Roger Waters

Lakewood Amphitheatre, Atlanta, GA August 22, 1999

by Roi Tamkin

"So ya thought ya might like to go to the show/ To feel the warm thrill of confusion, that space cadet glow....."

   

photo by Roi Tamkin

Yes, Mr. "Pink Floyd" himself is on tour after a twelve year absence. Although he lost the rights to the name, Roger Waters showed the crowd who Pink Floyd really is. His three hour "In The Flesh" show consisted of two sets with no opening act. The first set consisted of popular songs from Wish You Were Here , Animals , The Wall and The Final Cut . Each song brought louder cheering and singing along.

   Roger was very generous with the selection of songs, including the hits normally sung by David Gilmour and Richard Wright. Their roles were expertly filled by guitarist Doyle Bramhall II. On tour with Roger was a seven piece band, including three guitarists, two keyboard players, drums and percussionist, Roger on bass and guitar and two backup singers. One of the backup singers was Patricia Arnold, a legendary singer in England.

   The stage was set to resemble a living room, complete with couches, table lamps, a big screen TV and goldfish in a tank. During long instrumental breaks, the non-playing musicians would sit on the couches, drink and play cards. Projected on the back wall were various images taken from the Pink Floyd and Roger Waters albums, including children in masks, flying pigs and a gorilla watching TV with a remote in one hand and a bone in the other. The performance was a spectacular sensory experience -- very visual, and with sound effects coming from all directions.

   After a twenty minute break, the second set opened with songs from Dark Side of the Moon blending into a set of songs from his five solo albums. The set ended back with Pink Floyd favorites, complete with lava lamp psychedelic projections on the back wall.

   

photo by Roi Tamkin

Roger Waters encored with "Comfortably Numb," inducing all into a drug-hazed stupor with guitarists Bramhall and Andy Fairweather-Low dueling leads atop the set's living room wall. Roger concluded the show by thanking the audience for bringing back in him something that was missing. He didn't elaborate as to what the something was, but with additional stops added to his tour schedule, maybe we won't have to wait another twelve years to see him again.

   For more info: http://www.roger-waters.com.