Roger Waters, August 4th at the Tweeter Center, Mansfield, MA

It had been over five years since I’d last been to a concert, and part 
of me had forgotten the magic atmosphere that pervades such an 
event, when one is actually in the presence of a musical hero. It 
ended up that I could only come up with a single ticket, but after a 
brief debate with myself, I decided to go for it – after all, it was 
Rog, whose music has provided the soundtrack in my house for as 
many years as I have been listening to intelligent rock. Even with 
the highest expectations, I was not disappointed; in fact, I was 
blown away.

I was fortunate enough to see his first two solo tours (the 1984 
“Pros & Cons” tour was the first concert I ever saw – a fitting 
initiation into live music), but there was something even more 
special about the 1999 “In the Flesh” event. Perhaps it was the fact 
that it had been so long since Rog last came out of hiding, but I 
think it was more Mr. Water’s attitude. I could go into the drama 
of the set list, and the glorious sounds of a familiar voice over an 
exceptional band, but most of the other reviews on Casey’s 
excellent site have these aspects covered. I would like to talk about 
Rog himself.

Here we have a man who has been defined through the years by a 
style of music and lyrics that tend towards the darker side of 
human nature and social convention. Because Rog has been wise 
enough to keep his personal life relatively vague, this is all we 
have had to paint a picture of the man…adjectives such as dark, 
dour, even depressing have often cropped up before his name. So 
to see this man come on stage and smile, and I mean REALLY 
smile, was an epiphany. It occurred to me that he was here not only 
to give us the messages of his music, but to actually have a good 
time. And to this fan, it appeared that he had an excellent time, 
which was the icing on the cake for all of us.

Having heard a few recent interviews with Rog on local radio 
stations, his changing attitude came crystal clear in his 
performance. First of all, his decision to play smaller, more 
intimate venues was obviously appreciated by the fans (at least the 
ones who managed to secure the harder-to-get tickets!). There was 
much more interaction between the performers and the audience, 
which Mr. Waters has so often lamented the loss of through the 
monster success of his previous band. He spoke to us, he gestured 
to us, and we responded with a thunder that brought that wonderful 
smile back to his face time and time again. I hope the evening 
recalled for him his performances during the early days of Floyd, 
and maybe he realizes now that that magic has only been hidden, 
waiting for this tour to embrace us all as we journeyed together in 
the realm of his art. And then there was his decision to resurrect 
some old Floyd classics (everyone in the reviews has been raving 
about “Dogs” and “Shine On”), songs that he previously avoided 
due to their Dave Gilmour influence. But it seems that Rog has 
finally realized that these are also his songs, as the mad approval 
the fans is surely driving home to him on this tour. Kudos to Mr. 
Waters for remembering what was his in the first place, and for 
sharing his art with us again after so many years. Let us just hope 
we don’t have to wait so long the next time!

Tim Prisby