They kicked in with a powerful rendition of
In the flesh. Nothing much to say about it, really.
The real deal, rock. First highlight was - of
course - Dogs, on which Harry Waters did a truly
amazing job. What Harry did that evening (never
mind on which song) was pretty mind-blowing
whenever he had the chance to play a solo. He's
_much_ more than just a replacement for Jon Carin.
Set the controls was good to finally hear live.
Pure bliss.
When Roger started his bass slapping at the
beginning of Shine on 6-9, I just for one moment
was reminded of One of these days and hoped they'd
play that, which of course they didn't.
I was pretty stunned at how energized they
played the Amused to Death material. Also, I was
stunned at how many from the audience recognized
Perfect sense and It's a miracle from their very
first bits of sound. Probably the best performances
of the night, really. But now I come to think of it
- Brain damage and Eclipse were absolutely awesome
as well. They sounded really vast and yet compact,
mind-blowing.
Flickering Flame - the chorus, sung by the
girls, somehow reminds me of the chorus of Your
possible pasts from TFC. Anyways, I like it much
much better than Each small candle (despite the
fact that the backdrop image to Flickering Flame
was kind of kitsch).
The band -
What Graham Broad did on Time yesterday was
much, much better than what you can hear on the
live CD. In contrast to what other have said about
him, I don't think his style compares too bad to
Nick Mason's particular rather-behind-the-beat
style on the Floyd pieces.
Having seen a TV broadcast of one of Roger's
US-shows, I dare say that Chester Kamen is in every
way superior to Doyle Bramhal II (whom he replaced
on the International leg of the tour, just for
those who don't know). His guitar style sounds so
light-handed and flowing. He got much closer to
Gilmour whenever necessary and did have a style of
his own that I'd prefer over DB II's any time.
Also, Chester's voice suits the songs so much
better. Especially on ComfyNumb, Doyle Bramhal II's
voice really gets on my nerves whenever I listen to
the In the Flesh CD. I'd very much like to have a
recording with Chester singing it instead...
And last but not least, Chester Kamen's clothing
is not even remotely as embarrassing/ridiculous as
Doyle Bramhal II's. Yeah, right, nothing to do with
the music, but still, I needed to mention that.
Nothing to say about the others that hasn't been
said already. One thing, perhaps - I would have
loved to hear Andy Fairweather-Low do more than
just his one lead solo on Money (which was truly
awesome - could've gone on for hours if you ask
me).
Roger's voice was in excellent shape.
All in all a great, great, great and marvellous
gig. [Especially as I'd got a little nervous
having read the less-than flattering reviews for
Rotterdam and Cologne.]
Side notes:
30 EUR for a simple black or white tour t-shirt
/ girlie-shirt is simply outrageous! Not to mention
the polo shirt, priced at, if I remember correctly,
40 EUR or even more. I don't know about the rest of
the world, but for 40 EUR, you can even get a
Lacoste brand polo shirt.
Also, I found it quite interesting that some of
those guys selling the semi-to-non-official
merchandise (t-shirts and posters, both also
available in a The Division Bell design...) outside
the venue after the concert had official "Roger
Waters - crew" passes dangling round their
necks.
1st Set
In the flesh
The happiest days of our lives
Another brick in the wall part 2
Mother
Get your filthy hands off my desert
Southampton Dock
Pigs on the wing, part 1
Dogs
Set the controls for the heart of the sun
Shine on you crazy diamond (1-5)
Welcome to the machine
Wish you were here
Shine on you crazy diamond (6-9)
2nd Set
Breathe (in the air)
Time
Money
Every stranger's eyes
Perfect Sense 1 & 2
The bravery of being out of range
It's a miracle
Amused to death
Brain damage
Eclipse
Comfortably numb
Flickering Flame
Many thanks to A.
Fromme
