Reflections from a Roger Waters Concert
Sat Sep 09, 2006 at 10:19:17 AM PDT
Roger Waters, former Pink Floyd frontman, gave what I feel was the best performance of his solo career last night at the Tweeter Center in Mansfield, MA. From his eclectic song choice to his bravura performance of the "Dark Side of the Moon" under a couldn't-have-been-better timing full moon in a clear sky, Roger was on point last night. He was confident in his material, and put the full force of extraordinarily talented musicians to good use. His vitriol was unleashed in full as well.
By most accounts, including my own, it's the best I've ever seen Mr. Waters. He looked great--he's in his 60s now, but looked and sounded healthy and strong. The musicianship, as it always has been, was beyond reproach. It's not the planets aligned perfection of Waters/Mason/Gilmour/Wright, but the sound quality and crafstmanship of every note coming out of the gazillion well-placed speakers was impeccable. The backup singers, a staple of Roger performances, nearly blew back the audience's hair, Maxell tape commercial-style, with their beautiful, infinitely powerful voices.
For a man who has developed a reputation as a bit of a grump over the years, he looked like he was thoroughly enjoying himself up there. He often thanked the crowd, to which most replied "No, thank you!"
Bravo, Roger, Bravo.
But what Roger Waters show would be complete without stinging indictments of politicians, governments, and warmongers? Roger most certainly did not disappoint in this area, either, and his remarkable, Pink Floyd/Roger Waters junkie-oriented set showed that if anything, Roger is very, very angry at the world's current state of events.
First, let's take a look at his song choice. Unfortunately, much of his lyrical efforts have proven timeless. From his lambasting of Reagan-Thatcher era shenanigans with the Falklands War and Beirut in "The Fletcher Memorial Home," to his strident anti-nukes anthem "Perfect Sense," to the poignant relevancy of "Vera" and "Bring the Boys Back Home" to the modern-day antiwar ditty "Leaving Beirut," he has had to change little to make his songs bitingly applicable to this world's sad state of affairs, largely due to puppet string-controlling hands of the U.S.
Roger's not above having a little fun, either, and that glorious pig floated around a bit last night, too. It seemed to float away, actually. I'd love to know where it landed. But on the big pig was spraypainted a jarring reminder of our responsibilities this fall: "End the Slaughter; Vote Democratic Nov. 2."
In our circle of friends last night was a recently returned Iraq war veteran, a relative of one of my friends. I didn't want to get too heavily into Roger's antiwar views around him, but he didn't flinch during the show, and was cheering just as loud as everyone else during Roger's most vitriolic moments.
My wife ended up talking to my friend about it, re: how he felt about Roger being so antiwar. My friend told my wife that he wants more than anything to bring the boys back home. He said troops have been given an impossible mission over there, and they know it. Talking with my wife last night, we agreed that maybe that's a sign that something really will happen Nov. 2. That the slaughter really will end.
Again--Bravo, Roger. Bravo.
From "Leaving Beirut"
Are these the people that we should bomb
Are we so sure they mean us harm
Is this our pleasure, punishment or crime
Is this a mountain that we really want to climb
The road is hard, hard and long
Put down that two by four
This man would never turn you from his door
Oh George! Oh George!
That Texas education must have fucked you up when you were very small...
...Is gentleness too much for us
Should gentleness be filed along with empathy
We feel for someone else's child
Every time a smart bomb does its sums and gets it wrong
Someone else's child dies and equities in defence rise
America, America, please hear us when we call
You got hip-hop, be-bop, hustle and bustle
You got Atticus Finch
You got Jane Russell
You got freedom of speech
You got great beaches, wildernesses and malls
Don't let the might, the Christian right, fuck it all up
For you and the rest of the world
From "Sheep," a nice little nugget from Animals, perhaps the most underrated of Floyd albums. You'd be underrated, too, if you were sandwiched between the release of Wish You Were Here and The Wall! Animals is a great little riff on Orwell's Animal Farm:
Harmlessly passing your time in the grassland away;
Only dimly aware of a certain unease in the air.
You better watch out,
There may be dogs about
I've looked over Jordan, and I have seen
Things are not what they seem.
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