where, but he seems to always get one who get come pretty close to nailing the Mother solo (which is a top 5 Gilmour solo, IMO). The versions on the In the Flesh DVD and from the Berlin show (where Sinead O'Connor sings the lead) both feature guitar players doing a great job on the guitar solo.

I think I wore out my VHS copy of the Berlin show. I remember that the guy on guitar was someone I didn't know, and looking it up, it's Rick DiFonzo, who doesn't even have his own Wikipedia page, so obviously a nobody 

Having Sinead sing Mother was a flash of inspiration. What a beautiful voice for that song. I cannot say the same for the dudes from The Band who sand the Gilmour parts.

Dang now I want to watch that show again, but I haven't had a VCR in, like, 20 years.

it’s probably out of print now but I have a nice DVD set of the berlin show that was put out sometime in the  00s when everything under the sun was coming out.