Newspaper reviews of Waters gigs

Thought you might like to see what the British press made of our Roger:

THE TIMES
Roger Waters
by David Sinclair
Pop
NEC, Birmingham




IT HAS certainly been a career of two halves for Roger Waters. As one of the key figures in Pink Floyd, he was instrumental in creating the most monolithic repertoire in rock. But as a solo artist since 1984 he has only produced three unremarkable studio albums, each more pompous and ponderous than the last.
When he returned to the concert stage in England on Friday night for the first time since 1987, apparently to promote a compilation album of his solo material, Flickering Flame, it was clear that Waters’s real mission was to re-establish himself as the true keeper of the Pink Floyd flame. With his former group currently inactive, perhaps permanently so, this is certainly a sound strategic move, and there was a genuine sense of occasion as he began standing atop a white “wall” set behind the ten-piece band on the stage below.

Dressed in a dark suit with a thatch of elegantly greying hair framing his increasingly gaunt features, the 58-year-old bass player and singer looked like a character out of Gormenghast as the band pushed off with the majestic, undulating riff of In the Flesh followed by the familiar marching beat of Another Brick in the Wall, Part 2. From the striking of the very first note, the quadrophonic sound was tweaked to absolute perfection — a mixture of power and clarity rarely experienced in a venue of such vast dimensions.

As Waters worked his way through long tranches of Pink Floyd material, including Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun, Wish You Were Here, Shine On You Crazy Diamond, Time and Money, a familiar succession of images played out on the giant screen behind: marching hammers, a pig flying over Battersea Power Station, priapic flowers, rivers of blood, piles of glittering coins.

So far, so good. But although Waters has a fair claim to co-ownership of these songs and images, he does not have the resources or collective mystique of Pink Floyd itself. Guitarists Snowy White and Chester Kamen produced passable imitations of David Gilmour’s guitar parts and the band could hardly be faulted for their attention to detail. But it lacked the authentic touch and over-arching splendour of the real thing.

Then there was a substantial chunk of Waters’s dreary solo material to wade through. Seamlessly stitched into the show as if it were somehow all part of the same body of work, pieces such as Perfect Sense (Parts 1 & 2) and Amused to Death stretched on interminably, giving free expression to Waters’s inflated musical vision and hysterically paranoid world view.

Waters may be offering the next best thing to a Pink Floyd show, but the experience is not without its moments of penance.





THE GUARDIAN
Roger Waters

3 stars
Birmingham International Arena

Alexis Petridis
Guardian

Monday June 24, 2002


To say that Roger Waters has a peculiar relationship with his audience is like claiming his former band Pink Floyd did quite well in the 1970s. He came up with the wheeze of building a polystyrene wall between Pink Floyd and their audience after one Canadian crowd annoyed him so much, he spat at them. Today it seems Waters himself knows his image could do with a makeover: these greatest-hits shows, he claims, represent him "coming out from behind my wall".

Former collaborator David Gilmour recently attempted to inject some humanity into Pink Floyd's austere oeuvre by playing intimate acoustic gigs, but Waters is made of sterner stuff. The inflatable flying pig has gone, but he can't abandon pomp entirely. Sound effects echo quadraphonically, specially commissioned films flicker. There is even the occasional burst of amateur dramatics. During Dogs' gargantuan keyboard solo, Waters and his band play cards and swig whisky. The significance of this remains a mystery. Perhaps these days even Waters needs a stiff drink to get through Pink Floyd's more rococo instrumental passages.

Steel-haired and plummy, Waters is not a natural frontman, but he is clearly trying, standing on the lip of the stage and encouraging an audience singalong during Comfortably Numb. When he invites them to dance - "It's only rock'n'roll, after all" - it seems odd and out of character, like an aloof company director suddenly joining in the office party hokey cokey. In addition, the material is hardly party stuff. The later Floyd tracks in particular are so cold that Radiohead, the inheritors of their mopey mantle, sound like Chas and Dave by comparison.

Still, nobody is here for belly laughs and bonhomie. They want Money and Shine on You Crazy Diamond, and for over two hours Waters and his note-perfect band power slickly through his back catalogue to general delight. The underwhelming response to his post-Pink Floyd albums may be behind his sudden and slightly awkward change of heart, but for the first time in his career, Waters seems happy to oblige.

Good one, James1after909, but after reading those reviews, I have still not changed my opinion of music critics.

They both sound a bit boneheaded in criticising the show, picking on the catalgoue of music instead of the performance.

And someone should lynch David Sinclair for his pop at Roger: Then there was a substantial chunk of Waters’s dreary solo material to wade through. Seamlessly stitched into the show as if it were somehow all part of the same body of work, pieces such as Perfect Sense (Parts 1 & 2) and Amused to Death stretched on interminably, giving free expression to Waters’s inflated musical vision and hysterically paranoid world view.

Obviously a man who writes for a newspaper but rarely, if ever, reads them. Oh, he's read Gormanghast at least, but so have I and I thought Rog looked perfectly normal to me.

And now for Mr. Alexis Patridis' review which comes off sounding like some Garage/Techno fan has been forced, against his will, to attend and write a review.

He found no belly laughs but if he'd done a bit more research (Google anyone?) he would have been able to solve his Dogs at the card table mystery - which was very humorous - the witless knobhead.

And he obviously likes his performers younger and not so well spoken. Still, no accounting for taste or its lack.

Still, a good read James.

Absolutely, these guys have no talent of their own yet they sit in judgment and more often than not show only their ignorance.
I thought his solo stuff stood up well against the floyd music.
How could anyone watch all those names (did you spot Bomber Harris) in the tribute to Bill Hubbard and not feel a lump in their throat. Roger Waters work is on a whole other level to most artists work.
The trouble with these critics is they like to appear trendy, they probably think kylie minogue is a great 'artist'. They don't 'get' Roger Waters.
I didn't print the Evening Standard review as it was far too embarrasing. It quotes "he was joined on stage by
Rick Mason"...!!!!!

<sigh> If it wasn't so funny, it would be sad.

Hmmm...brings to mind something sarah first said...no, not David dying...what was it?...oh yes!...

Hacks!

Really. I should have left the new pink floyd alone. There are much more deserving and obvious targets for my CRITICism. These writers are just doing a job and put about as much heart and soul into it as someone flipping burgers at McDonalds. Hacks indeed!

I agree - I don't see the point of critics. If you aren't a fan of the performer or their style of music stay away.

As a huge Waters fan, the 3 performances I saw in the UK were magic, I was absolutely overwhelmed by the quality of the performance. The reception he received from the fans showed the admiration we have for Roger and his talent. I was so pleased that the solo work was received as enthusiastically by the fans as the Floyd material.

For those who moan and groan that Chester and Snowy aren't David Gilmour - of course they aren't, but they are first class musicians who gave the songs a fresh sound.

Those who say that Floyd do a grander scale show are missing the point - Roger has tired of the big production and is concentrating on the music. Personally, I thought the light show was very classy.

Cheers

Simon

I'm not a big fan of solo Rog but it pisses me off when newspaper hacks who can't get a job with a proper music mag do a hatchet job on performers like Roger/Floyd.
As Pink Pig says , if you're not a fan of the music what's the point trying to review it ?
I remember coming away from The Wall show thinking it was the most amazing thing I'd ever seen then reading reviews of it a few days later in absolute disbelief at the almost universal pasting it received at the hands of the press at the time.
It doesn't bother me anymore, Floyd (and Roger) are easy targets for lazy "journalists" who can't see past the latest current music fad, most of them don't know their arse from their elbow and as far as I'm concerned their views are meaningless b*ll*cks!!

100% agreement.

However, you can't expect ever reviewer to be a fan of the music and gigs they review; it would be impossible. If they aren't fans of the music/gig they're reviewing and don't bother to familiarise themselves at least basically, then they are indeed lazy.

In the mid-80s I was fortunate to attend several productions of the Royal Shakespeare Company in both London and Avon-upon-Thames. If I wasn't already familiar with any production, I would read the play all the way through beforehand so that at least I could understand what the...heck was really going on.

Critics and reviewers would do well to so something similar: play and listen to the damned album before seeing the show to know what to expect.

Fitful Floydian,
Byron

Ah, Critics are ALWAYS going to be like that. No changing it. Magazines do it to music...even movies are starting to get Sh*ty reviews nowadays. Look what they did to Dogma.

Look at it this way, we live in a world where people are too lazy to think for themselves so they get other people to...who are even moreso lazy.

Hell, here in America most of us listen to reviews about movies from a senile old man who won't admit his partner is dead.

I don't mean to be a bother, and moan about something in a thread that it only remotely has to do with but....Waters is supposed to be doing a world tour. But it seems the guy is going EVERYWHERE in the world except the US...so I don't have a good chance to see one of his gigs...blah.

He started in the US in '99. With a 6 piece band! Only one back up singer. 'In the Flesh' was actually filmed at my hometown arena.

Yes.

Good answer.

Yes. To be honest, I'd originally posted a pretty sarky one about finding it hard to believe that you were from the US, considering that your sense of humour is sophisticated and that frankly, you seem quite bright.

However, I thought better of it.

There you go.

And it was all complimentary.

Cheers,

Mark

I think some other forum goers may be offended. Not at what you said about the US but because you called me sophisticated and bright..


Remember! Rock and Roll was born here.

Nah- it was Austria