Roger Waters - Tour 2006
12 June Iceland Reykjavik - Egilsholl Arena
3 Days in Iceland. Part 2 - Behind The Scenes

jce, A Fleeting Glimpse's long time senior UK correspondent, was fortunate enough to spend three days in Iceland finding out what it's like backstage, and on tour with Roger Waters & the band. Read his brilliant show review, and wonderful stories of 3 days in Iceland.

Images are copyright JCE - 2006 and may not be reproduced without express permission

Have you ever wondered what happens behind the scenes? What do the band do between shows? What happens on show days?

Well I was lucky enough to find out about a small part of this tour and be there for some of these moments.

The inclusion of Reykjavik on the itinerary and the only indoor show (for very good reasons - it doesn't get dark at this time of the year that far north) intrigued me, so I thought I'd head off and go to the show and meet up with a friend.

If you look at the show schedule there was a big gap between the Arrow Festival show and the Oslo show only filled by the gig in Iceland. This gave some nice rest time for the band and allowed Roger to do some fishing in Iceland, which he's already visited a few times.

Sunday 11 June
The band fly from Holland, via Aberdeen, to Reykjavik in their private plane arriving in time for Roger to do a TV interview and head off for some fishing. Assembling back at the hotel in the evening for a band dinner hosted by the local promoters, Fin and Fin - so called cause no one can pronounce their real names! Iceland is famous for its fish but also the local's tendency to eat as much of the local wildlife as possible! A surprise for some, but perfect comedy material for others.

Monday 12 June - Show Day

The day free until the mid afternoon when all have to be back and ready at the hotel for the trip to the venue. Some went exploring in the Hummer that was at their disposal, others went shopping, whilst some just stayed in the hotel bar and watched the football including Roger. A military operation starts the moment all are assembled and the atmosphere changes to professionalism as the vans and cars plus support vehicle (The Hummer!) leave the hotel for the 20 minute drive to the venue. Unusually I didn't see any fans at the hotel or autograph hunters.

As the vehicles approach the venue the route is cleared and they are ushered behind the gates to the rear and rushed into the building into a very efficient operation that clearly is the same at each venue.

Backstage there are a number of changing rooms all given amusing names reflecting their occupants - for instance The Honey Lounge for the backing singers, a management office and a catering room, which was in fact a basketball court ;-). The entire band comes together for a small meal before heading out for the soundcheck. By this time there are quite a few people already waiting outside in the rain.

Every where in the venue are local security staff checking passes and ensuring that only those invited to be in certain parts of the venue are where they should be. There are a whole range of passes, each with specific areas of access and no exceptions are made to these rules.

The soundcheck is the time to cover either new songs, changes to the previous shows performance or different ways of performing the tracks. Here with Nick joining the tour for the first time the stage set up is different as there are two drum kits on stage - Nick's in the centre and Graham's stage right. I was interested to see that some big changes are decided at this late stage, so soon before the show. At one point the inflatable powered spaceman is being tested and with the show being indoors the operators are trying more technical maneuvers. Noticing this Roger asks if they can't have the spaceman appear from behind the blackout screen at the back of the audience during its normal appearance in Perfect Sense, rather than from behind the band as had happened at the previous shows. Also Roger suggested a run through of Bring The Boys Back Home in order for Nick not to be surprised by it in the encore - it is after all 26 years since he last played it in public ;-)

A few moments before the doors open the band head off to get changed before appearing in front of a packed arena - in this case 25 minutes late.

Immediately after the show, whilst the crowd are still cheering, the band are off the stage, in the vehicles and out of the venue and back to their hotel. So before a lot of the crowd are in their cars the band are back at the hotel for a band get together with some food and a few bottles of red wine.

Whilst some head off for an early night, others remain until the early hours of the morning laughing, joking and reminiscing, interspersed with talk about the show and options for changes at future shows, and all still amazed at the daylight outside.

Tuesday 13 June - The Day After

The band had a completely free day and again some did their own thing - Roger went fishing again, whilst a lot went on a tour of the island including a visit to the famous Blue Lagoon. Whilst the band aren't due to leave until the following day, Nick catches his flight back to London.

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