Venue:
The Hydro, Glasgow
Date: 29/06/2018
Roger Waters is, in large part, his own tribute act. The setlist consisted mainly of Pink Floyd numbers from 1971 – 1977, along with a few songs from his latest solo album. Is there any difference then, between this and, say, The Australian Pink Floyd, who can be seen playing much the same songs, in this very same venue? Other than the absence of Rog’s solo numbers, which some may not be too upset by? I do believe there is.
This is, of course, a spectacular, with jaw-dropping lighting and effects. And it needed to be – the Hydro is huge. Happily this is a show designed for large arenas, with Rog prowling the stage conducting band and audience. Part 1 consisted of some Dark Side of the Moon (props to the backing vocalists for Great Gig in the Sky), a menacing One of These Days and Welcome to the Machine, crowd-pleasing Wish You Were Here and solo stuff. An unexpected highlight came at the end of the first half with Another Brick in the Wall.
It’s a song I didn’t care if I ever heard again, to be honest, so I was surprised by this electrifying version. The band were assisted by local school kids who lined the stage in orange jumpsuits, which they tore off towards the end to reveal RESIST t-shirts. Call me a big softy but I found this quite affecting. It set the scene for the second half.
In the second half, things ratcheted up a gear. For a start, in an impressive effect, a Battersea Power Station appeared (yes, complete with pig), stretching across the arena, bisecting the stage and acting as a screen for images. And there was Angry Rog. This manifested itself in breathtaking, snarling, savage renditions of Dogs and Pigs (3 different ones). And there it was – no tribute band could pull that off; you need to mean it. Rog is still very much a political animal (see what I did there) and, in a surprise development, is not taken with Donald Trump, cartoons of whom featured heavily in Pigs.
I was kind of stunned by all that but led down from the ledge by the rest of DSoTM, more solo and a final Comfortably Numb.
The audience:
Let’s just say that no-one here would have felt out of place.
It made me think..
Animals is a fantastic album, maybe Floyd’s best.
OK, so this was Roger Waters plus top notch hired guns. But really, maybe Animals was too?
I would be a very happy man if I look as good as that in my mid-70s.
Roger suits being the age he is now better than he suited being young.
Absolutely.
…curtains?
Lovely review. Had moved overseas when Animals came out and my interests changed. I’ve given it a try on a few occasions but it left me cold. However, the persistent praise here compels me to give it another go.
Indeed – Animals is arguably their best LP in the “post Meddle” recordings….
Good review Lando, I like Waters, I think his latest album is very good. I also like Animals, the album. There’s rumours of a special edition, wonder if it will have miniature pigs and dogs instead of marbles.
Bleating and babbling we fell on Super Deluxe Edition with a screeeeeeaaaaaam
Nice review. The elephant in the room is how much of Waters’ vocals were pre-recorded. Some, all or none?
(and I may agree with you about Animals)
Oh, never occurred to me! Certainly seemed to be singing when he appeared on the big screen but who knows?
I’m one of those annoying people who only likes Syd’s ‘The Pink Floyd’ and and a few of their later, less funnier tracks. So I’m looking forward to seeing Nick Mason’s (Spandau) Saucers later this year – aka “The Australian Roger Waters” who play mostly Piper/Saucer stuff and a few bits from later pre-Dark Side albums – like a dream PF set for me. Audio evidence so far is very encouraging –
I’m glad I turned down a ticket for this, that IMHO was terrible BUT that is my take on it which only matters to me. I also love early Floyd Doc and hope you and anyone else who go to the shows enjoy it.
Great to hear he’s playing Dogs and Pigs – Animals is a fantastic album, massively underrated in the Floyd canon. Shame he’s not playing more from his excellent last solo album though – would much rather have heard these than songs from DSOTM, WYWH and The Wall for the umpteenth time.
He played a fair bit from it. Definite downturn in energy though – for me, anyway. Full set list (courtesy of setlist.fm:
Breathe
One of These Days
Time
Breathe (Reprise)
The Great Gig in the Sky
Welcome to the Machine
The Last Refugee
Picture That
Wish You Were Here
The Happiest Days of Our Lives
Another Brick in the Wall Part 2
Another Brick in the Wall Part 3
Set 2:
Dogs
Pigs (Three Different Ones)
Money
Us and Them
Smell the Roses
Brain Damage
Eclipse
Encore:
Wait for Her
Oceans Apart
Part of Me Died
Comfortably Numb
I went to the Dublin show last Wednesday. My kids bought me the ticket as a Christmas present. I found myself 2 rows from the back wall, with the screen partially obscured by the hanging speaker stacks, a cut-down version of the set (maybe the Three Area is too small or maybe it would be too costly to ship all that equipment over the Irish Sea for two shows), a half-pint of beer spilled down my back by a drunk idiot behind who would not stop whistling shrilly for most of the show (a drink before a show – not for me thanks. A drink after a show, yeah, sure. But why do so many people feel the need to drink during a show. I’ve seen the same in the UK. It’s inconvenient and disrespectful to fellow punters and performer.)
Despite all the above, I loved it. Agree with you Mr. Cakes that ‘Another Brick In The Wall’ was an unexpected highlight. I really love the latest album, but maybe playing three in a row was asking a lot of an audience who mostly were not familiar with it. I’m all in favour of Rog being angry – there were a few mutterings around me about ‘all the political shite’, but I like to see performers speak out. I stayed away from online videos of the shows for the most part, so the lighting effects for ‘Eclipse’ caught me by surprise and I got something in my eye.
I’d always managed to miss RW down through the years, even though I bought most of the PF and all of the solo albums – delighted to catch him at last. Might be his last go round, but if not, I’d love to see a show built around ‘The Final Cut’
My kids bought me a bar of soap for Father’s Day. You’re definitely winning…
Twats like that drunken twat who spilled beer over you are the reason I’ve stopped going to enormodomes. There’s always one who you feel liked punching their lights out and if you do the night is certainly ruined so I just talk to them nicely with a final fucking warning.
Exactly, Baron – although I don’t have a lot of experience in punching peoples’ lights out. Drinking at gigs is a bit of a bugbear of mine and I sometimes get a bit irate over it. The zeal of the convert perhaps – when I was much younger I had a few drinks before a John Martyn gig in the National Stadium in Dublin. Myself and a friend were only a couple of rows from the stage and I must have been a bit chatty because after a while JM gave me a very hard stare indeed – a hard stare from John Martyn is not forgotten in a hurry. I was very much aware that I was the twat that evening. I don’t think I’ve had a drink before or during a concert since….
A bugbear of mine too. Particularly bad on this occasion as we had end row seats and I’m currently getting about on sticks, post-surgery. Constantly getting up and down was, quite literally, a pain.
The basic arithmetic isn’t difficult: average bladder capacity = 1 pint. If you sit drinking pints, guess what’s going to happen?
I genuinely don’t get why someone would buy an expensive ticket for a gig, then choose to spend a significant part of it clambering past other people to go to the bogs.
I cannot rule out the possibility that I’m getting old and grumpy.
Ooooo, no, it’s part of the ritual. A pint in the Post Office Vaults, one at the venue before the show or plastic glass in the first half/support act, a pee in the interval and one for the second half and a pee at the end. That’s if its Symphony Hall or Town Hall. Which it often is. t doesn’t make me chatty cos I’m (usually) on my own. Mind you, most of the performers I see tailor their set lengths around their own needs to pee, being of a similar age.
I can only assume John Martyn gave you the evil eye because you had a drink and for some unfathomable reason he didn’t.
You should have chinned the cunt. Or called Baron to do it. He’s hard,him.
I went to both nights in Dublin. I know, I know.
Night one I was up the back and there was a group right beside me who just thought they were at the pub. In and out, shout talking to each other. They left for the last five songs. No loss.
Night two and I was at the front barrier. There’s a different ecosystem at the front. Everybody got to know each other. A rather garrulous GP beside enjoyed himself a little too much, but he apologised for any enthusiastic interruption. After the intermission a drunk 50-something man crashed into the front, with an obnoxious sense of entitlement. Got security’s eye and they told him where to go.
Being 10 foot from Rog – is he mining? He must be. I tried not to think about it too much, but go look on YouTube if you want your hopes dashed. He did a live ropey version of Danny Boy both nights and his timbe is so low (also demonstrated on the new record) that the high-singing of the Animals stuff must have some fairy dust on it. Does it matter? It might not. Got a high five from him when he went along the front row at the end too.
The 3Arena in Dublin has the stage on its long axis, instead at the end like most venues. And show that comes to town with any kind of catwalk or protruding stage often gets scaled back as a result. So it was a pity to miss the hanging Battersea.
Roger doing high fives? Times done changed. In the old days he’d have spat at you.
For the recent Steely Dan gig at the 02 I was about 1200 feet above sea level with a camber which gave me vertigo every time I looked at Donald Fagen and a teeeeny space for my feet….not that endless people allowed this to stop them from squeezing down the aisle, squeezing back 10 minutes later with a carboard carrier of plastic pints of lager dripping everywhere then making a return trip shortly after to make room for more. Given they had paid £85 for the privilege you might think they’d actually want to watch the gig.
Drinking beer at a Steely Dan gig seems very wring, especially by the pint. More appropriate would be the odd glug of white sambuca, or better yet a mint julep.
More likely a cup of Java.
Maybe – imagine getting that spilled down yer neck.
Similarly, patrons at a Suede gig should only be drinking the terrifying cheap red wine found in a Happy Shopper outlet. Didn’t do me any harm.
*stares into space for three hours*
This bugs me too, and is a regular annoyance. The late middle-aged prostate can hardly handle a pint. Last night I was in the gods at the Manchester bridgewater hall seeing Steve Winwood which was a pensioners night out for sure (good gig, mind), but there was the party person who came in late having had a few, had to go out to offload, then came back, then left, thankfully not returning. We all struggled to stand up and down. The same happened when we saw steely dan (in the £135 seats, mind), marillion, and Stephen Wilson, At our age the “I drink lots of pints, me” laddishness at gigs is contra-indicated in those of our generation by aforementioned prostates, the slowing metabolism making a pint ever more fattening, driving home, and having to be functional the next day. Don’t even get me started on gig eaters.
There were plenty of wanderer abouters at the Steven Wilson gig I went to but it was so transcendentally brilliant I didn’t even care about the yoof in front of me with the BO you could smell 3 miles away.
Wow, these hippy revival gigs are really authentic!
This is why I hate gigs!
All the above are reasons I don’t “do” the big gigs any more. No matter who is on.
Spending nearly £100 to sit half a mile from the stage surrounded by loud beer-obsessed twats who have no concept of good manners. Having beer spilt over you by an ill-mannered lout who sings out of tune throughout at the top of his voice, when not shouting inane comments to his 2 equally loutish mates is not my idea of a good night out.
Having your bottle of water confiscated at the door so they can sell you a replacement for a small fortune offends me too. A very good early sign that you’ve mis-spent your money.
Agree with all of that. I much prefer small gigs. After the Dan there is no one I want to see who would do a massive gig anyway so I’m clear.
Not even a Black Lace reformation? Original line-up?
No! The mighty Lace must always be witnessed in full spectacular splendour, as befits their estimable legacy. For example, from their Wiki page:
In 1985, another single, “El Vino Collapso” was released, with the video shot in Skegness.
It’s easy to forget how huge they were. Thank god for Wiki:
“The band toured Denmark in 1980, supporting Suzi Quatro and working with Tommy Seebach, a Danish entertainer. Black Lace and Seebach recorded “Hey Hey Jock McRay” for the Danish singles market, but an intended 1980 tour of Poland was called off because of political unrest in the country.”.
Gold dust
Talk about “what if”! That could have shortened the Cold War by 9 years. Jaruzelski wouldn’t have stood a chance against those guys.
“I met that Lech Walesa, somewhere in Waikiki,
Well he was selling Freedom, playing ukulele”
If it wasn’t for the Geordies being so good at building ships, the yards would still be open at Gdansk…
(getting really mixed up now)
Agadogs of War, the Remix
Not Now Rita, Sue & Bob
Several Species of Small Furry Animals Gathered Together in a Cave to Do the Conga
I like Rog, and I like angry Rog, but his public support for noted alleged rapist, Putin puppet, current broom closet dweller and all round arsewipe Julian Assange is where we part company.
I did a double-take when that one came up on the screen, I must admit. The argument that Assange can’t go to Sweden to answer rape charges because Sweden would be more likely than the UK to deport him to the US is, well, somewhat lacking in credibility.
Just regrettably turned down a free ticket for tomorrow’s (6th July) Hyde Park concert.
A friend of an old friend (I know him but not very well) was given a pair of tickets by someone else who can’t make it.
I don’t think I could handle being in a crowd like that for about 8-9 hours in this heat. Squeeze would be nice to see and RW’s show would be interesting, but Richard Ashcroft holds no appeal, and neither does Seasick Steve anymore.
He’s never going to do Bike is he
I wait in vain for Cirrus Minor.
If you were a swan, you’d be gone.
The memories of a man in his old age
Are the deeds of a man in his prime.
Especially if he has teleprompters.
The Tide is Turning Billy!
Oi! Get yer filthy hands off my setlist!
Dunroamin, Duncarin, not dun Alan’s Psychedelic Breakfast
Toast… marmalade… bacon and eggs… gluten-free granola?!?
Only if we can see the Krups steelworks.
“How can you have any pudding if you haven’t had yer five a day???”
I was on a job last year, no option but to eat “crew catering” and a colleague, peering at the offering said, “That’ll be none of your five a day.”
Pastry is a vegetable!
Run to the bedroom, in the suitcase on the left, you’ll find my favourite tour bus earmuffs
Day after day, love turns grey, like the salad of a dying man
Just been to see Roger’s Hyde Park show which was basically the same set with all the visual trimmings. I thoroughly enjoyed it as a fan of the mid period Floyd (and I saw Roger’s The Wall show twice six years ago – fantastic).
Of course, as others have said, Roger likes being the multi millionaire rock socialist signed up to all the usual causes that attract legions of Glasto generation virtue signallers.
To be honest, I thought the anti Trump stuff was a bit predictable and cliched. Not that I hold any brief for The Donald but it’s becoming a staple of almost any form of popular entertainment across the spectrum that the man is the devil incarnate so, hey, let’s get his face up there on the screen just to make some songs written 35 odd years ago have a bit more contemporary relevance. See how clever rock music can be at times folks?
Roger is obviously sincere about all this tripe about universal human rights and world leaders being a bunch of pigs who should be told to f-k off. Fair enough, do crack on sir. But for me it’s all about the music and Roger’s easily the greatest English songwriter and visionary musician in the progressive rock genre, bar none.
Agree with your comments.
I does get him the column inches though – the reviews have been harping on about the politics with little mention of the fact that the music is some the best, most enduring ‘classic’ rock ever.
To hear Animals being played with that quality, skill and fidelity was fabulous. Enjoyed the new album stuff too. Personally I would have been happy without any Wall – as he focussed on it last time.
I went to Birmingham – an amazing show but the audience was uninvolved, static and to my mind unappreciative. Little beer drinking thankfully though as the queues were so horrendous.
I was at the Hyde Park show too and thought it was fabulous. At its release I was not a fan of Animals but live the Animal tracks were the definite highlight. His solo stuff was also great. His bass playing on One of these days was excellent and Jonathan Wilson on guitar was inspired. Considering the venue the sound was phenomenal – this was my 5th or 6th Hyde Park show and sound easily best.
One minor gripe though- there were bigger gaps between artists and Squeeze not playing on the main stage and clashing with Rogr Waters opening set was ridiculous as it meant I missed them. There was enough time to accommodate them on that stage. BST and Barclaycard you fucked up.