Usually, most musicians and bands make an album, and than go on tour to promote the album. Most musicians usually follow this concept. But Roger Waters is not your typical musician. In 1992, Waters released “Amused To Death”, but never went on a follow up tour. Seven years later, in 1999, Waters ended his 12 year road hiatus, and announced his plans to go on tour. It soon became reality, as Roger hit the road, only playing American venues. The 1999 tour was such a success that Roger went on tour again the following year. This cd is a live recording of one of Roger’s shows on the 2000 tour, recorded at the Rose Garden in Portland Oregon. Waters enters into the musical world of Pink Floyd, playing essential concert staples such as Another Brick In The Wall Part II, Money, and Wish You Were Here, as well as playing other Floyd Tunes, like Welcome To The Machine, and Dogs. While most of the songs on this cd are based around Pink Floyd, Roger enters his own musical realm also, playing songs that have themes around them, like Amused To Death and Perfect Sense, Parts 1 and 2. With a pretty good cast of musicians behind him, Roger’s performance on “In The Flesh: Live” brings Pink Floyd nostalgia back while at the same time brings a new feel to Waters’ legacy.
The band-
Roger Waters-guitar, bass, vocals
Andy Fairweather Low-guitar, bass, vocals
Doyle Bramhall II-guitar, vocals
Snowy White-guitar, vocals
Jon Carin, Andy Wallace-keyboards, vocals
Graham Broad-drums
PP Arnold, Katie Kissoon, Susannah Melvoin-backing vocals
Pink Floyd Years
Most of the songs on “In The Flesh: Live” are from the Pink Floyd years. Roger was the driving force behing “Dark Side Of The Moon”, “Wish You Were Here”, “Animals”, “The Wall”, and “The Fianl Cut”, so Roger performs a few song from each album, as well as one song from “A Saucerful Of Secrets”. Roger yells “Eins, Zwei, Drei, Alle”, and the show opens up with the song In The Flesh. The song is driven by two guitars, until the point where the backing vocalists come in. Soon, Roger sings, “So ya, thought ya might like to go the show, to feel the warm thrill of confusion that space cadet glow. I’ve got some bad news for you sunshine, Pink isn’t well he stayed back at the hotel, and they’ve sent us along as a surrogate band, we’re gonna find out where you fans really stand.” He sings another verse, and then the duel guitars come back in, only to give in at the end of the song to the helicopter sound effects that finishes the song. Happiest Days of Our Lives/ Another Brick In The Wall, Part 2 follows. Another Brick has got an extended two part solo, first part performed by Doyle Bramhall II, and the second part performed by Snowy White. Mother follows, as Katie Kissoon sings the part of the mother in the song, a nice change from the real version of Mother. After most of the songs from “The Wall” are performed, Roger goes into to songs from “The Final Cut”, Get Your Filthy Hands Off My Desert, and Southampton Dock. Get Your Hands Off My Desert is a short song, but starts with a loud explosion at the beginning of the song and carries on from there. Southampton Dock is in a different key than on the studio version, but is good nonetheless as Roger booms powerful vocals through the speakers. Pigs On The Wing Part 1 and Dogs follows “The Fianl Cut” songs, finally giving the concert a laid back feel. After a quick rendition of Pigs On The Wing Part 1, the band goes into Dogs. In my opinion, this is the weakest Floyd song on “In The Flesh: Live”, but really, how can you do Dogs in concert when it’s so perfect on “Animals”? The vocals at the beginning of the song are annoying, and Roger’s vocals drone on for a little bit too long. The guitar work makes up for the vocals though, with solid solos here and there.
Welcome To The Machine follows Dogs. Roger’s vocals are better than his on Dogs, and the synthesizer part gives the song a cosmic, almost frightening sound to the song. Wish You Were Here starts with the signature radio telecast. An electric guitar part comes in and starts the famous guitar line to the song, as an acoustic soon comes in and plays the solo that is played right before the vocals come in. This song is close to flawless, except the last thirty seconds of the song are filler.The vocals are hearfelt, as they sing for the late Syd Barrett. Next comes the epic Shine On You Crazy Diamond. Even though it is one minute longer than Part 1 on “Wish You Were Here”, this version of Shine On You Crazy Diamond contains all of the vocals in Part 1 and in Part 2 of the song. The guitar part holds the song together, as well as the drums, which does a great job filling in the holes and blending in with the guitar at the same time. Doyle does a superb job with the guitar riffs, and also has a few killer solos. The vocals are powerful as well as emotional, giving the song a cold chill. The only complaint I have about Shine On is the backing vocalists are a little to powerful. The final song to finish of Disc 1 is Set the Controls For The Heart Of The Sun. This is probably my favorite song from Disc 1, and what a song it is! The vocals are stellar, but what makes Set The Controls great are the solos. First is a calm but loud saxaphone solo that takes the song over. After the sax solo, in comes the guitar that gets the song rockin’. It totally tears apart the song (in a good way) with an unbelievable solo. A great way to finish off the first disc of the album.
The Dark Side songs kick off the second disc. Breathe is alright, but it lacks in areas, such as vocals. The instrumentation is great, but the vocals just drags Breathe down. Time is pretty good. The drum part at the beginning of the song in is unbelievable, definetly outdoing the studio version drum intro. The vocals could be better, but whatever. The solo in the middle of the song doesn’t match up to the Gilmour solo, because it lacks power and form, but is good anyways. Time lacks in some areas, but makes up for Breathe. The classic Pink Floyd song Money follows Time. It is a lot like the studio version, except the guitar solo in the middle of the song is better. The three Dark Side songs are a dissapointment and don’t really live up to my expectations, though Brain Damage and Eclipse make up for Breathe, Time and Money. Brain Damage is driven by that off and on guitar part, and the bass sticks out as well. The vocals are great, and the final part off the song brings chills up my spine as the laughing and synth takes over the song. Eclipse speaks for itself. The vocals are great, and the insturmentation takes care of the rest. The last Pink Floyd track is Comfortably Numb. What a great way to end out the Pink Floyd part of the concert. The only thing that annoys me about this version are the vocals at the chorus. In my opinion, David Gilmour is best suited singing the chorus of Comfortably Numb, not Doyle Bramhall. Roger’s vocals are nice and relaxed, the instrumentation is great, and the solo is what makes this version of Comfortably Numb worthwhile. An absolute awesome way to end the aweosme Pink Floyd part of the concert.
Solo Years
Every Strangers Eyes is the first song from the solo years Roger plays. The tune to the song is happy, but the lyrics are sad. Roger’s vocals are moving, and the backing vocals add an extra punch. There is a nice piano part that moves the song along, and the guitar contributes as well. Every Strangers Eyes is the only song from “The Pros And Cons Of Hitch Hiking”, and represents the album very well. Perfect Sens Parts 1 and 2 follows Every Strangers Eyes. It starts with a radio commentary, as a person is talking in the background. The piano comes in after awhile, and lasts for a little bit until Roger comes in with the lyrics. PP Arnold comes in after awhile with a perfect solo. Perfect Sense is great, especially because it is hard to play in concert. The Bravery of Being Out Of Range follows. The vocals are loud and clear, and the bass part carries the song. The guitar part adds to the excitement, making The Bravery Of Being Out Of Range a great song. It’s A Miracle follows. The beginning bass part mimics the bass part of Comfortably Numb. The lyrics are sad and dark, and the synth part adds to the already dark song. A guitar part at the end of It’s A Miracle ends the song in a mysterious manor, terminating the darkest song on the album. Amused To Death follows It’s A Miracle. It’s in a different key than the studio version. The vocals are alright, but everything else is perfect. The percussion sticks out, keeping the song on the right foot. Not my favorite version of Amused To Death, but still good.
The final Roger song is also the last song on the album, as well as my favorite on the entire album, Each Small Candle. It starts with a spacey keyboard part. The guitar and backing vocalists soon come in. Doyle has a small guitar solo that leads into Roger’s vocals. The lyrics are chilling: “Not the torturer will scare me, nor the body's final fall, nor the barrels of death's rifles, nor the shadows on the wall, nor the night when to the ground the last dim star of pain, is hurled, but the blind indifference of a merciless, unfeeling world.” Everything intensifies as the song progresses. A nice guitar solo foreshadows the end of the concert, as everything goes from really soft to extremely loud. The backing vocalists yell the lyrics out as the guitars, drums, and keyboards follow. After the backing vocalists yell out “Each Small Candle lights the dark side of every human mind”, everything stops, except for a guitar riff played by Doyle. Roger sings “And each small candle lights a corner of the dark.” Everything goes quiet, as the concert is over.
Performing Pink Floyd songs in concert is a very difficult task. But not for Roger Waters. He does a great job performing most of the songs on “In The Flesh: Live”, bringing a nostalgic feel to Portland, Oregon for one night. Even though some songs have certain flaws, every song performed on “In The Flesh: Live” is played well. Along with The Pink Floyd songs, he does a superb job with his solo songs, also. In my eyes, this is the place to go if you want to start to listen to Roger Waters, or Pink Floyd for that matter.
4-5
Recommended Tracks
Another Brick In The Wall Part II
Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun
Brain Damage
Eclipse
Comfortably Numb
Each Small Candle
