A Sense of Doubt blog post #2820 - Roger Waters in Concert - Music Monday for 2211.07

A Sense of Doubt blog post #2820 - Roger Waters in Concert  - Music Monday for 2211.07

I have been meaning to share this post for about two months. I am always putting off stuff that seems hard or too involved.

I loved the concert.

I do not agree with all of Roger's opinions, but you know, that's okay. I am also tired of bullshit cancel culture just because we disagree with someone.

There's a demonstrable difference between people with differing views over Ukraine or even the anti-Trans rhetoric of JK Rowling, and some asshat trying to defend the freedom to be hateful racist and/or to espouse violence against other people based on race. Fuck racism. But many of us can agree to disagree on policy. Even Rowling's unfortunate remarks, strike me as less hateful and exclusionary -- not trans people do not and should not exist -- and more a defense of biological sex. She's still wrong, though I admit that I need more research to decide HOW wrong and whether she crosses into that hateful racist camp (in this case bigotry toward trans people).

Anyway, none of that tripe I just spewed is about Roger Waters, who is arrogant, yes, but maybe deservedly so. He is the creative force behind Pink Floyd's brilliance. Granted, all four of them made the band what it is, but there's a reason that Waters' work is sharper than Gilmour alone. 

Also, I think I am over castigating Waters for breaking up the band and for being a self indulgent prick.

I can listen to The Final Cut  again, and in hindsight, I like it rather a lot more than I did when it came just before the breaking of Pink Floyd.

Also, I never saw Pink Floyd in concert, though both the Animals and The Wall tours came to Kalamazoo and our little Wings stadium. I was a Pink Floyd fan in 1978 with Animals, just 16 and just driving and not yet in possession of the Animals album. I did get The Wall when it came out in 1980, but I did not have the means or the experience to go see the concert. At 18, I did not yet have the foresight to know that if I did not see the band when they came to town that I may never see them.

I bought up all the Roger Waters solo stuff before the concert. It's pretty good stuff.

Here's some of my videos and photos plus a little story I sent a friend AND a review later on.

Thanks for tuning in.

ENJOY.

I should be working.

I should be writing.

I choose to write to you because I want to.

 

Wow.

Back home.

Comic con. Very nerdy.

ROGER WATERS CONCERT WAS FUCKING INCREDIBLE. One of the best shows I have EVER seen. I will send my blog post later. An inflatable sheep floating right over my head. I had incredible seats. I just wish he had played “Time” or maybe the entire first side of DARK SIDE as he did almost the entire second side. Just do the whole fucking album then. Amazing for a 78 year old.

After a meeting at Capitol Records, Syd and Roger stopped at the corner of Hollywood and Vine, and Syd turns to Roger and grins:

“It’s nice here in Las Vegas.”

But then his face darkens… “Except for one thing…”

And with a look of great disgust on his face, he spits out one word:

“People.”

Thought you might like that. 

SHEEP ONE






Roger Waters - "This is not a Drill Tour"

Setlist[edit]

The following set list was obtained from the concert held on July 6, 2022 at the PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh.^[35]

Set 1 1.      "Comfortably Numb" 2.      "The Happiest Days of Our Lives" 3.      "Another Brick in the Wall, Part 2" 4.      "Another Brick in the Wall, Part 3" 5.      "The Powers That Be" 6.      "The Bravery of Being Out of Range" 7.      "The Bar" 8.      "Have a Cigar" 9.      "Wish You Were Here" 10.   "Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Parts VI-VIII)" 11.   "Sheep"

 

Set 2

12.  "In the Flesh"

13.  "Run Like Hell"

14.  "Déjà Vu"

15.  "Is This the Life We Really Want?"

16.  "Money"

17.  "Us and Them"

18.  "Any Colour You Like"

19.  "Brain Damage"

20.  "Eclipse"

Encore

21.  "Two Suns in the Sunset"

22.  "The Bar" (reprise)

23.  "Outside the Wall"

 

·        During some concerts, part VIII of "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" has been replaced with part V.

 SHEEP TWO

https://medium.com/@cjfergus/review-roger-waters-this-is-not-a-drill-bd674aa621d8

Christopher J. Ferguson

Review: Roger Waters, This is Not a Drill

Pink Floyd is one of the bands that has been most formative for my own musical tastes and remains one of my favorites. I’ve had the pleasure of seeing the David Gilmour led Pink Floyd twice back when they toured in the 80s and 90s and Roger Waters (Floyd’s former bassist and vocalist) now for the third time. Waters, always the most politically minded of the Floyd members, has been stirring things up once again with his This is Not a Drill tour. I recently took it in in Orlando and figured it was worth a review. There are two aspects worth looking at…first the music but also Waters’ political messaging.

The Music

First, a bit on the music. Waters’ concerts have always been both musically and visually stunning. Visually, This is not a Drill delivers, with an odd quadrant style stage and theater in the round setup. Lasers and such were few, but the audience was delighted with flying sheep and pigs, and visuals projected onto the quadrant screen.

Musically, Waters delivered best when diving into Floyd classics including a haunting organ and vocals version of Comfortably Numb (minus the soaring guitar solos) and Run Like Hell. Truly satisfying were deep dives into neglected Floyd tunes such as the second half of Shine on You Crazy Diamond, Sheep, and Have a Cigar.

At the same time, I came to dread whenever Waters would sit down at the piano. The Bravery of Being Out of Range, one of my favorite songs from his 1992 album and a great crunching rock anthem was all but ruined as a downbeat piano number. Too much time was spent on a new song The Bar which, frankly, just wasn’t that good. He played this song not once but again as a reprise! This came as the concert closer and given the age of Waters (79) and Gilmour (76), I wondered if that particular lemon might be the last Floyd-ish song I heard live.

The Politics

Then there’s Waters’ politics. I don’t always share Waters’ politics, but I’ve generally found them both amusing and insightful. Waters dropped a bomb in 2017 during his Us & Them tour with videos mocking Donald Trump. I’m not a Trump fan myself but, watching arguments break out among fans, I’m not sure his increasingly aggressive politicking has the impact he hopes.

At the beginning of This is Not a Drill, patrons were warned anyone who is uncomfortable with Waters’ politics should “fuck off to the bar.” Ironically during the song The Bar Waters expressed the idea of the bar as a space where people could respectfully exchange divergent ideas…a concept I’m totally on board with, but rather ironically in contrast with his opening statement.

Waters’ politics are decidedly one-sided. Nuanced issues such as the Palestinian-Israeli conflict are presented with blinding moral clarity. Every US president from Reagan to Biden (yes, including Obama) are war criminals, but nary a mention of the Uighur genocide in China, or the Ukraine war, a topic adding fuel to the long rift with Gilmour. Waters also repeats a common media error of highlighting non-white victims of police violence, failing to mention a single white victim, fueling the false impression that race is a major determinant of such brutality. Although debate certainly remains, it increasingly appears that issues such as class or community mental health are more critical determinants of police misconduct. Waters supports Black Lives Matter but appears unaware of financial scandals plaguing the Black Lives Matter organization.

At one point the screens scrolled off various “rights” (reproductive, trans, etc.) that felt like Waters was literally checking boxes without much thought at all into complex issues. This isn’t to say that I necessarily disagreed with Waters on all of it rather that the whole thing came across as superficial as if Waters had simply been swept away by the woke tide like such much of the left. It was less that his politics had become offensive, and more that it had simply become predictable and boring.

At both his 2017 and recent tour I watched patrons get into dumb arguments. That’s why I think Waters’ efforts are visibly backfiring…his version of politics is inconsistent with his vision of The Bar. It’s half misinformation and half polarization, and it simply fuels the anger and division he otherwise purports to disdain. Maybe we really do more spaces without politics, where conservatives and progressives can come together in a love of music without being reminded, once again, of their divisions.

In the end, it seemed that Waters had become the mirror of the old boardroom capitalists he once despised…a rich old man telling others how to think without putting much thought into it himself. Was the concert bad? No…but it was a shadow of what Waters once inspired and stood for. A bit of a sad denouement before the inevitable Great Gig in the Sky.

Here's some more:

https://www.billboard.com/music/rock/roger-waters-2022-tour-this-is-not-a-drill-1235133982/

https://riffmagazine.com/reviews/roger-waters-20220923/

https://thedissenter.org/roger-waters-this-is-not-a-drill-review/

CONCERT FOOTAGE!!

MORE

Roger Water at Golden One Arena September 20th, 2022

I came from Rose City Comic Con before I went to the Roger Waters Concert. Here's some photos:

And some pictures of Satchel because they were with these others...

Satchel had surgery to repair knee ligament and also to remove a fatty mass.


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- Bloggery committed by chris tower - 2211.07 - 10:10

- Days ago = 2684 days ago

- New note - On 1807.06, I ceased daily transmission of my Hey Mom feature after three years of daily conversations. I plan to continue Hey Mom posts at least twice per week but will continue to post the days since ("Days Ago") count on my blog each day. The blog entry numbering in the title has changed to reflect total Sense of Doubt posts since I began the blog on 0705.04, which include Hey Mom posts, Daily Bowie posts, and Sense of Doubt posts. Hey Mom posts will still be numbered sequentially. New Hey Mom posts will use the same format as all the other Hey Mom posts; all other posts will feature this format seen here.