Subject: Waters Concert Comments
Date: Sat, 7 Aug 1999 12:56:47 EDT
From: ECurran347@aol.com
To: cpforbes@hopper.unh.edu

I saw Waters last night at the PNC Arts Center. The set was the same as the
August 1st post. Here are my comments. PS - I love this site.

    We got stuck in traffic just outside the PNC Arts Center and decided to
park in a grassy field just behind the marquee where many frustrated drivers
ditched their cars haphazardly. Making our way to the entrance, I realized
that there was already something different about this show than the last two
KAOS era gigs I'd seen - this place was mobbed. It took on the aura of a
festival where a cross-section convened. There were yuppie couples sitting in
the grass, stoners in psychedelic phish-gear, Floyd heads from back in the
day, and a surprisingly high number of blotto-eyed rednecks who nearly
started a riot in the men's room where I could hear the first chords of "In
the Flesh" pound away in the distance.
    "Let's go!!" a unusually tall and suspiciously high fellow barked when
one guy took too long at a urinal.
    "I can't piss under this pressure," I joked, shoulder to shoulder with
the sloshed monoliths - the whites of their eyes replaced with a soft pink. A
roll of toilet paper flew over our heads. "Sinks are an option," one creative
reveler screamed. "Piss and get out of there. Come On!!"
    "I can't believe anyone in here owns 'Amused to Death,'" I whispered to
my friend Brian, who I wouldn't see again for twenty minutes or so at our
seats.
Slightly reeling, I was lead through the darkened theater by my girlfriend,
who adeptly dodged throngs of trippin' fans to get to our seats, which seemed
to take forever. "When we were young and went to school, there were certain
teachers who…"
    Shit," I thought. "I remember when I first heard this song. I remember
when my friend Frank, also in attendance, wrote the lyrics out and passed
them to me in our High-school Italian class. And here it is performed live
for thousands of strangers who match it word for word.
    And then "Mother" weaved it's folky way between the ga-jillion speakers
that cradled us in a sonic hug, reminiscent of the Berlin rendition.
    Then it became magical. Something happened.
Maybe it was hearing songs you'd only heard driving around the suburbs at
night in your car, or doing your homework to, or deep inside your headphones
lying stoned under the fluid gaze of soothing lava.
    It felt almost obscene to hear songs like "Get Your Filthy Hands off My
Desert" and "Southampton Dock" in the company of strangers. For the most
part, I had only experienced these alone and here the intimate words flowed
from the drunken tongues of a capacity crowd.
    The band had so much respect for the material, for the original nuances.
They didn't fuck with stoner classics and even played most of the Gilmour
solos verbatim.
    As a group, we all appreciated hearing "Pigs on the Wing, Part I" and
"Dogs ," and almost lost ourselves inside "Welcome to the Machine" and "Wish
You Were Here." But the real magic lay within "Shine On You Crazy Diamond,"
which fit snugly into the groove repeated listening have burrowed in my
brain.  It's as good a symphony as any.
    During the song, a mechanical diamond peers from behind the band. At
first I thought it was pretty mediocre, but then two beams of light hit the
center, and something happened that will live with me for the rest of my
life. The room filled with spider-web beams of light, flickering off the
ceiling and within our eyes, spinning around in breathtaking smoky arcs in a
way I could never do justice to in writing.
    "Dee," I said to my girlfriend, "have you ever seen anything this
beautiful?" Indeed Roger was not only massaging our aural pleasure centers,
he tossed in a treat for the eyes that pushes concert lighting into a realm
of high art.  Our mouths were agape during all of "Shine On" and the crowd
could be heard appreciating it throughout the twenty-minute intermission.
    It's getting late (nearly 4:30am) and I need to go to sleep, so let me
make some quick points.
    "Breathe," "Time,"  and "Money" were as good as can be. Better than any
post-Waters Floyd show I've seen.
    As a cooling breeze swept through the theater, pulling much of the stage
smoke with it, a roaring 18 wheeler kicked off a stunning and soulful version
of "Every Stranger's Eyes," one of the finest songs ever realized.
    "The Powers That Be" was given a new twist in the form of a slick blippy
keyboard part at the beginning and near the end. Great rendition and sadly
the only song represented from the classic RADIO KAOS.
    The "Amused to Death Songs" songs sounded exquisite live, and none were
so well received as "Perfect Sense Part II," which truly became a global
anthem, and "Amused to Death" who's brilliantly written ending just boggles
the mind. And I sand along as loud as I could, totally aware that here I was
under the same roof singing with Roger Waters. "But on eliminating every
other reason for our sad demise, they logged the only explanation left … this
species has amused itself to death."
"Brain Damage/Eclipse" were, as usual, great songs to hear with a crowd that
probably has DARK SIDE OF THE MOON in common than anything else. And
"Comfortably Numb," with it's counter-mood yellow/red lighting and almost
disturbingly organic splashy projected images, truly showcased the nimble
fingers of both guitarists.
    It was unlike anything I've ever seen. There was so much to look at; the
band, the monitors, the projection screens. Walking back to the car, still
parked safely on the grass, I couldn't help but be thankful for Roger Waters
and the part his music has played in the lives of so many different people.
Especially mine.

    - Eric Curran